Linda P. M. Nicks

ES_John_Doe_210H-214W

M. Sc. Thesis

The Study of the Glacial Stratigraphy and Sedimentation of the Deposit Located at Sheldon Point, Saint John, New Brunswick

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The Sheldon Point deposit formed when Late Pleistocene ice grounded on the isostatically depressed coastal lowlands of southern New Brunswick at a time of relatively high sea level. The deposit offers a "window" into glacial and glaciomarine sediments that are seldom observed above sea level.

The Sheldon Point deposit is well exposed due to gravel extraction and eroding beach bluffs. There have been several C-14 dates obtained from shell material and peat moss from the deposit. Deposition is controlled by the position of the glacial margin, sediment discharge by subaqueous meltwater channel outlets, fluctuation of the ice margin, sea level, sediment-gravity flows, and bedrock topography.

The deposit represents the time transgressive sequence from a tidewater glacier to subaerial exposure. The deposit records the nature of sedimentation from approximately 14 000 yr BP until 10 000 yr BP and is sedimentologically complex. Two re-advances were observed during this time span. One re-advance occurred at approximately 12 800-12 500 yBP and the second readvance occurred between 11 800 and 11 200 yBP.

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Supervisor: David Scott