CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Barlow, J.; Hopkinson, C.; and Franklin, S.
Date : 2008.
Title : Examining crevice cave formation along the Niagara Escarpment using high resolution LiDAR data.
Publication : Joint Annual Meeting of the Canadian Geophysical Union and the Canadian Geomorphology Research Group. May 11-14, Banff, Alberta.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
The rheological properties of shale formations found within the stratigraphy of the Niagara Escarpment posses a yield strength that is significantly below the effective stresses expected due to overburden. Deformation within the Cabot Head Shale and the Queenston shale is therefore the probable cause of the crevice and crevice cave features that are ubiquitous to all of the cliffed sections of the escarpment between Hamilton and Collingwood Ont. This research addresses the origins of the crevice features through high resolution light direction and ranging (LiDAR) mapping of the escarpment outlier near Milton Ont. Aerial LiDAR surveys of the area were converted to a bare earth digital elevation model (DEM) and the long axis of each crevice was mapped relative to the differing aspects of the cliff face. Crevices forming due to gravitational creep would be expected to form along all cliffs regardless of aspect while taking advantage of the preexisting jointing structure present in the cap rock. Our data strongly indicate that the post glacial evolution of the Niagara Escarpment in Southern Ontario is due to gravitational creep within the shale layers.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology