Bird’s-eye view of an Ediacaran subglacial landscape
- Author(s)
- Daniel Le Heron, Thomas Matthew Vandyk, Hongwei Kuang, Yongqing Liu, Xiaoshuai Chen, Yuchong Wang, Zhenrui Yang, Lars Scharfenberg, Bethan Davies, Graham Shields
- Abstract
Depositional evidence for glaciation (dropstones, diamictites) is common in Neoproterozoic strata, and often debated, but erosional evidence (e.g., unconformities cut directly by ice) is rare. Only two such unconformities are known to have been well preserved globally from the Ediacaran Period (in western Australia and central China). This paper provides the first full description of a spectacular subglacial landscape carved beneath ice masses in the Shimengou area of central China, with classical subglacial bed forms including general faceted forms, müschelbruche, cavetto, spindle forms, and striations that testify to an abundance of meltwater during subglacial erosion. These features were produced during the southward, somewhat sinuous, flow of a temperate to polythermal ice mass.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geology
- External organisation(s)
- University of London, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, University College London
- Journal
- Geology
- Volume
- 47
- Pages
- 705-709
- No. of pages
- 5
- ISSN
- 0091-7613
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1130/G46285.1
- Publication date
- 08-2019
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105121 Sedimentology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geology
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/birdseye-view-of-an-ediacaran-subglacial-landscape(1c9b9ab0-bad8-4f14-bd66-28394dd823fa).html