CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Fox, J.C.
Date : 1974
Title : Glacial geomorphology of the Cataract Brook Valley, Yoho National Park, British Columbia
Publication : Unpublished M.Sc. thesis. University of Alberta, Edmonton
Issue :
Page(s) : 148 pp
Abstract
The study was undertaken to map the surficial deposits and landforms in the Cataract Brook Valley, Yoho National Park, B.C. and to determine the glacial history of the valley. The study area lies just to the west of the Continental Divide, extending south from Kicking Horse Pass. No stratigraphic sections were found that contain more than one till sheet, and the tills cannot be differentiated by grain size or lithologic characteristics. Therefore reliance was placed on geomorphic criteria and the areal relationships between tills and other glacial deposits and landforms. Field work was conducted to map the surficial deposits and landforms and to determine the relative ages of the tills. Laboratory work was conducted to describe and differentiate the tills. Four glacial ice advances are recorded. The oldest advance, the earliest recorded in the study area, is indicated by high altitude remnants of lateral moraines and breaks in slope.This advance is tentatively correlated with Rutter,s (1972) Eisenhower Junction advance, in the Bow Valley. A second advance, the Early Intermediate advance, is recorded by lower breaks in slope, two recessional moraines, ground moraine and two kame terraces. This advance also extended out of the study area, via the Kicking Horse Pass, to the east. The next advance, the Late Intermediate advance, extended to the central portion of the Cataract Brook Valley. Evidence for this advance includes well preserved end moraine systems, deposited by four bodies of ice, erosional surfaces, fresh cirques and terminal moraines. The most recent advance was limited to the extreme upper portions of the cirques. The evidence for this recent advance includes six fresh, well-preserved terminal moraines and some lateral moraines. The recent advance is dated from photographic evidence as achieving its maximum extent in the early part of this century. The Late Intermediate advance is probably of Neoglacial age (post-Altithermal 6500 - 4000 yrs B.P.) and the Early Intermediate and Oldest advances are probably pre-Altithermal in age. Rock glaciers, block fields and pro-talus ramparts indicate two cold periods between the Late Intermediate and the most recent advance.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology