Palaeoecology of marine Pleistocene Mollusca, Nova Scotia

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Author: Wagner, Frances J. E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1977
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Long Island; Breton Island; Nantucket
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e77-119; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e77-119

Fossiliferous Pleistocene sediments are present in western mainland Nova Scotia and on Cape Breton Island. Two ages of deposits are represented: post-glacial in the Minas Basin area and mid-Wisconsinan in the Yarmouth–Digby area and Cape Breton. The mid-Wisconsinan age is based on both radiocarbon and U–Th dates. Molluscan assemblages indicate water temperatures colder than at present at the time of deposition of the post-glacial sediments, and comparable to the present for the older deposits. Assemblages from the Yarmouth–Digby area are compared with those of similar age from Tobaccolot Bay, Long Island, New York, and from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Foraminifera, previously unreported, were found in sediments of both ages.