| Title | Evidence of early postglacial paleoearthquakes from lakes in northeastern Ontario-western Quebec, Canada |
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| Author | Brooks, G R |
| Source | GSA 2020 Connects Online - Geological Society of America Annual Meeting; Geological Society of America, Abstracts With Programs vol. 52, no. 6, 2020 p. 1, https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2020AM-354630 |
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| Year | 2020 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20200300 |
| Publisher | Geological Society of America |
| Meeting | GSA 2020: Geological Society of America Annual Meeting 2020; October 26-30, 2020 |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | html; pdf |
| Province | Ontario; Quebec |
| NTS | 31M/06; 31M/07; 31M/08; 31M/09; 31M/10; 31M/11; 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; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; landslides; mass wasting; landslide deposits; earthquakes; seismicity; glacial history; deglaciation;
glacial lakes; isostatic rebound; sedimentation rates; lake sediments; varves; stratigraphic analyses; Glacial Lake Ojibway; glaciolacustrine sediments; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Program | Public Safety Geoscience Nuclear Waste Management Organization |
| Released | 2020 10 01 |
| Abstract | Glacial Lake Ojibway was a large glacial lake in northeastern Ontario-western Quebec that persisted roughly between 10.57-8.47 ka cal BP, and experienced high rates of glaciolacustrine sedimentation.
Mass transport deposits (MTDs) buried at differing stratigraphic levels within the glaciolacustrine sediments are ubiquitous throughout the region. Detailed mapping of the sub-bottom deposits at Dasserat, Duparquet, and Dufresnoy lakes, located 24 to
38 km apart, near Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, produced 26 MTD event horizons of which 15 contain three or more MTDs. High-resolution, relative dating control from varves indicates: that the event horizons span a period of ~450 years (between about
9.4-8.95 ka cal BP); that one set of identically-aged event horizons is common to each lake; and another set is common to two lakes. The 15 event horizons containing three or more MTDs are interpreted to be evidence of 11 paleoearthquakes of
magnitude about Mw5 or larger. The confidence of each interpretation is weighted from low to high, reflecting the relative strength of the MTD signature in each event horizon (moderate (three to five MTDs) or strong (more than six)), and evidence of
common- or similar-aged MTD signatures at two or more distinctly-separate locations. The event horizon with the most numerous and widespread MTDs in each lake occurred in the identical varve year 1483 (~9.1 ka cal BP). These event horizons are part
of a regional MTD signature present in other lakes and in subaerial exposures across at least 220 km of northeastern Ontario and western Quebec. This signature is interpreted to be best explained by a paleoearthquake of ~Mw7.3. The interpreted
paleoearthquakes occurred at a time when early postglacial uplift had diminished moderately, but was still high, compared to mid-Holocene and late Holocene rates. The record, thus, is likely representative of a period of elevated, early postglacial,
seismicity associated with rapid crustal unloading. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
This presentation summarizes a reconstructed record of ancient earthquakes that occurred in northeastern Ontario-western Quebec. The record is based on
mapping and dating landslide deposits preserved in the beds of lakes in the area. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 326914 |
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