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Regional Significance of pre-Wisconsinan Till from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

R. N. Oldale  and
D. M. Eskenasy
R. N. Oldale
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 USA
D. M. Eskenasy
Affiliation:
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 USA
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Abstract

A major pre-Wisconsinan glacial event is the only possible source of the lower till on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. The till occurs near the late Wisconsinan drift border and below fossiliferous marine beds of oxygen-isotope stage 5 (Sangamonian) age. It is considered to be Illinoian in age, but the evidence is tenuous. The till is correlated with the lower till of New England, and its presence supports the view that the New England upper and lower tills represent two glaciations. The pre-Wisconsinan (lower) till in New England may correlate with older tills elsewhere in the northeastern United States and in southeastern Canada that are considered to be early Wisconsinan or older in age.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , May 1983 , pp. 302 - 311
Copyright
University of Washington

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