University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies Legacy Theses 2011 Latest Pleistocene and Holocene glacier fluctuations in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA Samolczyk, Mary Samolczyk, M. (2011). Latest Pleistocene and Holocene glacier fluctuations in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/23187 http://hdl.handle.net/1880/48773 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY LATEST PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE GLACIER FLUCTUATIONS IN MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON, USA by MARY SAMOLCZYK A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCE CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2011 © MARY SAMOLCZYK 2011 The author of this thesis has granted the University of Calgary a non-exclusive license to reproduce and distribute copies of this thesis to users of the University of Calgary Archives. Copyright remains with the author. Theses and dissertations available in the University of Calgary Institutional Repository are solely for the purpose of private study and research. They may not be copied or reproduced, except as permitted by copyright laws, without written authority of the copyright owner. Any commercial use or re-publication is strictly prohibited. The original Partial Copyright License attesting to these terms and signed by the author of this thesis may be found in the original print version of the thesis, held by the University of Calgary Archives. Please contact the University of Calgary Archives for further information: E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: (403) 220-7271 Website: http://archives.ucalgary.ca Abstract The timing of glacier fluctuations on Mount Rainier, in Washington State, USA, is examined using evidence from lateral moraines and lacustrine sediments. Radiocarbon ages of wood from paleosurfaces within lateral moraines of Nisqually, Emmons, Carbon and South Tahoma glaciers show that glaciers were depositing tills on lateral moraine flanks from ca. AD 130 and 530, and also after ca. AD 1300. Geochemical and petrographic analyses were conducted on tephra layer O (Mazama) and an unidentified tephra (layer GRY), retrieved from a Tipsoo Lake sediment core. A macrofossil from the core provides a minimum age of 8905 ± 20 14C yr BP for layer GRY and underlying glacigenic sediments. Deglaciation of the cirque above Tipsoo Lake occurred ca. 10,900 - 10,600 14C yr BP, based on estimated lacustrine sedimentation rates. Results show that the timing of glacier fluctuations on Mount Rainier is consistent with chronologies from elsewhere in the Central North American Cordillera in the early and latest Holocene. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Jerry Osborn for being a wonderful supervisor. Your advice and support has been invaluable, and your excitement for learning is contagious. Thank you for the many unforgettable experiences. I am so grateful for the academic guidance from Brian Menounos, Doug Clark, P. Thompson Davis, John Clague, Jon Riedel and Kevin Scott. Thank you all for your assistance in the field and valuable instruction. Doug Clark generously allowed me to use his laboratory for lake sediment analysis. Thanks to Jan Heine and James Vallance, your guidance and discussion are greatly appreciated. Joel Cubley dedicated much of his time to assisting me with petrographic and electron microprobe analyses. Thanks to Rob Marr, Mickey Horvath, and Lynne Maillet for all of the technical support, it was a pleasure working with all of you. Fieldwork at Mount Rainier would not have been possible without the help of Kristyn Adams, Josh Ouellet, Aline Labrie, Nigel Davies, Jezra Bleu, Nikki Bowerman, Dan Shugar, Courtenay Brown, and Natalie Saindon. Special thanks to Nigel Davies for all the help in the lab and with coring, Jezra Bleu for help with coring and a place to stay, and Kristyn Adams for sharing so many adventures. Thank you Ian Spooner for your continuing mentorship. Thanks Mom, Dad, Ian, Dennis and Charlie for being so encouraging. I couldn’t ask for a better family. Thank you Joel for being supportive and making everyday so much fun. Funding for this project was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Alberta Government, the Alberta Heritage Foundation, and the University of Calgary. iii Table of Contents Abstract...........................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................iii Table of Contents ...........................................................................................................iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................vii List of Figures and Illustrations ....................................................................................viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ..............................................1 1.1 Motivations and objectives ....................................................................................2 1.2 Outline ..................................................................................................................3 CHAPTER TWO: SETTING AND PREVIOUS WORK................................................5 2.1 Physical setting......................................................................................................5 2.2 Climate..................................................................................................................7 2.3 Geologic history ....................................................................................................9 2.4 Previous work on postglacial deposits.................................................................. 11 2.4.1 Lahars.......................................................................................................... 12 2.4.2 Tephra......................................................................................................... 15 2.4.3 Glacial deposits ........................................................................................... 17 2.4.3.1 Crandell (1969) and Crandell and Miller (1974) ................................. 17 2.4.3.2 Sigafoos and Hendricks (1972)........................................................... 18 2.4.3.3 Burbank (1981) .................................................................................. 19 2.4.3.4 Heine (1997, 1998)............................................................................. 19 2.4.3.5 Hekkers (2010)................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER THREE: REGIONAL GLACIER-FLUCTUATION HISTORY ................ 22 3.1 Latest Pleistocene glacier fluctuations.................................................................. 24 3.2 Holocene glacier fluctuations............................................................................... 25 3.3 Controversies....................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER FOUR: LATERAL MORAINE STRATIGRAPHY .................................. 29 4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 29 4.2 Site selection ....................................................................................................... 32 4.3 Data collection..................................................................................................... 32 4.4 Analysis............................................................................................................... 34 4.4.1 Radiocarbon dating...................................................................................... 34 4.4.2 Calibration................................................................................................... 34 4.5 Results................................................................................................................. 35 4.5.1 Nisqually Glacier......................................................................................... 35 4.5.2 Emmons Glacier.......................................................................................... 41 4.5.3 Carbon Glacier ............................................................................................ 43 4.5.4 South Tahoma Glacier ................................................................................. 45 4.5.5 Tahoma Glacier ........................................................................................... 48 4.5.6 Summary..................................................................................................... 48 CHAPTER FIVE: LAKE SEDIMENT RECORD......................................................... 50 iv 5.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 50 5.2 Site selection