The micromorphology of glaciolacustrine varve sediments and their use for reconstructing palaeoglaciological and palaeoenvironmental change

Former glaciolacustrine systems are an important archive of palaeoglaciological, palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic change. The annually laminated (varved) sediments that, under certain conditions, accumulate in former glacial lakes, offer a rare opportunity to reconstruct such changes (e.g. glacier advance and retreat cycles, glacier ablation trends, permafrost melt, nival events) at annual or even sub-annual temporal resolution. Data of this kind are desirable for their ability to guide and test numerical model simulations of glacier dynamics and palaeoclimatic change that occur over rapid time intervals, with implications for predicting future glacier response to climatic change, or the effects of weather and climate events on lake sedimentation. The most valuable records preserved in glaciolacustrine systems are continuous varved sequences formed in the distal parts of glacial lakes, where microscale lamination structures can accumulate relatively undisturbed. Technological advances, in the last few decades, have enabled improved characterisation of glaciolacustrine varve microfacies and the precise measurement of varve thickness at the micrometre scale. However, unlike in cognate fields (e.g. soil science), protocols for the robust and consistent description and interpretation of glaciolacustrine varve sediments are lacking. To fill this gap, and to provide a resource for future studies of glaciolacustrine varved sediments, this paper reviews the processes of sedimentation in glacial lake basins, and presents the defining microfacies characteristics of glacial varves using a descriptive protocol that uses consistent examination of grain size, sorting, structure, nature of contacts, development of plasmic fabrics and features such as dropgrains and intraclasts within individual laminations. These lamination types are then combined into lamination sets, whose structures can be interpreted as glaciolacustrine varves. Within this framework, we define five principal assemblages of glaciolacustrine varve microfacies which, if clearly identified in palaeoglaciolacustrine settings, enable more detailed palaeoenvironmental interpretations to be made. Finally, we discuss the utility and complexities of reconstructing the evolution of former glacial lake systems using varve microfacies and thickness datasets

Documentation of the physical properties of annually laminated (varved) sediments at a sub-annual to decadal resolution for environmental interpretation

This paper describes a method to digitize high-resolution physical properties of annually laminated lake sediments. We modified a water-acetone epoxy exchange method in order to preserve all the fine structural details that varved sequences provide. By applying sediment microstratigraphical investigations (X-ray radiography, SEM) and semi-automatic image analysis, we were able to establish detailed information about varve composition and structure. Mineral magnetic measurements were also applied for comparison. By comparing all available physical data at high resolution, it will be possible to identify environmental changes that has occurred in the lake drainage basin

Dissolution experiments of Na- and Ca-montmorillonite in groundwater simulants under anaerobic conditions

AbstractThe effects of simulant groundwater composition, pH and temperature on the dissolution and alteration of Na- and Ca-montmorillonite have been studied. Prior to the experiments, Wyoming type Na-montmorillonite, Swy-2, was purified to decrease the amount of accessory minerals. For Ca-montmorillonite experiments, the interlayer cation Na+ of purified Swy-2 was exchanged with Ca2+. The batch experiments were conducted with the purified montmorillonites in simulated fresh and saline waters at 25°C and 60°C under anaerobic conditions in an Ar atmosphere. The concentrations of Si, Al, Fe and Mg were analysed from ultra-filtered solution samples with High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) as a function of dissolution time. The pH evolution was also measured. The solid smectite phases were analysed with X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). XRD analyses indicated that the nature of the smectite mineral did not change over 140 days. However, the experimental conditions, more or less, modified the structure (e.g. the layer stacking of montmorilllonite; the partial dissolution of the smectite), which cannot be detected by XRD but was evidenced by chemical data, and can be considered as a possible contributor to the stacking faults of the montmorillonite. The log rates (mol g–1 s–1), based on the dissolved amount of Si, varied between –10.64 and –12.13 depending on the experimental conditions.</jats:p