ABSTRACT: Observations on the Quaternary at the head of the Gaspé Peninsula, Québec. [Observations sur le Quaternaire de l Extremité Orientale de la Peninsule De Gaspé, Québec.]

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Abstract

Three major types of glacial events have been identified over the Gaspé Peninsula, east of Rivière au Renard: 1) a radial ice-flow towards Baie de Gaspé and the Gulf of St. Lawrence coming from the Appalachian ridges. This ice-flow pattern is related to a local ice-cap and was identified from cirques in the hilis, evidence of ice-flow in the valleys and the dispersion of erratics over the peninsula. 2) An important ice-flow in Baie de Gaspé which has been identified from glacial striations, till lithology and from the submarine topography of the bay. 3) A glacial influence of the Laurentide icesheet along the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence as evidenced by drift-ice striations and Precambrian clasts in glaciomarine deposits. This Laurentide ice influence is related to either a floating ice platform or to large icebergs. According to radiocarbon dates, deglaciation along the eastern Gaspé coast of the Gu1f is synchronous with the deglaciation of the coast of the maritime estuary further west dated at about 13,400 - 13,600 years B.P. Evidence of a sea level at 30 m seems to mark the limit reached by the Goldthwait Sea in the study area. However, coastal erosion surfaces, raised notches in the cliffs and some sediments suggest that many fluctuations of the relative sea level occurred before glaciation and during the Quaternary. The most important Holocene geomorphological processes are mass movements, fluvial surges, lacustrine sedimentation and shoreline erosion and sedimentation.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology