This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 69-11,676 McKENZIE, Garry Donald, 1941- GLACIAL HISTORY OF ADAMS INLET, SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1968 Geology University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan GLACIAL HISTORY OF ADAMS INLET, SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Garry Donald McKenzie, B. Sc., M. Sc. The Ohio State University 1968 Approved by Advisfe DepartmentVf Geology ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was conducted as part of a continuing investiga­ tion of the glacial geology of Glacier Bay National Monument by members of the Institute of Pciar Studies, The Ohio State University. The report is the result of two field seasons in the summers of 1966 and 1967 in Adams Inlet, Alaska. The writer wishes to express his sincere thanks to Dr. Richard P. Goldthwait, Chairman of the Department of Geology, who suggested the problem, supervised the research, and spent several weeks in the field. For this assistance and constructive criticism the writer is deeply indebted. Thanks are also due to Dr. Arthur Mirsky, former Assistant Director of the Institute, who was helpful in many ways including preparation for the field. The U.S. National Park Service provided excellent logistical support during both field seasons. Special thanks are extended to Captain James Saunders and the crew of the Park Service motor vessel * Nunatak for transportation to the field, and to Mr. Charles Janda and the Park Service Staff at Bartlett Cove who provided numerous resupply trips, and transportation from the field at the end of the season. The enthus­ iastic support of the project by Mr. Robert E. Howe, Superintendent of Glacier Bay and Sitka National Monuments, and assistance from the Park Service Staff in Juneau is gratefully acknowledged. During the 1966 field season, the writer was assisted by Mr. W. C. Lefler of the University of Kansas, and by Mr. T. R. Merre 11,111 of St. Olaf College. In 1967 the writer was again assisted by Mr. Merrell and by Mr. Steven Goldthwait of Dartmouth College. Assistance in establishing camp during the 1966 and 1967 field seasons was provided by Messrs. J. N. Westwater and D. I. McKenzie, respectively. My thanks go particularly to Mr. T. R. Merrell,II of the U.S. Fish and ii Wildlife Service who kindly helped in many friendly ways, and who provided transportation and the hospitality of his home to the field party while in Juneau. Mr. Herbert Mehrling assisted in preparation of equip­ ment for the field and the drafting was done by Mr. Richard L. Jolley. Various staff members of the Department of Geology, The Ohio State University, were consulted during the laboratory studies. Dr. Aur&le La Rocque identified the macrofossils and Dr. Walter Sweet examined some Foraminifera from the Forest Creek Formation. Dr. George E. Moore, Jr. advised on the mineralogical investigations, and Dr. Charles H. Schultz examined a sample of volcanic ash. The computer program, used to reduce and plot the till fabric data, was written by Dr. Charles E. Corbatdf. Dr. Larry P. Wilding, of the Department of Agronomy, The Ohio State University, supervised work done by the writer in the Soil Miner­ alogy Laboratory. The writer is grateful for Dr. Wilding's suggestions regarding the clay minerals and the spectrographic analyses. Mr. L. Richard Drees, of the Soil Mineralogy Laboratory, assisted in processing the samples and in interpreting the results. The writer is indebed to Mr. E. Moye Rutledge, who permitted the writer to use some of the facilities of the Ohio Soil Survey Characterization Laboratory and who ran the cation analyses and several granulometric analyses. It is a pleasure to give credit to Dr. Paul A. Colinvaux, of The Ohio State University College of Biological Sciences, who placed essential equipment at the writer's disposal and who was very helpful in the palynological investiga­ tions . The writer is also thankful for advice received from Mrs. E. K. Schofield and Mrs.P. Colbaugh of the same college. Correspondence with Dr. D. A. Brew, Dr. R. W. Lemke, and Dr. A. T. Ovenshine, geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey, greatly benefited the writer. Members of the Institute of Polar Studies and the Department of Geology at The Ohio State University provided valuable advice and discussion. Especialy helpful were: Dr. George Haselton, now at Clem- son University, and Messrs. Gerald Holdsworth, John Lindsay, 6edomir Marangunic, Peter Morgan, Donald Peterson, and Geoffrey Smith. iii The writer is grateful to the National Science Foundation, which supported the research through grant GA-403, awarded to The Ohio State University Research Foundation (Project 2200) and administered by The Institute of Polar Studies. The manuscript was reviewed by Dr. R. P. Goldthwait, Dr. S. E. White, Dr. G. E. Moore, Jr. and Mr. J. Splettstoesser. iv VITA June 8, 1941 Born - Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. 1963 ....... B. Sc., University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario 196 4 ............... Demonstrator, Department of Geology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. 1964 ............... M.Sc., University of Western Ontario , London , Ontario. 1965-1966 .. Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. 1966-present Research Associate, Institute of Polar Studies , The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Summers of Glacial Geologist, Adams Inlet 1966 and 1967 Expedition, Glacier Bay, Alaska. 1966 (Fall).. Assistant, Meserve Glacier Expedition, Wright Valley, Antarctica. 1968 (Summer) Assistant, Genovesa Island Expedition, Galapagos, Ecuador. PUBLICATIONS "The type section of the Port Talbot Interstadial." M.Sc. Thesis, Univ­ ersity of Western Ontario, 144 p., 1964. "The Port Talbot Interstadial of the Wisconsin Glaciation," (Abstract), with A. Dreimanis , and J. Terasmae, Abstracts General Sessions, INQUA Congr. 7, p. 108-109, 1965 . v "The Port Talbot Interstade of the Wisconsin Glaciation," with A. Dreimanis, and J. Terasmae, Canadian Jour. Earth Sciences, v. 3, p. 305-325, 1966. "Snow-bank kames," (Abstract). Ohio Acad. Sci., Abstracts of Papers, 76th Annual Meeting, Dayton, Ohio, 1967. "Definition of a glacier cave with two examples from Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska," (Abstract) with D. N. Peterson, Ohio Acad. Sci., Abstracts of Papers, 77th Annual Meeting, Bowling Green, Ohio, 1968. "Review of 'Introduction to geology: physical and h istorical,' by William L. Stokes, and Sheldon Judson," Ohio Jour. Sci., v. 68, p. 225, 1968. "Observations of a glacier cave in Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska," with D. N. Peterson, Natl. Speleol. Soc. Bull., in press. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Geology Studies in Glacial Geology. Professor Richard P. Goldthwait Studies in Geomorphology. Professor Richard P. Goldthwait Studies in Glaciology. Professor Colin B. B. Bull Studies in Soil Mineralogy. Professor Larry P. Wilding Studies in Petrography. Professor George E. Moore, Jr. Studies in Climatology Professor John N. Rayner Studies in Pollen Analyses . Professor Paul A. Colinvaux vi CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii VITA v TABLES ix ILLUSTRATIONS X INTRODUCTION 1 Location of Area 1 Nature of Investigations 1 Previous Investigations 10 Glacial Geology 14 DESCRIPTION OF AREA 15 Physiography 15 Bedrock Geology 19 Climate 23 GLACIAL STRATIGRAPHY: LATE WISCONSIN 28 Standard Succession 28 Nomenclature 29 Granite Canyon Till 30 Forest Creek Formation 61 GLACIAL STRATIGRAPHY: NEOGLACIAL 77 Lower Member of the Van Horn Formation 77 Adams Formation 85 Berg Formation 101 Glacier Bay Formation and the Last Glaciation 107 GLACIAL STRATIGRAPHY: LATE NEOGFACIAL AND POST-GLACIAL 139 Seal River Formation 139 Post-Glacial Deposits 140 vii CONTENTS (Continued) Page SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IN ADAMS INLET 148 Events Prior to Neoglacial Deglaciation 148 Neoglacial Deglaciation 149 SUMMARY 154 APPENDIXES Appendix A. Fabric Program 159 Appendix B. Operating conditions for X-ray diffraction 160 Appendix C. Operating conditions for X-ray spectroscopy 161 Appendix D. Selected stratigraphic sections 162 Appendix E . Pebble counts 175 Appendix F. Mechanical analyses 182 Appendix G. Carbonate analyses of the -200 mesh fraction 184 Appendix H. Weather observations in Adams Inlet 185 REFERENCES 194 viii TABLES Table Page 1. Mechanical composition of formations 34 2. Pebble lithologies of tills and gravels 36 3. Relative abundance of clay minerals in formations 39 4. Partial elemental analyses of sand and silt fraction of samples analyzed for clay minerals 4 2 5. Carbonate analyses 45 6 . Radiocarbon dates from Adams Inlet and surrounding area 55 7. Cation analyses of glaciolacustrine and glaciomarine material 65 8. Pollen spectra from Adams Inlet 6 8 9. Mechanical composition of the ash 70 ix ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Index map of Glacier Bay National Monument, Southeastern Alaska 2 2. Surficial geology of Juneau D-6 quadrangle (pocket) 3. Location map of stratigraphic sections 4 4. Map of Adams Inlet and vicinity (1890-92) by H. F. Reid 12 5 . Physiographic map of Glacier Bay National Monument and surrounding area 16 6. Bedrock geology map of Glacier Bay National Monument 20 7. Composite stratigraphic section for Adams Inlet 31 8. Contact between Granite Canyon and Forest Creek Formations 32 9. Mechanical composition of tills, silts and clays 35 10. X-ray diffractograms of clays from Granite Canyon Formation (pocket) 11. X-ray diffractograms of clays from Granite Canyon Formation (pocket) 12. Till fabric diagrams of Granite Canyon and Adams Tills 46 13. Directional features map 48 14. Streamline hills on Tree Mountain 51 15. Roche moutonee on south side of Adams Inlet 52 16. Roche moutonee and entrance to Adams Inlet 5 3 x ILLUSTRATIONS (Continued) Figure Page 17. X-ray diffractograms of clays from Forest Creek Formation (pocket) 18. Volcanic ash unit 71 19. Volcanic glass fragments 71 20. Van Horn Formation in White Valley 79 21. X-ray diffractograms of Van Horn diamicton (pocket) 22. Forest beds in Section 5 8 82 23.