CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Harington, C.R.; Young, G.; Telka, A.; and Matile, G.
Date : 2007.
Title : Pleistocene mammals from Grunthal Quarry, southeastern Manitoba.
Publication : CANQUA Ottawa 2007. Canadian Quaternary Association Conference, June 4-8, 2007. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Bones of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius; 3 specimens), steppe? bison (Bison cf. B. priscus; 4 specimens), and tundra muskox (Ovibos moschatus; 1 specimen) were collected between 1990 and 2004 from a large quarry (Driedger’s Gravel Pit, 49°24’N, 96°51’W) some 55 km SSE of Winnipeg. A wood sample from the site yielded a radiocarbon age of 44,020 ? 1030 14C years B.P. (GX-27643; 13C corrected) suggesting a Middle Wisconsinan [Watino Nonglacial Interval] age for the mammalian fauna. It is worth noting that the Vita Formation of southeastern Manitoba has been correlated with the Middle Wisconsinan. A sample of woolly mammoth scapula submitted for radiocarbon dating in 2003 did not yield a separable collagen fraction, so could not be analysed. Stratigraphically, southeastern Manitoba has a significant area that is underlain by a suite of pre-Late Wisconsinan sediments. Grunthal Quarry is in that area, and the glaciofluvial sand and gravel exposed there was deposited in a glacially-cut channel in pre-Late Wisconsinan sediments. A typical stratigraphic column within the gravel pit is (from bottom to top): about 32+ m of unknown sediments (pre-Late Wisconsinan); 30 to about 32 m of organic-rich sandy silt (pre-Late Wisconsinan) – presumably the source of the bones, since this stratum is commonly underwater; 3 to about 30 m of glaciofluvial sand and gravel (Late Wisconsinan); 0 to 3 m of glacial till (Late Wisconsinan). A large sample of compacted organic-rich sediment (Grunthal 01-1) collected by Erik Nielsen from the site yielded macrofossil evidence suggesting a spruce (Picea)-dominated forest environment. Plant macrofossils also suggest poorly-drained land dominated by sedges, buckbean and mosses. Climate may have been cooler than present. In contrast, the large mammal fossils suggest cool grassy steppe to tundra surroundings. Perhaps they represent drier patches within a parkland setting or on the margin of the forested region – if indeed the mammalian fossils are contemporary with the plant and arthropod macrofossils from the locality.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology