Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:10:01.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Laurentide Ice Sheet Extent Inferred from Stable Isotopic Composition (O,C) of Ostracodes at Toronto, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Henry P. Schwarcz  and
Nicholas Eyles
Henry P. Schwarcz
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada
Nicholas Eyles
Affiliation:
Glaciated Basin Research Group, Department of Geology, Scarborough Campus, University of Toronto, Scarborough, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Early and Middle Wisconsin glaciolacustrine sediments exposed at Scarborough Bluffs, Toronto, Canada, contain a low-diversity benthic ostracode fauna dominated by Candona subtringulata and C. caudata. We have studied the oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of the two ostracode species from the base of the Scarborough section to its top immediately below a Late Wisconsin till. We find an upward decrease in δ18O in both species that is more marked in C. caudata. The shift in δ18O of ostracode calcite from interglacial values of −6 to −8‰, to values of −17‰ immediately below the Late Wisconsin till is the result of (1) lowering of δ18O of the lake as a result of addition of isotopically light meltwater from an advancing and thickening Laurentide Ice Sheet combined with (2) lowering of δ18O of local precipitation entering the lake, due to falling temperatures. In the last stages of the lake, δ18O of the lake water was between −17 and −21‰, corresponding to a lake body composed of between 35 and 55% glacial meltwater. The lake appears to have been isotopically and thermally stratified for part of its history. Differences in δ13C values between C. caudata and C. subtriangulata increase upward in the stratigraphic section. This may record enhanced partitioning of carbon isotopes between surface and bottom waters as a result of increased water depths, photosynthesis by algae, and changes in the input of dissolved organic carbon from the oxidation of organic matter. If the age assessments of these sediments are correct, then these data provide valuable information regarding the isotopic composition of ancestral Lake Ontario and also confirm that the basin was only fully glaciated during the Late Wisconsin.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 35 , Issue 3-Part1 , May 1991 , pp. 305 - 320
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

Alley, R.B. Blankenship, D.D. Bentley, C.R. Rooney, S.T. Till beneath Ice Stream B, 3, Till deformation: Evidence and implications Journal of Geophysical Research 92 1987 8921 8930 Google Scholar
Alley, R.B. Blankenship, D.D. Rooney, S.T. Bentley, C.R. Sedimentation below ice shelves—The view from ice stream B Marine Geology 85 1989 101 120 Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T. Shilts, W.W. Miller, G.H. Multiple glaciations of the Hudson Bay lowlands, Canada, since deposition of the Missinaibi (last interglacial?) Formation Quaternary Research 19 1983 18 37 Google Scholar
Ashley, G.M. Rhythmic sedimentation in glacial lake Hitchcock, Massachusetts-Connecticut Jopling, A.V. McDonald, B.C. Glaciofluvial and Glaciolacustrine Sedimentation Special Volume 23 1975 Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Tulsa, OK 304 320 Google Scholar
Berger, G.W. Thermoluminescence studies of glacial silts from Ontario Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 21 1984 1393 1399 Google Scholar
Berti, A.A. Paleobotany of Wisconsin interstadials, eastern Great Lakes Region, North America Quaternary Research 5 1975 591 619 Google Scholar
Chappell, J. Shackleton, N.J. Oxygen isotopes and sea-level Nature 324 1986 137 140 Google Scholar
Csanaday, G.T. Response of large stratified lakes to wind Journal of Physical Oceanography 2 1972 3 13 2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curry, B.B. Absence of Altonian glaciation in Illinois Quaternary Research 31 1989 1 13 Google Scholar
Dansgaard, W. Stable isotopes in precipitation Tellus 16 1964 436 468 Google Scholar
Dansgaard, W. Tauber, H. Glacier oxygen-18 content and Pleistocene ocean temperatures Science 166 1969 499 502 Google Scholar
Delorme, L.D. Distribution of freshwater ostracodes in Lake Erie Journal of Great Lakes Research 4 1978 216 220 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delorme, L.D. Lake Erie oxygen: the prehistoric record Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 392 1982 1021 1029 Google Scholar
Desaulniers, D.E. Cherry, J.A. Fritz, P. Origin, age and movements of porewaters in argillaceous Quaternary deposits at four sites in southwestern Ontario Journal of Hydrology 50 1981 231 257 Google Scholar
Durazzi, J.T. Stable isotopes in the ostracode shell; a preliminary study Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 41 1977 1168 1170 Google Scholar
Emiliani, C. Pleistocene temperatures Journal of Geology 63 1955 538 578 Google Scholar
Epstein, S. Buchsbaum, R. Lowenstam, H.J. Urey, H.C. Revised carbonate-water isotopic temperature scale Geological Society of American Bulletin 64 1953 1315 1326 Google Scholar
Eyles, C.H. Eyles, N. Sedimentation in a large lake: A reinterpretation of the Late Pleistocene stratigraphy at Scarborough Bluffs, Ontario, Canada Geology 11 1983 146 152 Google Scholar
Eyles, N., and Williams, N. E. (in press). The sedimentary and biological record of the last interglacial/glacial transition at Toronto, Canada. In “The Record of the Last Interglacial/Glacial Transition in North America” (Lea, P. D. and Clark, P. U., Eds.). Geological Society of America Special Publication.Google Scholar
Eyles, N. Clark, B.M. Storm-influenced deltas and ice-scouring in a Late Pleistocene glacial lake Geological Society of America Bulletin 100 1988 793 809 Google Scholar
Eyles, N. Day, T.E. Gavican, A. Depositional controls on the magnetic characteristics of lodgement tills and other glacial diamict facies Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24 1987 2436 2458 Google Scholar
Eyles, N. Westgate, J.W. Restricted regional extent of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in the Great Lakes area during early Wisconsin glaciation Geology 15 1987 537 540 Google Scholar
Eyles, N. Late Pleistocene depositional systems of Metropolitan Toronto and their engineering and glacial geological significance Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24 1987 1009 1021 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Follmer, L.R. Sangamon and Wisconsin pedogenesis in the Midwestern United States Porter, S.C. The Late Pleistocene 1983 University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis, MN 138 144 Google Scholar
Fritz, P. Morgan, A.V. Eicher, U. McAndrews, J. Stable isotope, fossil coleoptera and pollen stratigraphy in Late Quaternary sediments from Ontario and New York State Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology 58 1987 183 202 Google Scholar
Fritz, P. Anderson, T.W. Lewis, C.F.M. Late Quaternary climatic trends and history of Lake Erie from stable isotope studies Science 190 1975 267 269 Google Scholar
Gustavson, T.C. Sedimentation and physical limnology in proglacial Malaspina Lake, southeastern Alaska Jopling, A. McDonald, B.C. Glaciofluvial and Glaciolacustrine Sedimentation Special Volume 23 1975 Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Tulsa, OK 249 263 Google Scholar
Gustavson, T.C. Boothroyd, J.C. A depositional model for outwash sediment sources and hydrologic characteristics. Malaspina Glacier, Alaska: A modern analog of the southeastern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet Geological Society of America Bulletin 99 1987 187 200 Google Scholar
Hicock, S.R. Dreimanis, A. Sunnybrook drift indicates a grounded early Wisconsin glacier in the Lake Ontario basin Geology 17 1989 169 172 2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hillaire-Marcel, C. Soucy, J.-M. Cailleus, A. Analyzes isotopique de concretions sousglaciares de l'inlandsis laurentidien et teneur en oxygen-18 de la glace Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 16 1979 1494 1498 Google Scholar
Johnson, W.H. Follmer, L.R. Source and origin of Roxana Silt and Middle Wisconsinan mid-continent glacial activity Quaternary Research 31 1989 319 331 Google Scholar
Karrow, P.F. Pleistocene Geology of the Scarborough Area, Ontario Department of Mines, Geological Report 46 1967 Google Scholar
Karrow, P.F. Studies in the Toronto Pleistocene Proceedings of the Geological Association of Canada 20 1969 4 16 Google Scholar
Karrow, P.F. Till stratigraphy in parts of southwestern Ontario Geological Society of America Bulletin 85 1974 761 768 Google Scholar
Karrow, P.F. Quaternary stratigraphy and history. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region Fulton, R.J. Quaternary Stratigraphy of Canada—A Canadian Contribution to IGCP Project 24 Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 84-10 1984 137 154 Google Scholar
Kelly, R.I. Martini, I.P. Pleistocene glaciolacustrine deltaic deposits of the Scarborough Formation, Ontario, Canada Sedimentary Geology 47 1986 27 52 Google Scholar
Kempton, J.P. Berg, R.C. Follmer, L.R. Revision of the stratigraphy and nomenclature of glacial deposits in central northern Illinois Illinoian and Wisconsinan Stratigraphy and Environments in Northern Illinois: The Altonian Revised Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Guidebook 19 1985 1 20 Google Scholar
Kerr-Lawson, L. Gastropods and Plant Macrofossils from the Quaternary Don Formation (Sangamonian Interglacial), Toronto, Ontario 1985 University of Waterloo Unpublished M.Sc. thesis Google Scholar
Lee, C. McKenzie, J.A. Sturn, N. Carbon isotope fractionation and changes in the flux and composition of particulate matter resulting from biological activity during a sediment trap experiment in Lake Greifen, Switzerland Limnology and Oceanography 32 1987 83 96 Google Scholar
Mahaney, W.H. Macrofabrics and quartz microstructures confirm glacial origin of Sunnybrook drift in the Lake Ontario basin Geology 18 1990 145 148 Google Scholar
Martinson, D.G. Pisias, N.G. Hays, J.D. Imbrie, J. Moore, T.C. Shackleton, N.J. Age dating and the orbital theory of the Ice Ages: Development of a high-resolution 0 to 300,000 year chronostratigraphy Quaternary Research 27 1987 1 29 Google Scholar
McKenzie, J.A. Carbon isotopes and productivity in the lacustrine and marine environment Stumm, W. Chemical Processes in Lakes 1985 Wiley New York 99 188 Google Scholar
Mortimer, C.H. Lake hydrodynamics Mitteilen International Verein Limnologie 20 1974 124 197 Google Scholar
Poplawski, S. Karrow, P.F. Ostracodes and paleoenvironments of the late Quaternary Don and Scarborough formations, Toronto, Ontario Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 18 1981 1497 1505 Google Scholar
Rutka, M.A. Eyles, N. Ostracode faunas in a large Pleistocene ice-dammed lake, southern Ontario, Canada Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 73 1989 61 76 Google Scholar
Salomons, W. Mook, W.G. Isotope geochemistry of carbonates in the weathering zone Fritz, P. Fontes, J.-C. Fritz, P. Fontes, J.-C. Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry Vol. 2 1986 The Terrestrial Environment, B 239 269 Google Scholar
Solomon, S. Comment on “Quartz-grain surface textures: Evidence for middle Carboniferous glacial sediment input to the Parrsboro Formation of Nova Scotia” Geology 14 1986 92 93 Google Scholar
Shackelton, N.J. Opdyke, N.J. Oxygen isotope and paleomagnetic stratigraphy of equatorial Pacific core V28–238: Oxygen isotope temperatures and ice volumes on a 105 and 106 year scale Quaternary Research 3 1973 89 98 Google Scholar
Sibrava, V. Bowen, D.Q. Richmond, G.M. Quaternary galciations in the Northern Hemisphere Quaternary Science Reviews 5 1986 1 511 Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. 18O content of precipitation during the last 11,000 years in the Great Lakes Region Science 162 1968 994 997 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westgate, J. Chen, F.J. Delorme, L.D. Lacustrine ostracods in the late Pleistocene Sunnybrook diamicton of southern Ontario, Canada Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24 1987 2330 2335 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westgate, J.W. Delorme, L.D. Lacustrine ostracodes in the Late Pleistocene Sunnybrook diamict of southern Ontario, Canada: Reply Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 25 1988 1721 1723 Google Scholar
Williams, N.E. Westgate, J.A. Williams, D.D. Morgan, A. Morgan, A.V. Invertebrate fossils (Insecta: Trichoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera) from the Pleistocene Scarborough Formation at Toronto, Ontario and their paleoenvironmental significance Quaternary Research 16 1981 146 166 Google Scholar