| Title | Deltaic complexes of the Québec North Shore |
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| Author | Dietrich, P; Normandeau, A ; Lajeunesse, P; Ghienne, J -F; Schuster, M; Nutz, A |
| Source | Landscapes and landforms of eastern Canada; by Slaymaker, O (ed.); Catto, N (ed.); World Geomorphological Landscapes 2020 p. 245-258, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35137-3 10 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2020 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20170354 |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Quebec; Eastern offshore region |
| Area | St. Lawrence Estuary; Gulf of St. Lawrence; Côte-Nord; Portneuf; Manicouagan; Lac Pentecôte; Sept-Iles; Rivière St-Jean |
| Lat/Long WENS | -71.0000 -60.0000 52.0000 48.0000 |
| Subjects | marine geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; sedimentology; stratigraphy; geophysics; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; coastal studies; coastal environment; deltas; deltaic sediments;
gravels; sands; muds; glacial deposits; ice contact deposits; fans; channel deposits; depositional history; glacial history; deglaciation; ice margins; ice retreat; sea level changes; sediment reworking; sediment transport; paleodrainage; geophysical
surveys; acoustic surveys, marine; side-scan sonar; bathymetry; seismic surveys, marine; submarine features; submarine fans; submarine canyons; channels; continental margins; continental shelf; watersheds; basins; meanders; raised beaches; beach
ridges; Laurentide Ice Sheet; Goldthwait Sea; ice-contact deltas; glaciofluvial sediments; alluvial sediments; limit of submergence, marine; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; digital elevation models; time series; satellite images; geophysical images; photographs; 3-D models |
| Program | Public Safety
Geoscience Marine Geohazards |
| Released | 2020 02 14 |
| Abstract | One of the most particular morphological features of the Québec North Shore (North Shore of the Estuary and Gulf of the St. Lawrence, eastern Canada) is the occurrence of deltaic complexes that form
thick and extensive sediment bodies (gravel, sand and mud) along the modern coastline. The deltaic complexes were emplaced during the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from the region that commenced about 11 ka in the context of falling relative
sea level. Deltaic complexes are made up of three distinct, superimposed depositional systems, consisting of: (1) ice-contact subaqueous fans and deltas, (2) ice-distal glacifluvial deltas, and (3) coastal suites and meandering channel belts.
Ice-contact systems were emplaced immediately after deglaciation of the region at the front of the ice-margins. Subsequent ice retreat fed glacifluvial deltas in meltwater and glacigenic sediments until the complete retreat of the ice-margin from the
drainage basin a few thousand years ago. The resulting shutdown in sediment supply led to the reworking of the now-inactive glacifluvial deltas by shore-related and fluvial processes that resulted in the deposition of coastal suites and meander
channel belts. Submarine sediment accumulations and related morphologies revealed by high-resolution swath bathymetric and seismostratigraphic data collected off these deltaic complexes are the subaqueous counterparts of these deltas. The modern
evolution of these deltaic complexes is controlled by the reworking, transport, and deposition of sediments by shore-related processes along the coast, on the shallow shelf, and through submarine channels and canyons. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
This chapter summarizes the main morphological and stratigraphic elements of deltas along the Québec North Shore. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 306565 |
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