| Title | Evidence of a strong paleoearthquake in ~9.1 ka cal BP interpreted from mass transport deposits, western Quebec-northeastern Ontario, Canada |
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| Author | Brooks, G R |
| Source | Quaternary Science Reviews vol. 234, 106250, 2020 p. 1-16, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106250 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2020 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20190318 |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf; html |
| Province | Quebec; Ontario |
| NTS | 31M/06; 31M/07; 31M/08; 31M/09; 31M/10; 31M/11; 31M/14; 31M/15; 31M/16; 31N/05; 31N/12; 31N/13; 32C/04; 32C/05; 32C/12; 32C/13; 32D; 41O/08; 41O/09; 41O/16; 41P/05; 41P/06; 41P/07; 41P/08; 41P/09; 41P/10;
41P/11; 41P/12; 41P/13; 41P/14; 41P/15; 41P/16; 42A; 42B/01; 42B/08; 42B/09; 42B/16 |
| Area | Kirkland Lake; Rouyn-Noranda; Dasserat Lake; Dufresnoy Lake; Duparquet Lake; Chassignolle Lake; Malartic Lake |
| Lat/Long WENS | -82.4167 -77.8333 49.0000 47.2500 |
| Subjects | surficial geology/geomorphology; stratigraphy; geophysics; tectonics; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; Holocene; earthquakes; earthquake catalogues; seismicity; earthquake magnitudes;
epicentres; landslides; mass wasting; postglacial deposits; varves; landslide deposits; lake sediment cores; lake sediment thickness; correlations; tectonic setting; rifts; grabens; geophysical surveys; acoustic surveys; Glacial Lake Ojibway; Twin
Falls Dam; Frederick House Dam; Timiskaming Graben; West Quebec Seismic Zone; Timiskaming Varve Series; lacustrine sediments; glaciolacustrine sediments; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | geoscientific sketch maps; location maps; time series; geophysical profiles; geophysical images; tables; photographs |
| Program | Public Safety Geoscience Nuclear Waste Management Organization |
| Released | 2020 03 09 |
| Abstract | This paper reviews and expands upon stratigraphic and chronologic evidence supporting the interpretation of a strong, early postglacial paleoearthquake in western Quebec-northeastern Ontario, Canada.
Event horizon mapping at Dasserat, Dufresnoy and Duparquet lakes, Quebec, coring at Chassignolle and Malartic lakes, Quebec, analysis of varve exposures near both the Twin Falls and Frederick House dams, Ontario, and review of published and
unpublished logs of varve exposures, reveal that mass transport deposits formed in, or are inferred to have formed in, varve year (vyr) 1483 (relative to the Timiskaming varve series, and about 9.1 ka cal BP) are present at numerous locations within
the study area. The spatial extent of the vyr 1483 mass transport deposit signature covers at least 14,600 km2, and is best explained by shaking from a paleoearthquake. The magnitude of the event is estimated to be a minimum of M ~7.3, which is
indicative of a strong paleoearthquake. The vyr 1483 paleoearthquake is one of 11 events of greater than or equal to M ~5, occurring within a 425 varve year period between ~9.4 and 8.95 ka cal BP, and is likely part of a period of elevated, early
postglacial, seismicity associated with rapid crustal unloading. The absence of an equivalent signature within the younger portion of the glaciolacustrine or lacustrine deposits in local lakes, implies that this paleoearthquake is the strongest to
occur within the study area since about 9.1 ka cal BP. The highly-precise correlation of widely-spaced mass transport and disturbed deposits provided by varves is essential to the paleoearthquake interpretation. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Landslide deposits buried within the sediments of a now-drained, large glacial lake have a common age and can be traced over 13,200 km2 in northeastern
Ontario and western Quebec. The landslides are interpreted to have been triggered by a strong ancient earthquake about 9100 years ago. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 321073 |
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