Submarine sedimentary features on a fjord delta front, Queen Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska
Side-scan sonar images provide a view of an actively changing delta front in a marine outwash fjord in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Numerous interconnected gullies and chute-like small channels form paths for the transport of sand and coarse silt from the braided glacial outwash streams on the delta plain t...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1992
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e92-049 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e92-049 |
| Summary: | Side-scan sonar images provide a view of an actively changing delta front in a marine outwash fjord in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Numerous interconnected gullies and chute-like small channels form paths for the transport of sand and coarse silt from the braided glacial outwash streams on the delta plain to the sinuous turbidity-current channels incised into the fjord floor. These turbidity-current channels carry coarse sediment through the fjord and into the adjoining glacial trunk valley. Several sedimentary processes affect the development of this delta front: overflow plumes deposit fine sediment; sediment gravity flows result from episodic delivery of large loads of coarse sediment; and mass movement may be triggered by earthquakes and, more regularly, by spring-tidal drawdown or hydraulic loading. |
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