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Glacial and periglacial sediments and landforms record the chronology of glaciation and amount of Pleistocene erosion during colder periods that added substantially to global sediment budgets and contributed to the global CO2 cycle. The now-drained glacial Lake Devlin, dammed in a Front Range tributary valley by a glacier in the North Branch of Boulder Creek (Colorado, USA) preserves an important sedimentary archive of the ca. 32−14 ka Pinedale glaciation, recording both paleoclimate information and an integrated measure of glacial and periglacial erosion rates over a full glacial cycle. Despite rapid erosion of fine-grained deposits after the lake drained, most sediment generated during Pinedale time remains as legacy deposits in the catchment. Geomorphic evidence and dating of glaciolacustrine sediment from surface exposures demonstrate that the ca. 30 ka Pinedale glacial advance was nearly as extensive as the local Late Glacial Maximum at ca. 20 ka. Sedimentary archives dated by 14C, optically stimulated luminescence, and cosmogenic nuclides extend earlier studies (Madole et al., 1973) of pollen and magnetic susceptibility (MS) in cores from the glaciolacustrine deposits of Lake Devlin and of Pinedale climate. Records suggest short-term warming and biotic change at ca. 15 ka after ∼14 kyr of cold, dry conditions punctuated by MS peaks at ca. 26.5 ka, 20 ka, and 16.5 ka. Lake Devlin drained catastrophically after ca. 14 ka, millennia after ice had retreated upvalley from the lateral moraine that dammed the lake. Sediment production during the Pinedale was equivalent to a periglacial and glacial erosion rate of ∼70 mm kyr−1, several times higher than long-term rates in the adjacent Front Range, but much lower than rates measured where modern glaciers are eroding weak bedrock in zones of rapid rock uplift, such as SSE Alaska, USA. Data from the Lake Devlin basin contribute to contemporary discussions of how glacial erosion influences the global CO2 cycle.
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This content will become publicly available on July 3, 2026
Differentiating between salt-tectonic and paleoclimatic processes in Quaternary sedimentary records from the Fisher Valley basin, Utah
The Fisher Valley basin (FVB), located adjacent to the Onion Creek salt diapir, Paradox basin, Utah, USA, constitutes one of the thickest collections of Quaternary sediments within the Colorado Plateau. These sediments are important for constraining regional paleoclimate environments as well as recent tectonic movement of the Onion Creek salt diapir. Here, we combine magnetic susceptibility data with previously published age constraints (Bishop Tuff and Lava Creek B ash) into a cyclostratigraphic analysis of these sediments. We present a refined and astronomically tuned age model that demonstrates that deposition of the upper basin fill was between ca. 765 ka and 212 ± 8 ka. Correlating this chronologic model to environmental magnetic proxies, we show that from ca. 765 ka to ca. 535 ka, magnetic mineral assemblages deposited during glacials were characterized by generally finer grain sizes (elevated χARM/χlow) than during interglacials. These data are consistent with glacial periods being characterized by either wetter conditions amenable to pedogenesis, or drier conditions associated with increased concentrations of windblown dust. Interglacials are characterized by generally coarser magnetic grain sizes (lower χARM/χlow), consistent with periods of episodic alluvial and colluvial deposition in the FVB. At ca. 535 ka, χARM/χlow reach their lowest value (coarsest magnetic grain size) and then begin a progressive transition to higher values, consistent with a generally fining upward stratigraphic sequence throughout the rest of the section. This transition at ca. 535 ka coincides with a peak in sediment accumulation rate of ∼19 cm/k.y. and is most plausibly linked to halokinetic activity of the nearby Onion Creek salt diapir. Thus, although sediments in the FVB appear to be sensitive to global climate patterns between 765 ka and ca. 535 ka, local tectonic processes appear to episodically obscure this sensitivity.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2221050
- PAR ID:
- 10623924
- Publisher / Repository:
- Geological Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Geological Society of America Bulletin
- ISSN:
- 0016-7606
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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