CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : George, L.C.
Date : 1992.
Title : A study of some Quaternary periglacial fluvio-aeolian sands and their modern analogues.
Publication : Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Nottingham.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
The field characteristics, stratigraphy, sedimentology, particle-size distribution, mineralogy and palaeoenvironmental data of the traditionally `wind-blown' sands or coversands of eastern England have been studied. The impact of the sands on contemporary soil properties is discussed briefly. Comparisons are drawn between these sands and fluvio-aeolian sediments in the Sachs River Valley of Banks Island, N.W.T.,Canada. In Lincolnshire, quarry sections with profiles ranging from a few centimetres to several metres in thickness indicate irregularity of cover. Depostion was evidently widespread in the Wolds regions of eastern England, especially on the west facing scarp slopes, but exposures in Yorkshire are rare. Deposition of coversands began in the Loch Lomond Stadial and continued into the Flandrian, when pedogenesis and human activities altered the upper metre or so of the sands. Storms in historic periods caused further sandblow which continues today. Particle-sized analyses indicate that the transporting winds blew from the west in the Loch Lomond Stadial. These analyses and Scanning Electron Microscopy also assist in distinguishing the coversands from underlying glaciofulvial sands. Heavy mineral distributions are complex and suggest two different areas of deposition centred over the Trent and Ancholme River Valleys, respectively. The source materials for the sands included the Permo-Trias of the Midlands and the glaciofluvial sands of the Trent and Ancholme Valleys. Pollen analyses from below and within the coversands suggest a barren cold desert dominated by sedges, grasses and shrubs during the Loch Lomond Stadial. Permafrost was absent but seasonal freezing probably occurred. Within the coversands a continuum is envisaged between fluvial sands and those deposited in entirely dry desert conditions. The availability of moisture controlled the form of bedding. From fieldwork on Banks Island it is envisaged that ephemeral spring meltwaters in the Trent and Ancholme Valleys drained desert sandflats that bordered the fluvial floodplains.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology