Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:06:16.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Glacio-Periglacial Landforms within the Susquehanna Great Bend Area of New York and Pennsylvania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Cuchlaine A.M. King  and
Donald R. Coates
Cuchlaine A.M. King
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7/2RD, England
Donald R. Coates
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13901 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Previous attention has been called to the morphology of the glaciated Appalachian Plateau, including periglacial phenomena (Coates, 1970; Conners, 1969). This paper deals with an unusually well-developed hierarchy of small landforms in the Great Bend area of the Susquehanna River. Essential properties of these features include: (1) concentration in N-S valleys, (2) till composition, (3) concavo-convex form, sometimes ending in a hill on the valley floor, (4) alternation with steep, truncated bedrock spurs, (5) a col in the interfluve at their head. These characteristics could be explained by the following sequence of events. A prior fluvial landscape was eroded with tributary streams forming lateral valleys that head in cols along the divides. The main stream flowed south between interlocking spurs. Ice then widened the valley, leaving truncated spurs and a straightened stream. Deposition of locally derived till filled tributary valleys, similar to till shadows (Coates, 1966). In periglacial conditions, while nivation was widening the tributary valley heads, solifluction in the unstable till was forming the concavo-convexities that alternate with the truncated bedrock spurs. The hierarchy of forms range from minor convexities to small hills on the main valley floor. Thus, the features are primarily of periglacial origin, but owe their development and position to prior subaerial and glacial events. The cycle may have occurred during more than a single glacial episode. The recession of bedrock spurs and the valley floor convexity of the till features have caused a reversal in stream sinuosity of the main valley.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , December 1973 , pp. 600 - 620
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, J.T., King, C.A.M., (1968)Comparative till fabrics and till fabric variability in a till sheet and a drumlin: a small scale study. Proc. Yorks. Geol. Soc. 36, 435–461.Google Scholar
Coates, D.R., (1966)Glaciated Appalachian Plateau: Till shadows on hills. Science 152, 1617–1619.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coates, D.R., (1969)Die geomorphische geometrie des Appalachischen Vergletscherungs plateaus. VIII Congres INQUA Paris11Resumes des Communications.Google Scholar
Coates, D.R., (1970)Topographic basins in the uplands of the Appalachian Plateau. Geological Society of America 2, 1 15(Abstracts with Programs).Google Scholar
Coates, D.R., (1972)Hydrogeomorphology of Susquehanna and Delaware basins. Morisawa, M., Quantitative Geomorphology: Some aspects and Applications. Publications in Geomorphology State University of New York Binghamton 272–306.Google Scholar
Conners, J.A., (1969)Geomorphology of the Genegantslet Basin of New York. Unpublished M.A. Thesis State University of New York Binghamton 154.Google Scholar
Denny, C.S., (1956)Surficial Geology and geomorphology of Potter County, Pennsylvania. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 288 72.Google Scholar
Denny, C.S., Lyford, W.H., (1963)Surficial Geology and Soils of the Elmira-Williamsport Region, New York and Pennsylvania. 60U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 379.Google Scholar
Giddings, E.B., Flora, D.F., Olson, G.W., (1971)Soil Survey, Broome County. New York. U.S. Dept. of Agric., U.S. Govt. Printing Office Washington, D.C., 95.Google Scholar
Harrison, J.E., (1966)Proglacial drainage evolution and deglaciation of the Great Bend region, Pennsylvania and New York. Unpublished M.A. ThesisState University of New York Binghamton 71.Google Scholar
Løken, O.H., (1969)Evidence of surges on the Barnes Ice Cap, Baffin Island. Canadian J. Earth Science 6, 899–901.Google Scholar
Peltier, L.C., (1949)Pleistocene Terraces of the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania. 158Penn. Geol. Surv. 4th Ser. Bull. G23.Google Scholar
Schytt, V., (1969)Some comments on glacier surges in East Svalbard. Canadian J. Earth Science 6, 867–873.Google Scholar
Thorarinsson, S., (1969)Glacier surges in Iceland, with special reference to the surges of Bruarjokull. Canadian J. Earth Science 6, 875–882.Google Scholar