ABSTRACT: Physical properties of lacustrine sediments as environmental and paleoenvironmental indicator: the montane record

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

Much of the link between the environment of the drainage and air sheds of a lake and the characteristics of the lake itself is one of mass and energy transfer, that is, of physical processes. Therefore, the physical characteristics of the sedimentary record provide important information about the processes by which the sediment was created, transported to and in the lake, and deposited. Understanding these physical processes is vital to assessing present and past environmental conditions of the earth systems of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. Stratigraphic and sedimentary analyses of glaciolacustrine deposits of lakes in the Cordillera of western Canada obtained by remote sensing and by examination of cores and sections illustrate this principle. Once understood it may be applied to a variety of similar environments, for example, montane monsoon regions where sediment production is also large and highly seasonal. Acoustic surveys provide assessment of regional patterns of sediment distribution and deposition, and the extent of erosion, redistribution and sediment focusing in the lake basin. These document processes and energy levels of the lake and its basin and validate detailed examination of the sedimentary record. Carefully reconstructed stratigraphy and the measurement of textural and bulk properties of sediments resolve intra-annual events and longer-term cyclic and secular changes documented in the instrumental and observational record of earth systems. From this calibration, the much longer record beyond the instrumental may be inferred with confidence.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology