Late Quaternary Sediments and Geomorphic History of the Southern Rocky Mountain Trench, British Columbia

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Author: Clague, John J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1975
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e75-054; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e75-054

The southern Rocky Mountain Trench was a major outlet valley of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Quaternary sediments underlying the floor of the trench in southeastern British Columbia consist mainly of glacial, glaciofluvial, and glaciolacustrine materials deposited during the Fraser (Pinedale) Glaciation, and fluvial and lacustrine sediments deposited during the preceding interglaciation.Deposits of three stades and two intervening nonglacial intervals are recognized. Interglacial sediments which contain wood dated at 26 800 ± 1000 y B.P. underlie drift of the early stade. During the interval between the early and middle stades, the Rocky Mountain Trench in southeastern British Columbia probably was completely deglaciated, and sediments were deposited in one or more lakes on the floor of the trench. In contrast, glacier recession between the middle and late stades was of short duration and extent; glaciolacustrine sediments were deposited only along the margins of the Rocky Mountain Trench, and apparently residual ice remained in the center of the valley. Final recession of the trunk glacier occurred prior to 10 000 y B.P. with no major halts and without significant stagnation of the terminus.