Monday, 27 August 2007 - 4:40 PM
1.P2.B-4

Thick lacustrine sedimentary sequence in Christie Arm, Canada, suggests a dynamic subglacial paleo-lake beneath Laurentide Ice Sheet

Slawek Tulaczyk1, Poul Christoffersen2, Nigel Wattrus3, Justin Peterson1, and Nadine Quintana-Krupinski1. (1) Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, (2) Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambrdige University, Cambridge, CB2 1ER, United Kingdom, (3) Large Lake Observatory, University of Minnesota - Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812

Sedimentary sequences deposited in subglacial paleo-lakes may be present in deep lake basins deglaciated by the retreat of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets after the Last Glacial Maximum. Such sequences represent a potential archive of ice sheet dynamics and life in subglacial environments. They may also be used as testing ground for sampling and analyses of sediments contained in Antarctic subglacial lakes. We identified the Christie Arm of Great Slave Lake as the best candidate for a paleo-subglacial lake. Seismic surveys in Christie Arm show a >150-m-thick lacustrine basin fill that is overlain by a ~20-m-thick lacustrine drape and underlain by glacial till. The continuous lacustrine drape is interpreted as postglacial sediments and the basin fill as deposits formed in a subglacial paleo-lake Christie during last glaciation. The significant thickness of the interpreted subglacial lake unit implies relatively high sedimentation rates and water inflow/outflow rates in the subglacial basin.