Sédimentation tardi-quaternaire glaciaire à postglaciaire dans trois fjords lacustres adjacents du sud-est du Bouclier canadien

Tableau d'honneur de la FÉSPDes données bathymétriques à haute résolution acquises à l'aide d’un sonar multifaisceaux et d’un interféromètre ont permis de cartographier pour la première fois la géomorphologie subaquatique des lacs Pentecôte, Walker et Pasteur, trois fjords lacustres profonds et rapprochés sur la Côte-Nord (Est du Canada). Ces anciens bassins sédimentaires glaciomarins ont été isolés par le relèvement glacio-isostatique pour évoluer en lacs profonds et allongés aux versants abrupts. Leur position géographique clé et leurs caractéristiques limnogéologiques typiques des fjords présentent un potentiel exceptionnel pour des reconstitutions paléoenvironnementales à haute résolution sur une longue période de temps. Une modélisation du potentiel hydraulique suggère que le Lac Walker a probablement existé en tant que lac sous-glaciaire sous l’Inlandsis laurentidien pendant le Dernier Maximum Glaciaire, suggérant que des sédiments pourraient avoir échappé à l'érosion glaciaire et contenir des paléo-enregistrements de la et/ou des dernière(s) glaciation(s). Ces lacs, localisés à proximité des systèmes morainiques du Dryas récent et inondés lors de la transgression marine postglaciaire de la Mer de Goldthwait, ont préservé des archives sédimentaires laminées jusqu'à aujourd'hui, enregistrant les changements paléoenvironnementaux produits depuis la dernière déglaciation. Les profils acoustiques de sous-surfaces acquis à l'aide d'un Chirp bi-fréquences (3.5. et 12 kHz), ainsi que les carottes de sédiment ont révélé la présence de quatre unités sédimentaires. Le soubassement acoustique (U1), c.-à-d. le socle rocheux et/ou les sédiments de contact glaciaire, révèle la présence de vallées rocheuses en forme de V au fond des lacs qui ont possiblement échappé à l’érosion glaciaire. Les moraines observées dans les lacs et à l’embouchure de leur vallée structurale indiquent une déglaciation rapide ponctuée par de courtes stabilisations glaciaires. Au cours de la déglaciation et à la suite de leur isolation, les lacs ont été remplis par d’épais sédiments rythmiquement laminés de silts et d’argile (U2) déposés pendant l’épisode marin et/ou glaciolacustre, qui ont été perturbés par des mouvements de masse durant la déglaciation. Des datations AMS 14C révèlent que la déglaciation des bassins versants des lacs Pentecôte et Walker et le développement des conditions para- et postglaciaires sont survenus vers < 7995 à 8160 et < 7845-7950 cal BP respectivement. Le développement des longues plaines deltaïques à la tête des lacs au cours de l'Holocène, a généré une source constante de sédiments fluviatiles (U3) et la formation de structures sous-marines en forme de croissant sur la pente subaquatique des deltas. La partie supérieure (c.-à-d. ~ 4 à ~ 6,5 m) de la séquence sédimentaire des lacs révèle un enregistrement continu des conditions para- et postglaciaires (U4) qui contiennent des sédiments rythmiquement laminés (possiblement des varves) et une série de couches déposées rapidement. Ces sédiments riches en matières organiques montrent que de faibles taux de sédimentation ont prévalu dans les lacs depuis la déglaciation de leur bassin versant et qu’ils ont diminué au cours de l'Holocène.High-resolution bathymetric data acquired using a multibeam echosounder and an interferometric side-scan sonar allowed mapping for the first time the sublacustrine geomorphology of the lakes Pentecôte, Walker and Pasteur, three deep adjacent fjord-lakes of the Québec North Shore (eastern Canada). These formerly glaciomarine sedimentary basins have been glacio-isostatically uplifted to form deep steep-sided elongated lakes. The key geographical position and their limnogeological characteristics typical of fjords show exceptional potential for paleoenvironmental reconstructions at high resolution on a long period of time. A hydraulic potential modelling suggest that the Lake Walker probably existed as a subglacial lake beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the LGM suggesting that sediments could have escaped glacial erosion and may contain paleo-records of the last glaciation(s). These lakes, located near Younger Dryas morainic systems, were flooded during the Goldthwait Sea postglacial marine transgression and have preserved laminated sediment archives until today which contain sedimentary archives that recorded paleo-environmental changes that have occurred since the last deglaciation. Acoustic sub-bottom profiles acquired using a bi-frequency Chirp echosounder (3.5 & 12 kHz), together with cm-short and m-long sediment core data, reveal the presence of four sedimentary units. The acoustic basement (U1), related to the structural bedrock and/or the ice-contact sediments of the Laurentide Ice-Sheet reveal the presence of V-shaped bedrock valleys at the bottom of the lakes that possibly escaped glacial erosion. Moraines observed at the bottom of the lake and in their structural valleys indicate an overall fast deglaciation punctuated by short-term ice margin stabilizations. Following ice-retreat and their isolation, the fjord-lakes were filled by thick sequence of rhythmically laminated silts and clays (U2) deposited during marine and/or glaciolacustrine settings which were disturbed by mass-movements during the deglaciation. AMS 14C dating reveal that the deglaciation of the lakes Pentecôte and Walker watersheds and the development of para- and postglacial conditions occurred at < 7995 – 8160 and < 7845–7950 cal BP respectively. The development of the long lake-head river delta plain during the Holocene, generated a constant source of fluvial sediments supply (U3) and the formation of crescentic and creeping bedforms on the sublacustrine deltas slope. Lakes reveal in the upper (i. e., ~4 to ~6.5 m of their sediment infill a continuous para- to postglacial sediment record (U4) that contain laminated sediment (possibly varves) and a series of rapidly deposited layers. These organic-rich sediments show that low rates of sediment accumulation have prevailed in the lakes since the deglaciation of their watershed and have decreased during the Holocene

Recent sedimentation in three adjacent fjord-lakes on the Québec North Shore (eastern Canada): facies analysis, laminae preservation, and potential for varve formation

Cet article analyse de courtes carottes gravitaires échantillonnées le long de transects dans trois lacs de fjord profonds adjacents (les lacs Pentecôte, Walker et Pasteur) sur la Côte-Nord du Québec (est du Canada), afin d’évaluer la répartition de sédiments laminés et le potentiel de formation de varves. L’analyse des faciès basée sur la description lithologique, des photos numériques, des images par tomodensitométrie et des données bathymétriques, a permis l’identification de quatre principaux faciès sédimentaires : des sédiments laminés, des sédiments partiellement laminés, des sédiments bioturbés et des sédiments massifs. Des preuves directes sur la stratification thermique du Lac Walker ont été acquises de 2014 à 2016. Les taux de sédimentation moyens et les flux de sédimentation postglaciaires dans les bassins distaux des trois lacs étudiés sont ≤0,12 cm a−1 et de 0,03 à 0,16 g cm−2 a−1, respectivement, à la lumière de la datation aux 210Pb, 137Cs et radiocarbone par SMA. Sur la base de l’analyse d’images de lames minces et d’un modèle de chronologie du 210Pb (CIC), le Lac Pentecôte contient des sédiments principalement massifs à partiellement laminés, alors que le Lac Pasteur contient des sédiments partiellement laminés et des sédiments laminés non annuels ressemblants à des varves. Le Lac Walker contient toutefois des sédiments laminés qui sont vraisemblablement des varves. Le plus grand potentiel de préservation de laminations observé pour le lac Walker par rapport aux lacs Pentecôte et Pasteur est associé à des caractéristiques morphologiques plus favorables, dont sa profondeur relative, sa profondeur moyenne, sa profondeur maximum et son exposition topographique plus importantes. -- Keywords : Limnogeology ; sedimentary structures ; laminations ; varves ; CT-scan ; Québec North Shore

Deglacial and postglacial paleoseismological archives in mass-movement deposits of lakes of south-central Québec

Investigation of seismic activity in eastern Canada is important for natural hazard management since two major active seismic zones with many historical records are located in the region: the Western Québec and the Charlevoix-Kamouraska seismic zones, with the latter being the most active in northeastern America. This paper describes and analyses a dataset of high-resolution swath bathymetric imagery, sub-bottom profiles and sediments cores collected in three lakes (Maskinongé, Aux-Sables and St-Joseph) located between two active seismic zones. The geomorphology observed on high-resolution swath bathymetric imagery, the acoustic sub-bottom profiles and the sediment analysis indicate that the lakes were disturbed by three phases of seismically-induced mass-movements since deglaciation : 1) during the deglacial Champlain Sea transgression and the rapid initial glacio-isostatic rebound between ~13 and 10.5 ka cal. BP; 2) around 1180 AD; and 3) the well documented CKSZ 1663 AD M>7 historical earthquake. The second phase of earthquake events (1180 AD) corresponds chronologically to a previously documented large-landslide in western Québec, dated at ~1020 yr BP. This earthquake is responsible for remobilizing the largest volume of sediments in the entire stratigraphic sequence of Lake Maskinongé, the westernmost lake. This earthquake was not recorded in Lake Aux-Sables and St-Joseph, which are located eastward from Maskinongé, but the largest MMDs are associated with the well-known 1663 AD event of eastern Québec. Therefore, both earthquake events are interpreted to have different epicenters and the lakes of southeastern Québec recorded earthquakes from both seismic zones.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Reconstructing past hydrology of eastern Canadian boreal catchments using clastic varved sediments and hydro-climatic modelling: 160 years of fluvial inflows

International audienceAnalysis of short sediment cores collected in Grand Lake, Labrador, revealed that this lake is an excellent candidate for the preservation of a laminated sediment record. The great depth of Grand Lake, the availability of fine sediments along its tributaries and its important seasonal river inflow have favoured the formation of a 160-year-long clastic varved sequence. Each varve represents 1 hydrological year. Varve formation is mainly related to spring discharge conditions with contributions from summer and autumn rainfall events. The statistically significant relation between varve parameters and the Naskaupi River discharge observations provided the opportunity to develop local hydrological reconstructions beyond the instrumental period. The combined detrital layer thickness and the particle size (99th percentile) series extracted from each varve yield the strongest correlations with instrumental data (r=0.68 and 0.75 respectively) and have been used to reconstruct the respective Naskaupi River mean and maximum annual discharges over the 1856–2016 period. The reconstructed Q-mean series suggest that high Q-mean years occurred during the 1920–1960 period, and a slight decrease in Q-mean took place during the second half of the 20th century. Independent reconstructions based on rainfall–runoff modelling of the watershed from historical reanalysis of global geopotential height fields display a significant correlation with the reconstructed Naskaupi River discharge based on varve physical parameters. The Grand Lake varved sequence contains a regional hydrological signal, as suggested by the statistically significant relation between the combined detrital layer thickness series and the observed Labrador region Q-mean series extracted from five watersheds of different sizes