Cryostratigraphy of aeolian sand sheets in arctic Canada and NW Europe
During much of the Quaternary, NW Europe experienced cold, non-glacial conditions. A legacy of these periods are the periglacial structures found in the stratigraphic record, many of which contain wind-blown material. Unfortunately, the reconstruction of the conditions responsible for these features has been hindered both by a limited understanding of cryogenic processes and structures, and by the fragmentary nature of terrestrial Quaternary sequences.
Recent progress in understanding contemporary features indicates that the cryostratigraphical record may hold key information on the rates of climatic amelioration. Investigations are currently being carried out to date and characterise such structures in Arctic Canada and relate them to relict evidence in NW Europe.
The work is partly funded by The Royal Society and NERC. Ten publications and one further one in press have come from this work so far.
Key Outcomes
- Erosion of dune systems in the McKenzie Delta have been dated and tied to Lake Aggassiz outburst floods which may have caused the Younger Dryas event (Nature paper)
- Work on Thanet, UK has shown a good relationship of cryogenic structures to periods of rapid climate amelioration over last 24,000 years
- Ongoing investigations in NW territory Canada have established the timing and extend of Toiga Point glaciation in the McKenzie Delta area.
Recent papers
- Bateman, M.D., Murton, J.B. and Boulter, C. (2010). The source of De variability in periglacial sand wedges: depositional processes versus measurement issues. Quaternary Geochronology, 5(2-3), 250-256.
doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2009.03.007 - Bateman, M.D. (2008). Luminescence dating of periglacial sediments and structures: A Review. Boreas, 37(4), 574-588.
doi:10.1111/j.1502-3885.2008.00050.x - Murton, J.B. and Bateman, M.D. (2007). Syngenetic Sand Veins and Anti—Syngenetic Sand Wedges, Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Western Arctic Canada. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 18(1), 33-47.
doi:10.1002/ppp.577 - Bateman, M.D. and Murton, J.B. (2006). The Chronostratigraphy of Late Pleistocene Glacial and Periglacial Aeolian Activity in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, NWT, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews, 25(19-20), 2552-2568.
doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2005.07.023
SHERPA Archive version (open access) - Murton, J.B., Bateman, M.D., Baker, C.A., Knox, R. and Whiteman, C.A. (2003). The Devensian periglacial record on Thanet, Kent, UK. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 14, 217-246.
doi:10.1002/ppp.442