Sedimentary evidence for deforming bed conditions associated with a grounded Irish Sea glacier, southern Ireland

O Cofaigh, C. and Evans, D.J.A. (2001) Sedimentary evidence for deforming bed conditions associated with a grounded Irish Sea glacier, southern Ireland. Journal of Quaternary Science, 16, pp. 435-454.

Abstract

Along the south coast of Ireland, a shelly diamict facies, the Irish Sea Till, has been variously ascribed to subglacial deposition by a grounded Irish Sea glacier or to glacimarine sedimentation by suspension settling and iceberg rafting. Observations are presented here from five sites along the south coast to directly address this question. At these sites, sedimentary evidence is preserved for the onshore advance of a grounded Irish Sea glacier, which glacitectonically disturbed and eroded pre-existing sediments and redeposited them as deformation till. Recession of this Irish Sea glacier resulted in the damming of ice-marginal lakes in embayments along the south coast, into which glacilacustrine sedimentation then took place. These lake sediments were subsequently glacitectonised and reworked by overriding glacier ice of inland origin, which deposited deformation till on top of the succession. There is no evidence for deposition of the Irish Sea diamicts by glacimarine sedimentation at these sites. The widespread development of subglacial deforming bed conditions reflected the abundance of fine-grained marine and lacustrine sediments available for subglacial erosion and reworking. Stratigraphical and chronological data suggest that the advance of a grounded Irish Sea glacier along the south coast occurred during the last glaciation, and this is regionally consistent with marine geological data from the Celtic Sea. These observations demonstrate extension of glacier ice far beyond its traditional limits in the Celtic Sea and on-land in southern Ireland during the last glaciation, and remove the stratigraphical basis for chronological differentiation of surficial glacial drifts, and thus the Munsterian Glaciation, in southern Ireland.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: UNSPECIFIED
• Authors: O Cofaigh, C., and Evans, D.J.A.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Journal of Quaternary Science