late pleistocene ice-marginal dune fields on the atlantic ...€¦ · barrens (la,tude 39ºn),...

II, a. METHODOLOGY – LiDAR IMAGERY, WEYMOUTH

LS-01

deflation basin

or “loch” (spung)

Great Egg Harbor RiverQuaternary braid plain 2

IB-01

Indian Branch Quaternarybraid plain 2

dune field

polygonsIndian Branch

Soil Pit Sections Sixsoilexcava,onpitsweredug,fiveatthecrestofparabolicdunes(130cmdeep),oneatalune@e(100cmdeep).SoilweatheringwasmostadvancedatLOS-01,butwasotherwisesimilartotheotherstudysites.

LS-01, Weymouth Dune Field at “Lochs-of-the-Swamp”

A — dark gray-brown color, with organic matter & charcoal

E — light-colored, albic horizon; the E/B boundary is wavy irregular with icicle-like glossic tongues; podzolization

Bs — yellowish brown colored, spodic horizonC — unweathered yellow-brown eolian parent material, being Miocene-aged marginal marine and fluvial sands of the Cohansey (Tch) & Bridgeton (Tbr) Formations.

A

E

Bs

C

1.5m

glossic tongues

II, b. METHODOLOGY – SEDIMENT ANALYSIS

III, b. RESULTS – GRANULOMETRY III, a. RESULTS – QUARTZ-GRAIN MORPHOSCOPY

II, a. METHODOLOGY – LiDAR IMAGERY, WEST MILLS

HAMMONTON

WM-01

WM-02

Great Swamp BranchBranch

Albertson Brook

Nescochague Creek

Myriey Run Branch

Quaternary

braid plain 2Quaternary

braid plain 1

End Pleistocene

channel

Holocene channel

relictplateau

dune field

dune field

dune field

Drive

rs

II, a. METHODOLOGY – LiDAR IMAGERY, MANUMUSKIN

Late Pleistocene Ice-Marginal Dune Fields on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, New Jersey Pine Barrens, USAMark Demitroff1, Stephen A. Wolfe2, Barbara Woronko3, Dorota Chmielowska4, Michael Cicali5

1Stockton University, Department of Geology, Galloway, NJ, USA2Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, ON, CAN

3Warsaw University, Faculty of Geology, Warsaw, POL 4Pedagogical University of Cracow, Institute of Geography, Cracow, POL

5Stockton University, Environmental Studies, Galloway, NJ, USA

IV. CONCLUSIONS

V. BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. ABSTRACT

Source-borderingdunesevolvedontheflatsandyterrainoftheNewJerseyPineBarrens*duringglacialepisodes.Todaytheareaisdenselyforested,obscuringtheextentofduneswithinahumidtemperateregion,itsmainpor,onresiding50–150kmsouthofthemaximumglacialicemargin.Terrestrialrelictsincludingthermal-contrac,oncracks,defla,onbasins,andven,factlagsa@esttoperiglacialcondi,onsinthearea.However,theorganiza,onofwindblownsandintodunesinthePineBarrenshasreceivedscanta@en,on.

Remotesensingwasconductedusinghighresolu,onLiDARtorevealthebare-earthgroundsurface.Sixsamplesiteswereexaminedfromthreewatersheds(areasA,B,Ctoright)toassessthedunefielddynamics.Soilobserva,onpitswereexcavated,profilesstra,graphicallydocumented,andsandsamplescollectedforop,calda,ng.Thesandsampleswereexaminedforgrainanalysisbyscanningelectronmicroscope,granulometry,andforanimprovedCailleuxMethodofsurface-textureinterpreta,on.

Dunefieldsresideonhigher-lyingriverterracesandalluvialfans,andappeartobeaclimate-drivenexpressionofchangesfromfluvialtofluvial-eoliantoeolianunits.SouthJerseywasprobablyaverywindyanddustyplaceduringepisodesoftheWisconsinanglacia,on.Grain-surfacemorphoscopyisfurthershowntobeausefultoolindiscerningdune-sandtransportac,vityandthea@endantpost-deposi,onalenvironment.

FrenchHM,DemitroffM,FormanSL.2003.EvidenceforLate-PleistocenepermafrostintheNewJerseyPineBarrens(la,tude39ºN),easternUSA.PermafrostandPeriglacialProcesses.14:259–274.

Mycielska-DowgiałłoE,WoronkoB.1998.Analizaobtoczeniaizmatowieniapowierzchniziarnkwarcowychfrakcjipiaszczystejijejwartośćinterpretacyjna(Roundingandfros,nganalysisofthesandquartzgrainssurfaceanditsinterpreta,vevalue).PrzeglądGeologiczny.46:1275–1281.

WoronkoB,ZielińskiP,SokołowskiRJ.Climateevolu,onduringthePleniglacialandLateGlacialasrecordedinquartzgrainmorphoscopyoffluvialtoaeoliansuccessionsoftheEuropeanSandBelt.Geologos.21:89–103.

NewellWL,NewellWL,PowarsDS,OwensJP,StanfordSD,StoneBD.2000.SurficialgeologicmapofcentralandsouthernNewJersey.UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey,MiscellaneousInves,ga,onsSeries,Map1–2540–D,Washington,DC.

Paper No. 188-4, T4. Eolian Processes and Landscape Evolution, GSA 2019, Phoenix, AZ.

III, c. RESULTS – GRAIN MICROTEXTURE BY SEM

III, d. RESULTS – GRANULOMETRY BY G3SE

1)Quartz-GrainMorphoscopy

• Forallsites,weobservesimilarlydevelopedsedimentsregardlessofsamplingdepth.Theyarecharacterizedbythedominanceofgrainsthataretheresultofprocessingintheaeolianenvironment,grainswithanintermediatedegreeofroundnessandvisibleeoliantreatmentonlyontheedgesandcorners(typeEM/RM).

• Generallythesupplyofmaterialtotheeoliansystemwaslimited—theseare“skinny”sand-starveddunesystems,althoughtheWestMillsdunesarebe@ersandfed,apparentlythroughthefluvialexcava,onoftheunderlyinglocalCohanseyForma,on(Tch)composedofMiocene-agedmarginal-marinesands.

• ThepresenceofbreakageblocksmicrotexturesatLS-01(le6Fig.)mayindicatethattheEhorizon—neartheglossictongues—wassubjecttoveryintenseinsitufrostweatheringunderperiglacialcondi,ons.

• Thefactthatthe0.5–0.8mmfrac,ongrainsaredefinitelylesswind-processed(48–66%EM/RM)inrela,ontothe0.8–1.0mmfrac,ongrains(84–96%EM/RM)indicatesthatthewindspeedmayhavebeenveryhigh.Thisisconfirmedbytheresultsofthepar,clesizeanalysis.

2)Granulometry

• Highwindspeedisalsoconfirmedbypar,cle-sizeanalysis.Averyhighcontentofgrainsinfrac,on>0.5mmandgrainsize<0.125mmpar,cipatedinsuspensiontransport.Thegraindistribu,onhastwodis,nctmodeswithvirtuallynodepositsperfrac,onbetweenmodes.Thissuggeststhatthesedimentsweretransportedasaresultofsalta,onandsuspension,andthattheNJPineBarrensmayhavebeenapar,cularlywindydustyplace.

3)GrainMicrotexturebySEM

• SEMinterpreta,onsupportsImprovedCailleuxMethodfindings;e.g.,RMorEM/RMtypegrains,breakageblocks.

4)Synthesis

• RelictstabilizeddunefieldsareabundantwithintheNJPineBarrensontheAtlan,cCoastalPlain.Theya@esttointensiveice-marginal,cold-climateeoliancondi,onsduringtheLatePleistocene.Spa,alassocia,onsbetweendunefieldsandQuaternaryalluvialdeposits—braid-plainandmeanderchannelterraces—indicateaclimate-changedrivenfluvial-to-eolianrela,onshipofpredominantlylocallysourcedsediments.Grainmorphoscopyrevealsanabundanceofwell-roundedgrainsandma@edsurfaces.Theirextant,inassocia,onwithven,factlagsandelongate(hairpin)parabolicdunes,supportstheinvoca,onofintensiveeoliantransportcondi,ons.Soilstructuresandgrainmicrotexturesprovidefurtherevidencethatintensivein-situfrostweatheringhadoccurredunderperiglacialcondi,ons.

MN-02MN-01

Manan

tico C

reek

Manum

uskin

Rive

r

Maurice River

BuckshutemCreek

Muske

e Cree

k

pitpit

pit

Deep RunGreat Egg Harbor River

LS-01

IB-01

Indian Branch

Hubbard Branch

Littl

e M

ill Ru

n

Scull RunJohns Branch

Makepeace Lake

Head

Bran

ch

Beave

r Dam

Branch

WEYMOUTH

Manumuskin Dune Field Thedunesresideonanolderfluvialbraid-plainterracethatiserodedtowardsthewestbyayoungerfluvialbraid-plainterrace.Theinterdunaleoliansandsheet(coversand)is~1mthick,boundingoverasparseven,factlag.

West Mills Dune Field

Thedunesresideonanolderfluvialbraid-plainterracethatiserodedbyyoungerfluvialbraid-plainterrace—allpartofanalluvialfansystemroughly170km2inarea.Theinterdunaleoliansandsheet(coversand)is~1mthick,boundingoveraven,factlag.

Weymouth Dune Field

Thedunesresideonolderbraid-plainterracesthatareerodedbyyoungerbraid-plainterraces(above,onewithpolygons).Theinterdunaleoliansandsheets(coversands)are~1mthick,boundingoveraven,factlag.

Maurice River WatershedManumuskin River Preserve / Long Ponds

MN-01 West DuneSampledatan~3mhighcrestofatransverse-to-parabolicdunemigra,ngfromWNWtoESE

MN-01

MN-02

pit

A) Manumuskin Dune FieldB) Weymouth Dune FieldC) West Mills Dune Field

* Pine Barrens outlined in white

WM-02

Albertson Brook

WM-01

deflation basinsor “spungs”

• Quartz-GrainMorphoscopy:18sampleswereseparatedinto0.5–0.8mmand0.8–1.0mmquartz-grainfrac,ons,thenanalyzedaccordingtomethodologyasproposedbyCailleux(1942)andmodifiedbyMycielska-Dowgiałło&Woronko(1998).Dunesandgrainswerethenclassifiedaccordingto9degreesofroundnessalongwiththecharacteroftheirsurface,thusindica,ngthesediment’senvironmentalresidencyandthenatureofthatenvironment.

• Granulometry:18sampleswereanalyzedforgrainsizeandshapecharacteriza,onasdeterminedbyaMalvern®InstrumentsMorphologi®G3SEPar,cleCharacteriza,onSystem.Ourmorphoscopicimageanalysisisbasedontheautoma,cscanningofthesurfaceofathree-dimensional(3D)par,cleanditsconversionintoacorrespondingtwo-dimensional(2D)image.Quartz-grainshapesweredeterminedbythefollowingparameters:HS(HighSensi,vity)CircularityandConvexity.

• GrainMicrotexturebyScanningElectronMicroscope(SEM):whole-grainsurfaceswerescanned(JSM-6380LAJoel,Japan),thenanalyzedforroundnessandmicrotexturestohelpdeterminetheirsedimentaryenvironment.

• OpBcallySBmulatedLuminescence(OSL)DaBng:SixtubesamplesofdunesedimentswerecollectedforOSLda,ng,fiveat1.3mdepth,andoneat1.0mdepth—providingadateforeachstudysite.TheyarecurrentlyunderprocessattheUniversityoftheFraserValleyLuminescenceDa,ngLab.Adateof28.16±2.80kaisnotedfromanearliersample(USU-267),whichwastakenfromIndianBranchpaleochannelinfillnearIB-01.Asandsheethaddammedthatstreambelowthethermal-contrac,onpolygonsseenintheIB-01insetfigure(upperright).

WestMillsLune@e

EM/ELRMEM/RMOTHER

WestMillsDune

EM/ELRMEM/RMOTHER

Quaternary

braid plain 1

Quaternary

braid plain 2

End Pleistocene

channelHolocene

channel

dune field

relictplateau

Quaternary

braid plain 1

Quaternary

braid plain 2

End Pleistocene

channelHolocene channel

dune field

relictplateau

dune field relictplateau

MN-02 East Dune

Sampledatan~2mhighcrestofatransverse-to-parabolicdunemigra,ngfromWNWtoESE

LS-01 DuneSampledatan~6mhighcrestofaparabolicdunemigra,ngfromWNWtoESE

IB-01 DuneSampledatan~3mhighcrestofahairpinparabolicdunemigra,ngfromWNWtoESE

WM-01 LunetteSampledatan~1mhighdune-likestructurerimmingtheclosedbasin’sS&Eouteredge.

WM-02 DuneSampledatacrestofan~2.5mhighhairpinparabolicdunemigra,ngfromWNWtoESE.

Quaternarybraid plain 1

Quaternarybraid plain 2

PORT ELIZABETH

dune field

pitChandlers Run

relictplateau

dune field

Quaternarybraid plain 2

pit

Quaternary braid plain 2

pit

modified from Boyds Maps, 2019

height20 m

15 m

10 m

height10 m

05 m

0.3 m

Closed basin (“spung”) lunette & parabolic dune sites—Quick Terrain (QT) Modeler—

maximum limit of Pleistocene ice sheets

PA

DE

NJ

20 mi

40 km

PHILADELPHIA

CAPE MAY

A

B

C

Toms R\

Delaware R

N Rancocas Ck

S Rancocas Ck

Mullica R

Great Egg

Harbor R

Maurice R

Delaware R

Hudson R

Two parabolic dune sites; one proximal and one distal to river—Quick Terrain (QT) Modeler—

Great Egg Harbor River WatershedIndian Branch (to west) & Lochs-of-the-Swamp (to east)

Mullica River WatershedGum Spung (to north) / West Mills (central) / Great Swamp (to south)

Modified Cailleux Analysis for 0.8 to 1.0 mm grains at 30 cm depth (after Mycielska-Dowgiałło & Woronko, 1998)GRAINTYPE

KRUMBEINROUNDNESS CHARACTERISTICS ENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETATION

RM 0.7–0.9 Well-rounded with matt surface

Long-term high energy collisions in an eolian environment

EM/RM 0.3–0.6 Matt surface on convexed grains

High-energy collisions in an eolian environment, shorter duration than RM

EM/EL 0.3–0.6 Moderately rounded, smooth-shiny surface

Transport in fluvial or beach environment

All Others (C, NU, O)

— crushed, angular, or very intensively weatherd

additional grain types not necessarily associated with eolian activity

LS-01Dune

EM/ELRMEM/RMOTHER

IB-01Dune

EM/ELRMEM/RMOTHER

Manumuskin Dunesarefirstfedbylocalfluviallysourcedsand,thenareincreasinglyenrichedbysandentrainmentfromtheinterdunalsandsheet.

Weymouth

Lochs-of-the-Swampduneisdistaltotheriver,andisfedsandfromthesandsheetincontrasttotheriverproximalIndianBranchdune.

West Mills

Eolianbedformsherearemoreabundantlyenrichedbytheexcava,onoflocallysourceddepositsofancientmarginalmarinesand(Tch).

MN-02EastDune

EM/ELRMEM/RMOTHER

MN-01WestDune

EM/ELRMEM/RMOTHER

spung

Frequency Curve

Grainsizedistribu,onshowsthateachofthetestedsampleshasabimodaldistribu,onofgrains.Thefirstmodefallson0.5mmor0.354mmfrac,ongrains,thesecond,fineron0.0046mm,i.e.,ontheborderofdustandsilt.Preliminarily,thissuggestsahighwindregime.

Cumulative Curves

Twosegmentsaremarkedonthecumula,vecurves,oneresponsiblefortranspor,ngthroughsalta,on(steeplyinclined),theotherinsuspension(withasmallinclina,onangle).Thesteepertheslopesec,onis,thebe@erthesedimentsaresor,ng.

Sorting & Skewness

Themeangrainsizeofdunesamplesisamediumgrainedsand,withthelune@esampleresidingwithinfinesand.Theslightposi,veskewnessofallsamplesisindica,veofweigh,ngtowardsfinersediments,whichisprimarilymediumtofine-grainedsilt.Siltcomprisesbetween2and15%ofthedunesedimentsamples,whereasthelune@econtainsapproximately25%silt.Samplestendtobemoderatelysorted,withthelune@esamplelesssorted,owingagaintothehigherabundanceoffinesediment.

RM Type Grain

SEMofMN-01130cm:wellroundedandma@surfaced;veylongdura,onofeolianabrasion.

EM/RM Type Grains

SEMofLS-0130cm:nowcoated(weathered),yetitsearliereolianmicrotextureisnoteliminated.

Breakage Blocks

SEMofLS-0130cm:frostweatheringonmostconvexpor,onsofthiseoliangrain.

Quaternary

braid plain 1

Babcock

Creek W

Hors

e Br

idge

Br

pit

height28 m

18 m

09 m

Two parabolic dune sites —Quick Terrain (QT) Modeler—

lunette

lunette

lunette

lunette

lunette

salta

tion

suspension

saltation

suspension

HS Circularity

(Le6)WM-01MorphologiG3SEphotosoflune@egrainsat100cmdepth;lowestcircularity,li@letravelled.

(Right)MN-02130cm:G3SEMorphologiphotoofdunegrainsat130cmdepth;well-roundedbutnotfartravelled.