Subglacial Till Deforming Glacier Bed

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Quaternary Science Reviews 22 (2003) 16591685
Subglacial till: the deforming glacier bed

Jaap J.M. van der Meera,*, John Menziesb, James Rosec
a
Department of Geography, University of London, Queen Mary Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK b Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ont., Canada L2S 3A1 c Department of Geography, University of London, Royal Holloway, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK Received 29 November 2002; accepted 24 April 2003
Abstract Till is a sediment and is perhaps more variable than any sediment known by a single name. R.F. Flint 1957 Glacial and Pleistocene Geology Tills are commonly classied according to the perceived process of deposition. However, it is increasingly recognised that this classication, which is mainly based on macroscopic eld data, has severe limitations. At the same time the concept of the deforming glacier bed has become more realistic as a framework for discussing tills and their properties, and this (tectonic) concept is irreconcilable with the existing (depositional) till classication scheme. Over the last 20 years large thin sections have been used to study tills, which has provided new insights into the textural and structural properties of tills. These results have revolutionised till sedimentology as they show that, in the main, subglacial tills possess deformational characteristics. Depositional properties are rare. Based on this new insight the process of subglacial till formation is discussed in terms of glacier/ice sheet basal velocity, clay, water and carbonate content and the variability of these properties in space and time. The end result of this discussion is: till, the deforming glacier bed. To distinguish subglacial till from depositional sediments the term tectomict is proposed. Within the single framework of subglacial till as the deforming glacier bed, many textural, structural and geomorphological features of till beds can be more clearly and coherently explained and understood. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Over the years till classication has become more complex. Whilst for many years it sufced to recognise ablation tills and basal tills, there is now a whole array of till types. This is largely due to the activities of the INQUA Commission on Glaciation and its predecessors. Especially in the years when the Commission was chaired by Alexis Dreimanis huge progress was made in the description and understanding of tills. In the scheme outlined in Dreimanis (1988) the most common types of till to be classied are: lodgement tills, melt-out tills, ow tills, deformation tills and waterlain tills based on the processes whereby the tills are deposited. For lodgement tills, this process is the active lodging of particles on the glacier bed from the basal ice, caused by the forward movement of the ice overcoming the
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-20-7882-5403; fax: +44-20-89816276. E-mail address: [email protected] (J.J.M. van der Meer). 0277-3791/03/$ - see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00141-0
bond between ice and particles. Thus, the interpretation of a till as a lodgement till implies that the former ice body was active and temperate. Melt-out tills are produced by passive melting of ice, either from the top (supraglacial melt-out) or from the bottom (subglacial melt-out), where the resulting till is, by denition (Dreimanis, 1988), allowed to show some effect of the meltwater that is produced during the melting process. Interpretation of a deposit as a meltout till implies that the ice body was passive. A similar process of sublimation is proposed for the formation of a rare variety of till in cold arid environments (Shaw, 1977). Lodgement and melt-out both involve the bond between particles and surrounding ice being released by melting of ice. The heat source for the melting is different, but the effect is the same. Another similarity between the two processes is that slabs of debris-bearing basal ice may be lodged and separated from the moving glacier. Consequently these can melt-out beneath actively moving ice (e.g. Menzies, 1989).
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Deformation tills are dened as homogenised, usually diamictic, sediment formed by glacially induced shear of subsole material (Benn and Evans, 1997, p. 24). Thus they are formed by material being dragged forward by ice in the direction of glacier movement and this may be any pre-existing material, either lithied, or unlithied rock. It will also include deformation of previously lodged particles which, in some publications has been called (deformed) lodgement till and considered to be part of the lodgement process (Dowdeswell and Sharp, 1986) whereas others dene such material as deformation till (Hart, 1994, 1995). The problem is not helped by the original denition of deformation till by (Elson 1961, 1989, p. 10) who introduced the term deformation till to refer to weak rock or unconsolidated sediment detached from its source by subglacial shearing. The term was used to dene a spectrum of sediment types, including; (1) contorted sediment displaced only a short distance; (2) reoriented fragments of source material set in a homogenised matrix; and (3) thoroughly homogenised sediment in which all primary sedimentary structures have been destroyed (from Benn and Evans, 1997, p. 24). As is evident, this was broad and encompasses all tills showing any macroscopic evidence of deformation. The widespread use of terms such as lodgement till, melt-out till, owtill, glaciomarine till suggests that the existing classication is, at least to a degree, workable and widely acceptable. However, this classication hides real problems, which, for instance, arise from the fact that classication is based mainly on eld criteria. In particular, attention has been given to structures or directional elements like clast fabric, or loosely dened parameters such as texture, consolidation and composition that are discernable in the eld and not based on laboratory analyses. However, these criteria are not unique to specic varieties of till and experienced eld
practitioners know that it is often impossible to come to a single conclusion (Table 1), regardless of whether applying single or multiple criteria. For example, draped lamination structures in tills may be due to several different processes such as: sedimentation from meltout, water deposition during a ow process, or deformation whereby thick beds can be attenuated to form thin beds over clasts. Likewise, consolidation may be due to glacier loading or drying. Although it is impossible to differentiate which of these processes have been responsible by eld study alone, they, and many like criteria, are used as a basis for classication. Other approaches for studying tills also introduce problems. For the use of fabric properties and, in particular, clast fabric statistics (vectorial or eigenvector values) as genetic indicators (e.g. Rose, 1974; Dowdeswell and Sharp, 1986; Hart, 1994, 1995) assumes a number of controls that are far from clearly understood (Bennett et al., 1999). The inadequacy of eld criteria for distinguishing between different types of till is demonstrated by the publication of a number of different interpretations of the same data. For instance, lodgement tills changed to melt-out tills in northern Germany (Ehlers, 1983), basal tills in coastal settings and containing molluscs have changed to in situ glaciomarine muds (McCabe and OCofaigh, 1995). Because of the equivocal criteria there are many examples of interpretations that are highly contested (for examples of such discussions see Malmberg-Persson and Lagerlund, 1994; Rijsdijk et al., 1999; McCarroll, 2001). The point we wish to make is not to highlight error or observer-bias, but to draw attention to the limitations of the criteria used to dene tills. For an attempt at objective recording of eld data see Kruger . and Kjaer (1999). The issue of till classication is further complicated by the concept of a deforming bed beneath the glacier sole
Table 1 Description of clast fabric of different till types by different authors Author(s) Bennett and Glasser (1996) Lodgement Strong in the direction of local ice ow Strong ow parallel peaks Subglacial melt-out May be strong in the direction of ice ow Large-scale areal consistency Deformation Strong in the direction of shear Supraglacial melt-out Generally poorly developed, unrelated to ice ow Difcult to resolve systematic peaks Flow May be strong, related to palaeo slope Peaks transverse and parallel to ow Sublimation Strong in the direction of ice ow
Boulton and Deynoux (1981) Dreimanis (1990)
Systematic areally consistent
Well developed with parallel modes dominating, transverse Very variable, random to well dened modes are also present, particularly in deformed parts of tills Strongly clustered and parallel to ice ow May be clustered, parallel to ice ow Bimodal to multimodal Rapid spatial variation
Hicock et al. (1996)
Note that all descriptions strongly overlap and thus are not diagnostic. Similar overviews can be produced for all other till characteristics.
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overlying undeformed glacial deposits (Boulton, 1987; Hart and Rose, 2001) and the fact that tills have been discussed in terms of different zones of deformation. For instance, Boulton (1987) has introduced the concept of a and b horizons, Menzies (1989) has introduced H, M and Q beds. In the latter classication, H beds are dened by their hydraulic conductivity with subtypes ranging from low conductivity in bedrock (Ha), to high conductivity in sediments overlying bedrock with low conductivity (Hd). Meanwhile M beds are deforming beds and Q beds are mixtures of H and M. Neither of these terminologies has yet been incorporated effectively in till classication. In addition to the issues identied above a number of additional questions remain: (i) Does the fact that a deforming bed is inferred, imply that the resulting till is, by denition, a deformation till? (ii) Does a deforming bed obliterate all traces of particle release? (iii) Is it possible, as suggested by Ruszczyska-Szenajch (2001), that glacier bed deformation cannot be described or explained by existing till denitions? In this paper we aim to demonstrate how micromorphology, a laboratory method, may be used in combination with eld observations to establish a different interpretation of subglacial tills. This new interpretation is based on tectonic or structural criteria along with sedimentary properties, rather than solely sedimentary criteria. The implication of this work is that subglacial till is a tectonic deposit and not simply a sedimentary deposit (van der Meer, 1993b). This differentiation is of profound importance for the understanding of contemporary subglacial depositional processes and palaeoglaciological reconstructions. In this paper we seek to justify this contention by: (i) demonstrating the extensive body of work on which we base our ideas; (ii) using only eld and laboratory data and their interpretation, regardless of whether these t existing glaciological or geological theory or models, and (iii) developing a conceptual model of all subglacial tills as being the result of a deforming glacier bed.
samples of 6 10 cm samples are used regularly. Large thin sections have the important advantage that they provide a larger sample and provide a better representation of macroscopically visible structures, including structural discontinuities like ssility, than small thin sections. We have found that standard petrographic thin sections are inadequate. Whenever possible, samples are collected in the eld in metal boxes of the dimensions given above. These samples are taken to the laboratory where they are dried slowly, impregnated, cut and mounted following procedures described in Murphy (1986), van der Meer (1993b), Lee and Kemp (1993), Carr and Lee (1998) and Menzies (2000b). The thin sections are analysed with a Petroscope (an amended microche reader in which the optics have been adopted to thin section analysis) and with a low-magnication petrological microscope. Description follows the classications of Brewer (1976), van der Meer (1993b, 1997a, 2000) and Menzies (2000b). Because the samples are undisturbed, the distribution and true orientation (Stroeven et al., 2002) of all particles in the sediment, including those that are not visible with the naked eye can be observed and determined. Furthermore because of the application of a polarising microscope, it is possible to use the optical properties of particles to derive information such as the stress history of the material (see below). No other laboratory technique, including SEM (which does not allow use of optical properties), provides such detailed information about in situ diamictic materials. 2.2. Till plasma and birefringencedescription and denitions Microscopic analysis of a large number of thin sections (see below) has resulted in the recognition of an array of microstructures (Fig. 1). These include microstructures related to brittle deformation, ductile deformation, mixed brittle and ductile (polyphase) deformation and to plasmic fabrics (Fig. 2). These microstructures are deformational in origin and not sedimentary. Macroscopic sedimentary structures in tills may be depositional, developed locally as lenses and beds of sorted sediment by running water, but sedimentary microstructures in till are mainly inherited structures which take the form of intraclasts that have been incorporated by deformation. In addition to the structures mentioned above, there are water-escape structures (WESs) and sediments, clay coatings (cutans) lining porewalls and geochemical precipitates, all of which tend to be limited in extent. Furthermore all these additional structures are related to percolating water or locally channelised water, not to sedimentation from ice. The type of structures evident in glacial diamictons and the general lack of sedimentary microstructures is a
2. Till micromorphology 2.1. Methodology Micromorphology is the microscopic examination of the composition and constituent structural elements of lithied and unlithied earth materials (van der Meer, 1987a). Samples are selected in the eld or from cores to represent either a particular structure, a particular material unit or boundaries between material units. Where known, the orientation of samples and their relation to ice ow direction are noted. The samples which are impregnated and used for micromorphology are preferably of the dimensions 8 14 cm, although
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Fig. 1. Diagram showing the range of microstructures recognised in tills (from Menzies, 2000b). S-matrix refers to the organisation of plasma, skeleton grains and voids (Brewer, 1976).
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Fig. 2. A selection of micrographs to demonstrate the variation of structures that are common in glacial sediments at the microscopic level. The examples are arranged in an ascending order of complexity and intensity of deformation. All examples are taken from vertical thin sections, but orientation relative to the azimuth or ice direction is not always known in samples from cores, while micrographs may be oriented obliquely. (A). Grain crushing in matrix-supported till, along a ssure which is part of a marble bed structure; see Fig. 6. This is a rare microstructure and only observed occasionally; it points at deformation under dry conditions (see Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997). Thin section R.974 from Wijnjewoude, The Netherlands; polarised light; eld of view, 18.0 mm. (B). Grain crushing in clast-supported sands underneath a thrust plane in a Saalian (penultimate glaciation) push moraine. Compare with Fig. 2A for the difference in crushing in the absence of ne-grained material. Thin section Mi.1, Wilsum, Germany; polarised light; eld of view 8.0 mm. (C) Lineationtop left to bottom right, the arrows indicate someinterpreted as shears, in tillite of Sirius Group of Tertiary age. This is a common microstructure. Thin section C.337 from core, Mt. Feather, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica; plane light; eld of view 18.0 mm. (D) Grain lineations in diamict produced by grounded ice. Prominent grain lineations, interpreted as shears, from top left to bottom right. This is a variation on the microstructure shown in Fig. 2C. Note that the same orientation is present in the ne-grained material. This direction is also present in some of the negrained inclusions. Thin section C.485, Cape Roberts core CRP1, Antarctica, Miocene; plane light; eld of view 18.0 mm. (E) Turbate (rotational) structure in till delineated by dark coloured material swirling around a clast; note dark tail extending to the right above the clast. Turbate structures are the most common of all microstructures in glacial sediments and adequately explain geochemical anomalies. Thin section Mi.694 from the Camcor River, Ireland, Midlandian; plane light; eld of view 3.5 mm. (F) Turbate structure, mixing of matrix-rich and clast-rich bands; coarse grains circle around dark matrix-rich pebbles. Thin section Mi.694, Camcor River, Ireland, Midlandian till; plane light; eld of view 9.7 mm. (G, H) Pressure shadow; in plane light showing by two triangular patches of matrix adjoining an elongate clast, while in polarised light it shows by low birefringence in triangular patches; highest birefringence in lines delineating triangular patches. Clearly developed pressure shadows are rare as the thin section has to be in the right orientation, partly observed pressure shadows are more common. Thin section R.676B, Amersfoort, The Netherlands, Saalian till; eld of view 11.2 mm. (I) Fissility demonstrated by a horizontal ssure, the top of which is outlined by Fe and clay. Fissility is also under the microscope a common structure. Note clean grains in the ssure. See text for discussion. Thin section R.866, Weiteveen, The Netherlands; Saalian till; plane light; eld of view 7.0 mm. (J) Unistrial plasmic fabric, in this case the result of shearing, showing by elongate thin lines of high birefringence. Unistrial plasmic fabric is not so common in diamictic materials, but more common in ne-grained material. Thin section Mi.25, Hainem. uhlen, Germany, tectonic lamination in Elster till; polarised light; eld of view 11.2 mm. (K) Plasmic fabric development depends on the presence of clay (see text), as is clear from the presence of birefringence in the matrix rich band and its absence in the sand bands. Thin section Mi.25, Hainem. uhlen, Germany, tectonic lamination in Elster till; top to the left; polarised light; eld of view 18.0 mm.
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Fig. 2 (continued).
strong indication that most basal till shows very little evidence of sedimentation, and no evidence of the processes by which particles were set free from the ice. Known exceptions are basal melt-out tills still in contact with ice (Lawson, 1979; Kruger and Kjaer, 2000) which . have a restricted extent and a very low preservation potential. Within the known array of deformational microstructures the plasmic fabric is the part of the till that carries the strongest genetic signal. The plasmic fabric is dened as birefringence models of the plasma, based on the optical properties of the particles as well as the optical properties caused by the orientation of particles relative to each other (based on Brewer, 1976, p. 305). Plasmic fabric is a microstructure that cannot be seen in the eld, not even with a strong handlens as it makes use of the optical properties of particles and requires polarised light to be detectable. Individual clay particles are too small to be observed with an ordinary petrological microscope, and are examined as groups
(domains) that form characteristic patterns. These plasmic fabric patterns can be considered as consisting of pseudoparticles which are distinguished by their combined birefringence. Imparted stresses (and the resulting strain) imposed on the deposit will reorient the elongate clay particles (Morgenstern and Tchalenko, 1967; Maltman, 1987; Hiemstra and Rijsdijk, in press) and different types and levels of stress will form different plasmic fabrics. Although sharing microstructures the plasmic fabric pattern formed in mass-wasting (e.g. a owtill, Lachniet et al., 2001; Menzies and Zaniewski, 2003) is different from the plasmic fabric pattern formed underneath an active glacier (Hiemstra, 2001; Hiemstra and Zaniewski, submitted), or from the plasmic fabric pattern formed by sedimentation (van der Meer and Warren, 1997). The subglacial plasmic fabric pattern will be illustrated and explained below. Some types of plasmic fabric are also described by the terminology of structural geology. For instance, elongate plasmic fabrics (unistrial plasmic fabric) may show
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Fig. 2 (continued).
characteristics that are similar to discrete shears or crenulation cleavage. However, plasmic fabric terms are purely descriptive and do not relate to genesis, as indicated by the fact that not all unistrial plasmic fabrics are formed by shear. A pattern formed by unistrial as well as masepic plasmic fabrics has been interpreted by van der Wateren et al. (2000) and Kluiving et al. (1999) as a typical S/C fabric (van der Wateren et al., 2000, p. 267) which means that material foliation (S-plane) is cut by shear band cleavage (C-planes). Unfortunately the plasmic fabric is not always detectable. The main reason for this is that there is not enough clay in the material (Fig. 2K) and a clay-free material will not show a plasmic fabric. It is obvious that there must be anas yet unknownminimum quantity of clay in a sediment for a recognisable plasmic fabric pattern to be developed irrespective of the strength of the stress eld, although clearly the nature of the plasmic fabric will be dependent on the type and magnitude of that stress eld. No matter how strong the
stress eld, a pure sand will never show a plasmic fabric. Additionally, the plasmic fabric may be hidden behind other substances. For instance, a high primary iron content in the rocks that constitute the material, and iron and/or manganese staining will both obscure the birefringence. This applies for instance to thin sections . . of tills from Breidamerkurjokull and Myrdallsjokull in Iceland, which are derived from basalts and consequently strongly opaque in all grain sizes (Rose, personal observation; Simons, 1999). Finely divided carbonate particles (micrite) will undo the polarising effect of the microscope, thereby making any birefringence undetectable. Etching the thin section by immersion in HCl to remove carbonates before putting on the coverslip may help, but as the acid also affects the resin the overall quality of the thin section deteriorates. It is essential to consider all these factors when evaluating till plasmic fabric. Comparison of thin sections of tills may reveal that birefringence is absent in some samples and present in others leading to the
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inference that reorientation of clay has not occurred in one group and hence that this till has not been subjected to a stress eld (Kluiving et al., 1999; Khatwa and Tulaczyk, 2001). However, as this apparent lack of birefringence may be equally caused by lack of clay, Fe and Mn staining, or micrite content, such an interpretation could be erroneous and all micromorphological properties of the till would need to be taken into consideration. Fortunately, in addition to plasmic fabrics, there are other microstructures which do not depend on polarised light for their detection (Figs. 1 and 2). For instance, rotational structures (Figs. 2E and F), which are visible in plane polarised light, are attributed to deformational processes (van der Meer, 1993b, 1997a). Nevertheless, as a consequence of their process of formation such structures are often associated with plasmic fabrics (van der Meer, 1993b), especially with a skelsepic plasmic fabric which is ascribed to rotational processes. Thus it is possible to determine whether a till has been subjected to stresses other than those associated with (re-) sedimentation, without the need to detect birefringence. It is also essential to recognise that plasmic fabrics can be created by processes other than subglacial deformation. For instance, mineralogical properties such as the swelling of clays by repeated incorporation and loss of water in the crystal lattice will form a skelsepic plasmic fabric (Dalrymple and Jim, 1984). For this reason (amongst many others) it is important to sample well below the zone of soil processes as this is the zone where moisture variability is highest. The low hydraulic conductivity of the matrix of most glacial diamictons and consequently the low variability in moisture content implies that regular swelling of clays is unlikely to be the cause of a plasmic fabric in till. Caution should also be taken when comparing the strength of plasmic fabrics in tills from different localities. To prevent the introduction of variables other than strength, this should always be done at the same magnication and the same amount of illumination. Independent, quantitative comparison of plasmic fabric strength is now possible by the use of image analysis (Zaniewski, 2001). 2.3. Scope of database and conceptual rational of this research Over a period of >35 yr we have studied a large number of thin sections of tills from many different localities and environments. These range geographically from the Arctic to the Antarctic, stratigraphically from just-formed material, to Precambrian (Menzies, 2000a). Thus, the model presented below is not just based on the interpretation of inferred properties of old tills, but includes observations from underneath active
glaciers. The visible appearance of tills investigated ranges from structured to massive and, as far as we are able to determine, the samples we have studied cover the full range of glacial environments. Our experience also includes extensive studies of thin sections of non-glacial materials including marine, uviatile, aeolian, periglacial and mass movement (van der Meer, 1992, 1996a; van der Meer et al., 1996; Rose et al., 2000; Menzies and Zaniewski, 2003), and this has contributed signicantly to our ability to determine whether structures, or combinations of structures, are subglacial or otherwise. In addition to our own studies, there has been much research and many publications on thin sections from non-glacial environments. Of particular note is the work on all varieties of slope deposits by Bertran and Texier (1999) who demonstrate that different slope processes are characterised by different suites of microstructures (see also Hiemstra and Zaniewski, submitted). The microstructures depicted in Fig. 1 are based on our own extensive studies, details of which can be found in Table 2. The most striking property revealed by working with thin sections under a petrological microscope is that there is no such thing as a massive, structureless till; all tills possess microstructures. Almost of equal importance is the fact that, apart from occasional WESs, the microstructures in basal tills are typical of deformational processes. Hitherto, microstructures that may indicate how these sediments were released from glacier ice have not been recognised. The consequence of these observations is that if all we can see in thin sections of basal tills are microstructures formed after deposition, then it is impossible to detect the process of deposition. If we accept that this is the case then it must be accepted that we cannot detect depositional processes such as lodgement or melt-out. Samples of (unconned) supraglacial melt-out tills show that these have a specic set of microstructures, which are not recognised in subglacial tills (Simons, 1999; unpublished data). Thus, we cannot detect subglacial melt-out tills microscopically and if we cannot nd signs of either lodgement or melt-out processes by macro- or microscopic studies (see above) the logical conclusion is that there are no lodgement tills or subglacial melt-out tills. To extend this line of reasoning, if there are no lodgement or subglacial melt-out tills, and all we can see is deformation, we are led to the conclusion that the material produced directly by glaciers constitutes a deforming bed. Given the range of samples that have been used in our studies (Table 2) the conclusion must be that all subglacial tills from all places and all ages reect deforming beds. As indicated above the only exception to this rule is the occurrence of subglacial melt-out tills in contact with glacier ice, which are of limited extent. To our knowledge there are no uncontested Pleistocene or older subglacial melt-out tills.
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J.J.M. van der Meer et al. / Quaternary Science Reviews 22 (2003) 16591685 Table 2 Overview of thin section collection on which this study is based Area The Netherlands No. of thin sections 157 Citation van der Meer (1987a,b,1993b, 1996b, 1997a); van der Meer and Laban (1990); van der Meer et al. (1983, 1985); Rappol (1983); Rappol et al., 1989; Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997; van Beek, 1990; van Ginkel (1991), Carr (1998) van der Meer (1980, 1982) Carr (1998, 1999), Carr et al. (2000), Rijsdijk (2000), Menzies and van der Meer (1998), Croot et al. (1996) van der Meer et al., (1994a, b), Rijsdijk (2000), Verbers (1989), Bloetjes and van der Meer (unpublished data) Lagerlund and van der Meer (1990, and unpublished data) Boulton et al. (1996, 1999), van der Meer (1997a), van der Meer and Solheim (unpublished data) Hiemstra (1995), van der Meer et al. (submitted), Menzies and Maltman (1992), Menzies (2000b) Unpublished Bordonau (1992), Bordonau and van der Meer (1994) Unpublished Simons (1999), van der Meer and Solheim (unpublished data) Menzies (1986, 1991, 2002) Menzies and Woodward (1993), Menzies et al. (1997), Menzies and Zaniewski (2003) van der Meer (2000), van der Meer and Hiemstra (1998), van der Meer et al. (1994, 1998), Hiemstra (1999, 2001), Zaniewski (1997), Stroeven et al. (1999, 2002), Wilson et al. (2001), Lloyd Davies et al. (unpublished data) Unpublished van der Meer and Warren (1997), van der Meer and Solheim (unpublished data), van der Meer et al. (1992) van der Meer et al. (1996) (uviatile), van der Meer (1992, 1993a, 1995, 1996a), Menzies and Zaniewski (2003) 1274 1667
Switzerland UK Ireland Sweden Spitsbergen Germany Argentina Spain Greenland Iceland Canada USA Antarctic
52 39 123 18 24 122 4 23 2 39 145 66 170
Denmark Glacial; non-till Non-glacial Total
12 176
We wish to address the issue that the selection of samples used in this study is biased. Although this may (unintentionally) be the case for samples collected by ourselves, many of the samples used in our research have been collected for us by others and this is reported in the acknowledgements at the end of the paper. Furthermore, samples taken from cores allow little choice, and all that one can use is what is available. Finally, the collection is available for study, should others so wish, and samples from the collections have been used and studied in a number of international workshops (Amsterdam, 1993; Brock, St. Catharines, Canada 1997; Leeds, 1998; London, 1998, 2000, 2002; Tubingen, 2001; more will follow). . In the meantime others have independently corroborated our ndings of microstructures (e.g., Evans,
1998; Fuller and Murray, 2000, 2002; Lachniet et al., 2001). This paper seeks to elaborate on the concept that all subglacial tills are part of a deforming glacier bed. It is emphasised that our treatise is based on microstructures observed in thin section combined with our eld experience of glacial sediments and contemporary glacial environments. This paper is not a discussion based on the perceived character of tills, i.e. whether till always behaves as a Coulomb material or not.
3. The deforming glacier bed Experiments underneath glaciers have demonstrated the existence of deforming beds (see for instance papers
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in Hart and Rose, 2001) and that the velocity of the beds is variable. The deforming bed is by now a well established concept, its existence is no longer challenged (Murray, 1997). Today, only its thickness, its characteristics and how widespread it is and was is challenged (Clark, 1991; Ronnert, 1992; Hart, 1995; Boulton, 1996a, b; Boulton et al., 2001; Hoffmann and Piotrowski, 2001; Piotrowski et al., 2001, 2002). Micromorphology is a relatively new technique when it comes to studying deforming beds (van der Meer, 1993b, 1997a; Menzies, 1998, 2000b). However, it is no longer a question of whether micromorphology is able to identify diagnostic fabric features (Boulton et al., 2001, p. 9). That ability has already been demonstrated (see for instance Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997and further references in Table 2). Investigation of the deforming glacier bed requires an understanding of the factors that inuence its velocity. This clearly requires knowledge of the properties of both the glacier and the bed, especially glacier velocity, which is linked with the temperature of the ice, and the composition and water content of the bed material. 3.1. The effects of glacier movement In subglacial experiments it has been established that up to 70% of the forward movement of the glacier can occur in the bed; gures of this order have been recorded in the fast moving temperate glaciers of Iceland (Boulton, 1987). However in the slow moving, cold continental glaciers of the Tien Shan of northwestern Tibet Plateau (Echelmeyer and Wang Zhongxiang, 1987), bed movement accounted for only a minute fraction of the forward movement of the glacier. Numerous other examples replicate these ndings, and
overall these experiments imply that glacier velocity can be taken as a proxy for the velocity of movement in the sedimentary bed beneath the glacier (Table 3). For the sake of our argument it does not matter whether or not there is perfect coupling between ice and bed, only that there is a coupling at this interface. 3.2. The effects of water within the bed Water content of the deforming bed is the major factor controlling deformation, but a property that is far from simple both conceptually and with respect to in situ measurement. The following questions need answers: (i) How does water get to the till? (ii) How is water distributed within the till? (iii) How does water move through the till? (iv) What causes variability of water content (and consequently effective pressure) over time and space and at different scales? Investigation of the possible impact of water content in subglacial tills by Menzies (1989) has resulted in the H and M beds concept. Water content depends on ice temperature, both at the glacier surface and at the base. High production of meltwater at the glacier surface that subsequently reaches the bed, may dissipate into the bed depending on the presence of channels beneath the glacier, the pressure applied to the bed material, and the texture and structure of the bed. Where well developed channel systems exist at the base of the glacier, large areas of the bed will not be in contact with this source of water and these areas will receive their water mainly from basal melting. As these channels are known to shift over time, this property alone will mean that at any given time there to be spatial or vertical differences in the water content in the glacier bed, as demonstrated by Boulton
Table 3 Deformable bed data: basal sediment velocity (us ), thickness (hs ) and calculated strain rates (es ) (from Menzies, 2002) Location Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Chinaa Blue Glacier, Washington, USAb . Breidamerkurjokull, Icelandc Upstream B Camp, Ice Stream Bd, West Antarcticae Ice Stream Bf,d Black Rapids Glacier, Alaskag Estimated Pleistocene Puget Lobe, Washington, USAh
a
us (m/yr1) B3.00 B4.00 B16.00 B450.00 B277.00439.00 B30.0040.00 B500.00
hs (m) B0.35 B0.10 B0.50 B0.60 Top 3 cm of 9.0 m At 2.00 m depth B15 undilated B22.5 dilated
es (yr1) B8.57 B8.39 B40.00 B32.00 B75.00 B33.33 B22.22
Echelmeyer and Wang Zhongxiang (1987). Engelhardt et al. (1978). c Boulton, (1979). d Now Whillans Ice Stream. e Alley et al. (1997). f Engelhardt and Kamb (1998). g Truffer et al. (2000). h Brown et al. (1987).
b
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et al. (2001) in Iceland and by Fischer and Clarke (2001) in Canada. The pressure (the combined pressure of ice overburden and water pressure) applied to the glacier bed will help in distributing water at and into the glacier bed. Studies in Iceland (van der Meer et al., 1999) have demonstrated that subglacial water, which could not escape because the glacier toe was frozen to the base, caused the formation of a huge 3D array of water-escape conduits which allowed the pressurised water to escape from up-glacier locations and created structures that emanated from the base of the till. In order for this process to take place the water must rst have been forced into and through the till bed (till bed and channels in Alley, 1989). In this case the forced evacuation of water was so effective that the glacier bed dried out and was subsequently fractured by the glacier (van der Meer et al., 1999), before resuming deforming mode once again. Careful study of sand inclusions in tills (Carruthers, 1953; Eyles et al., 1982; Menzies, 1991) and of the base
of tills overlying sands and gravels (van der Meer, 1979, 1980) show the widespread distribution of the effects of this process, indicating that the features are not limited to the Icelandic example. These structures have a wide range of sizes, reecting the range of scales of the evacuation process. The presence of silt/sand lled, WESs at the centimeter scale, indicate formation by the same process, but at a much smaller scale (Fig. 3). Along similar lines, Fuller and Murray (2002) ascribed small sand lenses to canal or pipe ow in soft sediments. On the other hand hydro-fracturing as a result of high water recharge from the glacier does not necessarily lead to sediment intruding into fractures (Klint, 2001, 2003), but can still lead to systematic vertical and oblique fracturing of the till bed. An example of how drainage affects the behaviour of the till can be seen in Fig. 4 stemming from the study in Iceland referred to above. The creation of preferential pathways for water by the development of WESs has led to an immediate thickening of the till. At one point this has tripled the thickness of the till (Fig. 4, at 9 m) over
Fig. 3. La Tuf" re, S. of Fribourg, Switzerland. Wurm (Last Glaciation) glacigenic sequence of tills overlying wastage phase glaciouvial gravels. e . (A) The base of the till overlying the gravels shows small WESs. In the eld these are only visible as whisps of silt. (B) Thin section R.250 from the base of the exposure depicted in A shows a micro-water-escape structure with associated grain separation. In subglacial tills this is one of the few depositional microstructures and it relates to the role of water at this scale. Plane light, eld of view 5.6 mm.
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Fig. 4. Change in till thickness over WESs (see text); foreeld of Sl! ttjokull, Iceland. e .
Fig. 5. Portal of Turtmanngletscher, Valais, Switzerland. Clean ice overlies corrugated (macro slickensided) till which demonstrates the variable water content and related behaviour in the glacier bed. Solid arrows point at wet or owing till, while open arrows point at ssures. The till could not be samples for thin sectioning as it liqueed on touch. Glacier movement left to right.
the width of the WES, while at 19 m it developed a more complex wedge-shaped structure that reaches seven times the usual thickness of the till. This is only one of a number of such observations, including more till wedges in the Iceland study (Kilfeather, 2002). Similar complex lower boundary structures, including till wedges have been described from other areas as well (van der Meer, 1979, 1980). For a discussion of how changes in water content result in changes in till thickness see Menzies (1989) and also Kjaer et al. (2003). Water content also varies with the dilatancy of till. Anyone with experience of temperate glaciers is familiar with water-saturated diamictons around and beneath the glacier margin that liquefy on touch (Fig. 5). In this dilated state large quantities of water are present in the till (Murray and Dowdeswell, 1992), and it is the water that keeps apart (dilates) the sediment particles. This layer is variable in extent and thickness (van der Meer, 1997b), and unless it extends to lithied bedrock, it overlies dryer till, demonstrating that at any one time a till body beneath a glacier may demonstrate a suite of completely different conditions of water content. Another factor that inuences the water content of till is the presence of well developed, open, interconnected ssures (Klint, 2001, 2003). These enhance the move-
ment of water throughout the till, compared to movement through intergranular, and not necessarily interconnected, pores. Evidence for these interconnected ssures in tills are ssility (Fig. 2I) and marble-bed structure (van der Meer, 1993b; Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997; Menzies and Zaniewski, 2003). Fissility is the result of shearinga direct product of a deforming bed. There is no reason to assume that ssility observed in a Pleistocene till would retain the dimensions originally acquired within the deforming bed. Pressures within the subglacial system would change their state, either keeping them closed by overburden pressure or, if they were invaded by meltwater, forcing them open. Clean quartz grains inside ssures (Rappol, 1983, Fig. 88) indicate, at least temporary periods of current ow. Exposures of ssile tills show that these structures are still preferential pathways for water and dissolved matter. Marble-bed structure, where the deposit consists of a number of spherical aggregates that behave like ball bearings (van der Meer, 1993b) has been observed a number of times in thin sections (in the study collection, Table 2) of tills of different localities. This structure consists of small fractures which, in the best documented case (Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997), evolve from angular elements at depth in the till prole to wellrounded structures closer to the glacier base (Fig. 6). This gradual change reects the increase in deformation towards the glacier contact. In the case documented by Hiemstra and van der Meer, this structure revealed the complications of water movement through, and water content of a till bed over time. The marble-bed structure and the associated in situ crushed grains were interpreted as resulting from pulsed water movements with alternating wet and dry conditions. Localised, temporary freezing may occur in the bed, which should lead to further complications. We do not want to pursue this further in this paper. 3.3. The effects of bed composition Clay content is a critical factor in the behaviour of the glacier bed, and in many glaciotectonic structures clay ! beds or concentrations form the plane of decollement, along which movement is concentrated (van der
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Fig. 6. Wijnjewoude, The Netherlands, till prole (Saalian) with position of thin section samples (Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997). X-rays of two of the samples clearly show the outline of fractures in the till (in white). This is a clear demonstration of the development of the marble bed structure from angular at depth to more rounded higher up. It is a structure that has been observed a number of times in subglacial tills from different localities and places. Denser pebbles show up dark. The till symbols in the diagram at left represent the descriptions to their right.
Wateren, 2002). This is caused by water content in the clay, or electrochemically bonded water and the smooth tabular form of the clay particles which become aligned with parallel surfaces. In matrix-rich sediments silt-size particles also facilitate movement. Part of the rotational structures that occur so widely in tills consist of silt particles that are orientated parallel to the surface of larger particles. Clays in deformed glacier beds are the pre-requisite for the development of a skelsepic plasmic fabric, which is formed by clay particles lining up around and adhering to a larger particle. Clearly, ease of deformation is directly related to an increase in clay content (Menzies, 1989, 2000b, Fig. 1), and this relationship is reinforced by the water-holding capacity of the clay size material. The effect of a change in clay content and composition upon bed deformation processes can be seen in Fig. 7. This gure relates to widespread evidence from
northern Germany and The Netherlands where two different till types occur side by side (Meyer, 1987; Rappol, 1987) with a sharp contact. On one side is a clayey-silty till (up to 45% clay), with a high proportion of smectite, on the other is a silty-sandy till (up to 20% clay) without smectite (Rappol et al., 1989). Erratics in both tills have been transported considerable distances from southern and central Scandinavia, yet there is no sign of mixing. The tills differ widely in every respect: clast provenance, carbonate content, as well as the particle size properties mentioned above. It is suggested that the reason why these tills do not mix, despite their long transport distances, is that their clay (and carbonate; see below) content determines their pore water pressure, cohesion and inherent strength, ensuring that they did behave independent of one another despite the fact that they exist side by side, and are both part of the deforming glacier bed. In laboratory experiments
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Fig. 7. Urk, The Netherlands; boundary between two widely different Saalian tills (see text). (A) View of the whole thin section, arrows point at the boundary. (B) Sharp, undulating boundary between two till beds. Note the lack of mixing between two, compositionally completely different till beds. Thin section O.817, Urk, The Netherlands; plane light; eld of view 18.0 mm.
Iverson et al. (1996) demonstrated the mixing of tills in a deforming bed, however, the eld evidence presented above demonstrates that it does not always occur. The capacity of clay to absorb water means that water will penetrate in between clay particles. Given a high enough water pressure this movement contributes to the dispersion of clay particles leading to the formation of illuviated clay cutans in subglacial tills (Menzies, 2000b) as in perpetually submerged riverbeds (van der Meer, 1993a). Additionally, clay mineralogy plays a role through the capacity of certain clays to incorporate water into their crystal lattice. Thus, the presence of swelling clays like smectites will contribute to a higher water content. The presence of swelling clays will also mean that the water content in a deforming bed will change less rapidly as this water is more difcult to remove than absorbed water. As stated above, the wetting and drying of swelling clays will affect the presence and strength of the plasmic fabric, although this process may be most effective after deglaciation when the till can be dried more effectively. An as-yet under evaluated parameter that may contribute to the mobility of the deforming bed is secondary carbonate (Fig. 8) within the material. It is known that carbonates are precipitated directly onto bedrock underneath glaciers, both at the present day
Fig. 8. Secondary carbonates (greyish colours) following the till structure, in this case a marble bed structure. Thin section O.818, Urk, The Netherlands, Saalian till; plane light; eld of view 18.0 mm.
(Hallet, 1976, 1979; Hallet et al., 1978; Fairchild et al., 1994) and during the Pleistocene (Bjrke and Dypvik, 1977). Despite their often stromatolitic nature and the occasional presence of organic components like pollen, the subglacial origin of these carbonates is not doubted and these should be differentiated from allogenic
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carbonates formed since deglacierisation, which are not relevant to this paper. Authigenic carbonate is likely to have had a stiffening effect on the material and consequently is likely to have inuenced the deforming bed. There is widespread occurrence of secondary carbonates in tills (van der Meer, 1982; Menzies and Brand, submitted). Concretions of carbonates may occur throughout the till, but are regularly seen at the contact with underlying sands and gravels. In the till the secondary carbonates form coatings along ssures (Fig. 8) as well as cemented patches in the till mass. It is always assumed that in Pleistocene tills these widespread secondary carbonates are caused by groundwater activity of postglacial age, despite till matrices having a low hydraulic conductivity. However, recent work on stained thin sections of till from within a drumlin in New York State has established that secondary carbonates were deposited within a till penecontemporaneously during a readvance across deltaic sands and gravels (Menzies and Brand, submitted; see also discussion in Fairchild et al., 1994). Further changes in mobility of the glacier bed may be induced by changes in the substrate over which the glacier moves. It has long been known (Geikie, 1863) that tills change their lithological properties including grain size as the glacier and the glacier bed move across different lithologies. Change of composition caused by movement from a ne grained onto a coarse grained substrate will affect subglacial drainage, porewater pressure, effective stress levels and thus sediment mobility and consequently glacial behaviour (van den Berg and Beets, 1987). However the same change in mobility may come about because of glacial erosion or glaciotectonics. Glacial erosion may change the glacier bed abruptly from one grain size to another, with the consequent effect on drainage and behaviour. Glaciotectonics may change the bed in the most dramatic fashion with the removal or inclusion of rafts or beds of sediment, thereby introducing a different lithology into the subglacial domain. Taking all factors together we must conclude that subglacial conditions, and consequently subglacial behaviour, must have been extremely variable in both time and space (Menzies, 1989; Menzies and Shilts, 2002); a conclusion that has been reached on different grounds by others (Piotrowski and Kraus, 1997; Knight, 2002) though leading to different models. Depending on the uniformity of the bed and of meltwater availability zones of the subglacial domain may have been uniform, whereas variations in meltwater input could produce variations in bed mobility on very small scale (Boulton et al., 2001; Fischer and Clarke, 2001). A texturally highly variable bed will, even under uniform meltwater availability, lead to a highly variable bed mobility.
4. A deformation modelproperties and process 4.1. The local scale When combining our observations on the widespread presence of a deforming bed with the factors that affect the mobility of the bed, we arrive at the following description of the characteristics of the deforming bed in space and time. This description begins with Fig. 10A derived from Alley (1989). This diagram shows how deformation changes from sliding and ploughing on the ice-bed contact, through pervasive shearing to discrete shearing at the base of the deforming bed. It should be noted that this diagram has no scale, neither horizontal, nor vertical; we will come back to this later. For the purposes of our thesis we assume the till is diamictic without textural or structural discontinuities and that the stress is applied continuously. Using these assumptions we can now deduce how two of the most prominent factors that inuence bed mobility: water and clay content, affect this diagram (Fig. 10B). Although the deforming bed is a complex temporal and spatial rheological system, in which water and clay content act in relation to stress levels we have for the sake of simplicity to treat these factors as if they are independent of each other. When water content is low (Fig. 10Bi), sliding at the bed contact will be low, the zone affected by deformation will be thin and will be characterised by discrete shearing. The shears will delineate a 3D pattern which is angular at depth with increasing roundness towards the glacier sole (Fig. 6; Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997). It is proposed that this pattern is developed by the gradual upward progression of (sub-)horizontal shears, followed by Riedel and anti-Riedel shears. Further movement along these shears is considered to lead to rounding as protuberances are broken off, producing a marble-bed structure (van der Meer, 1993b) upon which, in effect, the glacier is being carried along on a bed of ball bearings. This proposition is substantiated by the in situ production of crushed sand grains, for which low water content is a prerequisite (Hiemstra and van der Meer, 1997). Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that inbetween the shears deformation is non-existent (Menzies, 2000b). Microscopically this stage can be recognised by the outlines of the marble-bed structure and the in situ crushed grains (Fig. 2A). The latter should not be seen as the result of sand grain bridges which on theoretical grounds were assumed by Hooke and Iverson (1995), but which have never been observed in any of our thin sections. Under the microscope skeleton grains in tills are not in contact with each other, there is always a minute, but still buffering layer of matrix in between. With increasing water content, sliding along the bed will become more important, but the marble-bed
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structure can no longer develop as individual particles become more mobile. The deforming bed will initially decrease in thickness as a function of attenuation associated with higher mobility. In well sorted (drained) sediments pervasive shearing will become dominant and the zone of faulting will become thinner. The zone of pervasive shearing will change from the marble-bed conguration, to one that consists of rotational structures (Figs. 2E and F), in which small particles swirl around larger particles and become oriented parallel to them. This shows as galaxy structures, rotational structures and a skel- to lattisepic plasmic fabric (Fig. 1). We can also expect the development of shears, initially as short shears which show either as short grain lineations (Figs. 2C and D), or as varieties of masepic plasmic fabric. Additionally, we can also expect the development of pressure shadows. This is supported by observations of Fuller and Murray (2002) who studied a thin deforming bed related to a documented surge. They describe many of the above microstructures in a thin, up to 20 cm thick deforming bed at a high water content. Note that within the same thin sections they also described units and patches of well-sorted ne sands, which they interpreted as the result of running water in canals and pipes in soft sediment. Further increase in water content will see the development of unistrial plasmic fabrics (Fig. 2J), as shearing intensies individual shears become longer. This microstructural development does not persist indenitely. As described above, the dilatant uppermost part of a till bed immediately beneath a glacier has been observed to contain so much water that the material liquees when a stress is applied, and consequently the particles start to behave independent of each other. In this state, which is also developed near the margin of tidewater glaciers (van der Meer and Hiemstra, 1998; van der Meer, 2000), the dilated state of the sediment will only allow the development of similar, but isolated structures. Thus we see rst an increase in intensity (both in number and size) of microstructures with an increase in water content, followed by the microstructures becoming single and isolated with a further increase in water content. The latter is a consequence of the water separating sediment particles and preventing their interaction. 4.2. Role of clay in the development of deformational structures If clay content is taken as the only variable, a different array of deformation structures will be developed (Fig. 10Bii). With a low clay content, we expect shearing to be the main process, and detection of this shearing will depend on the presence of strain markers. Shearing may be visible as discrete shears if silts are present, and intergranular movement can be expected in sands.
Evidence of intergranular deformation has been observed in coarse sand directly underneath and in contact with a major thrust in a push moraine (Kluiving, 1989). A thin section of these sands showed silt akes to have been produced by tectonic attrition (Fig. 2B). These observations differ from those on crushed grains formed under conditions of a low water content (see above) in that this material is clast supported without a matrix, so that there are only open pores. However, because of a lack of strain markers, sands may appear to be unaffected and massive, and deformation may only be recognised by careful micromorphological analysis or deformed bedding structures. With increasing clay content, deformation will occur more easily, rotational structures, plasmic fabrics and pressure shadows (Figs. 2G and H) will be formed and become widespread. Although the likely expectation is that increased clay content would lead to pervasive deformation only with restricted linear shearing at depth, the fact is that as clay content increases, the hydraulic conductivity of the as-yet unstructured sediment decreases. With decreasing hydraulic conductivity, and no change in pressure, it will become more and more difcult for the water to move through the sediment. Consequently we can expect the water to exploit any preferential pathway and, in the absence of the latter, develop new pathways. This has the potential to lead to the development of interconnected shear planes, and this process can be expected to speed up as water pressure increases instead of remaining constant. The shear planes developed in this way would at the same time accommodate deformation of the sediment and evacuation of water. The end product of this process is a ssile till. The lenticular elements between ssures (shears) have been observed to vary from centimetres to metres in size and this spacing most likely reects water pressure and clay content during formation (Fig. 9). It has been observed that the lenticular units between ssures may show only a minor amount of microstructural development (Rappol, 1983). When present, microstructures in between the planes of weakness may have evolved before the ssile structure came into being, reecting a two-step development. In this case the microstructures have been preserved because further deformation was concentrated along the shears. Thus, an increase in clay content does not automatically lead to deformation throughout the sediment body, but may lead only to localised deformation. In reality it will not be so easy to separate changes in water content from changes in clay content (Table 4) because the effects are similar and because of the intricate relationships between the two. As outlined in Section 3.3, increasing the clay content automatically leads to increasing the moisture content. Because small pores form a stronger bond between sediment and water
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Fig. 9. The spacing of ssility in till most likely reects water pressure and clay content during formation. (A) Small-scale ssility delineated by open ssures and Fe staining in Drenthe till (Penultimate Glaciation). Neu Wulmstorf, N. Germany. (B) Large-scale ssility in Midlandian (Last Glaciation) till from Ringaskiddy, S. Ireland (knife for scale).
Table 4 Relation between microstructures and water and clay content, assuming constant pressure Water content Low Microstructures marble bed ma-supp Increasing High Liquefaction
a a
Clay content Low crushed grains cl-supp

a
grain-lineations; masepic plasmic fabric; comet structure; rotational/turbate/galaxy structures; skelsepic/lattisepic plasmic fabric pressure shadows water escape + ssility, incl. washed grains omnisepic/unistrial/kinking plasmic fabric loss of microstructure
Increasing High
ma-supp=matrix-supported, cl-supp=clast-supported.
than large pores, water is not evacuated rapidly. In a subglacial environment with a continuous supply of water we can expect a clayey bed to be more mobile (but not necessarily to the same depth; Boulton, 1996b) than an adjacent more sandy bed, all other parameters being equal. Given the great range of combinations of grain size and water content we can expect the deforming bed to be extremely variable laterally. Depending on how quickly both variables can change, we may expect lateral changes in a range of tens of centimetres (Menzies et al.,
1997), to thousands of metres. Because this is easier to depict in a variation of H, Q and M beds (Menzies, 1989), Fig. 10 changes from the vertically variable Alley diagram (Fig. 10A) into the horizontally variable beds diagram (Fig. 10C). 4.3. Spatial and temporal variability Fig. 10D tries to visualise such a spatially variable deforming bed. In this gure we have simplied the
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Fig. 10. Diagram depicting till, the deforming bed. (A) So called Alley diagram (after Alley, 1989) showing the main types of subglacial deformation. (Bi) Changes in style and intensity of deformation with increasing water content. (Bii) Changes in style and intensity of deformation with increasing clay content. (C) Translation of variable styles and intensity in deformation in H, Q and M beds (after Menzies, 1989). (D) Theoretical distribution of H, Q and M beds under a glacier, showing the spatial variability of the deforming bed. (E) Mapping the distribution of H, Q and M beds over time shows the temporal variability of the deforming bed ((i) and (ii) are two steps in time).
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spatial variability
ice
M H Q M Q Q H Q Q M
Q M M
H Q
(D)
temporal variability
ice
H Q
H Q M
M
(Ei)
H time
(E)
(Eii)
M
Fig. 10 (continued).
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depiction of the deforming bed by representing it as either H, Q and M beds. The indication Q or M represents the whole range of deformational processes at that locality. It should be emphasised that this is a theoretical model. To create a sense of variability in the deforming bed, we have indicated the presence of either an H, Q or M bed at the grid intersections. Note that there is still no scale to the gure, which we will address later. The diagram depicts a at contact between glacier and ice, and a deforming bed split into H, Q or M classes. We envisage this deforming bed as a matrix of variations in composition, water content, shear strength (or effective stress) and applied shear stress levels interacting with variations in thickness and velocity. The variations in velocity mean that ow lines across this surface will not be parallel, but will show a complicated pattern as well (Kjaer et al., 2003). The usual way to accommodate differences in velocity is to change thickness. In combination with a steady ux this suggests that locally the fastest owing parts of the bed would also be the shallowest. In reality we can assume that accommodation may occur either through a differential ux of material, or through adaptation of the bed form. The latter means that the contact between ice and bed cannot remain horizontal but will develop undulations which will be the start of bedforms, either utes or drumlins (Rose and Letzer, 1977; Boulton, 1987; Menzies, 1987, 1989; Rose, 1987). These would then be the result of inherent bed instability. These instabilities explain the existence of drumlinised till where there is no apparent point of initiation for these landforms (Kjaer et al., 2003). It can similarly explain the formation of utes that lack a starting boulder at their up-glacier end (Menzies and Shilts, 2002). This would explain the universal development of utes and drumlins without a point of initiation (Rose and Letzer, 1977; Rose, 1987, 1989a, b; Hindmarsh, 1998, 1999; Menzies and Shilts, 2002; Kjaer et al., 2003). Drumlins with a stratied sand and gravel core, with the core acting as an aquifer node causing an increase in till strength and consequently a reduction in mobility, readily t into this scheme. Based on this relation between bed mobility, water and clay content, it is reasonable to expect a textural difference between till in drumlins and till in interdrumlin depressions. Such textural differences would require a large database for investigation and consequently this effect has, hitherto, not been effectively demonstrated. However, new data from County Clare, Ireland, appear to demonstrate such a systematic textural difference (Oscar Bloetjes, pers. comm.). The situation depicted in Fig. 10D can also be represented in a map (Fig. 10Ei). In this gure the different types of beds have been depicted. The lines delineating the different types of bed have been drawn
out in the direction of ice ow. Because bed conditions will not remain the same over time in any one position, this map will change with time (Truffer et al., 2001). In particular, because of seasonal variations in water content, bed conditions will not remain the same, even though texture might not change. Alternatively, conditions may change because of changes in the texture of the bed due to erosion of new lithologies. This can take place at the base of the till without the ice being in direct contact with the new lithology because rotational structures in a deforming bed may scavenge the subtill sediments (van der Meer, 1997a), thereby exposing another material. The mobility of particles in a bed consisting of rotational structures means that the composition of the whole deforming bed will change, downstream of a change in bed texture. This will only apply if the deforming bed encompasses the full thickness of the till bed. Indeed, changes in moisture content of tills beneath ice mean that the thickness of the deforming layer will also change. This will mean, in consequence, that scavenging at the base may be temporary. Given enough time, the map depicted in Fig. 10Ei may change into the situation depicted in Fig. 10Eii. It should be emphasised that both are moments in time and deformation will only cease following deglaciation. Depending on the time involved and the intensity of deformation, a till may acquire a massive appearance devoid of any macroscopic structures. Changes in glacier movement and the intensity of bed deformation (velocity and/or thickness) do not mean that the visible appearance of the till bed will change; it may simply remain massive and structureless. However, it is important to stress that the latter only applies to the macroscale and the record of change will be recorded in the microstructures. Nevertheless, the appearance of a till may change if the texture, water content, or scavenging activity changes, resulting in, respectively, the development or destruction of ssility or the incorporation of rafts of sediment into the till. This variability of the deforming bed implies that a till may change from a mature, massive, to an immature structure due to the incorporation of allochthonous material, indicating that observing a massive till is not necessarily the same as observing the end member, as well as emphasising the unsuitability of these anthropomorphic adjectives (Menzies and Zaniewski, 2003). Finally, it should be realised that some structures in the deforming glacier bed are not just the passive result of subglacial conditions, but do themselves affect these subglacial conditions, i.e. they are back-coupling. As such, we can point at glaciotectonic fractures which are themselves related to water recharge from the glacier and drainage conditions below the glacier (Klint, 2003). After their formation such fractures will strongly inuence water movement
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through the till bed, adding to the complexity of the deforming glacier bed in time and space.
5. Thickness of the deforming glacier bed Following the above the horizontal properties of the deforming bed are reasonably well understood and can vary between centimetres and thousands of metres and the properties of the till may vary from extremely homogeneous to highly variable. This can be substantiated by all studies of till beds: some are extremely homogeneous over long distances, while others show a high variability. There is clearly less information and understanding about the thickness of the deforming bed and this topic has been the subject of discussion (Boulton, 1987; Menzies, 1989; Hart, 1998; Boulton et al., 2001) and recent work on temperate glaciers (Humphrey et al., 1993; Hooke et al., 1997; Fuller and Murray, 2000, 2002; Truffer et al., 2000). The deforming . bed at Breidamerkurjokull had a thickness of only 7080 cm although on theoretical grounds Boulton and Dobbie (1993) maintained that it can vary in thickness between 4 and 47 m. Other eld studies also indicate relatively thin deforming beds; a few centimetres at most (Table 3; see also discussion in Piotrowski et al., 2001). However, although values reported from beneath existing glaciers do not indicate a great thickness, it is possible that these are not representative and thicknesses are greater elsewhere, or beneath Pleistocene glaciers as indicated by deformation structures. Until measurements are available to resolve this problem, we must use structures in Pleistocene till beds to estimate (minimum) values for deforming bed thickness. The latter is inherently difcult, as will be shown in the following example. Although it is possible to provide more examples, that should be the topic of a follow-up paper.
Fig. 11. Emmerschans, The Netherlands; deformed sand lens near the base of the Saalian till, has been incorporated from underlying bed. See text for discussion of what this implies for deforming bed thickness in general.
A till of Saalian (penultimate) Glaciation from The Netherlands (Emmerschans, Pit de Boer, 1:25,000 map sheet 17H; coordinates: 259.30/536.25). Fig. 11 shows a deformed sand lens at the base of the till. Particle by particle lodgement cannot account for the shape of the lens, it has been elongated from an initially more spherical form. Similar inclusions have been described from many other sites in the world (Kruger, 1979). In . this case, the till bed is ca 3 m thick but this is an underestimate because there is no Last Interglacial (Eemian) soil in the till indicating that erosion has taken place, probably under periglacial conditions during the Last Glaciation (van der Meer and Lagerlund, 1991). Consequently we have to add a minimum of 2 m to the thickness of the till, bringing it to at least 5 m. Above the deformed sand lenses the till is wellstructured and ssile (Rappol, 1983). It could be possible to argue that the sand lens has been deformed in a 30 cm layer reecting its vertical extent, but that the diamicton that constitutes the remaining part of the sequence has been lodged particle by particle. Not only would this be special pleading, but it also makes the sequence more complicated requiring a change from lodgement to deformation, and back to lodgement. Such a variability is not explained in our model, because the latter only deals with variation in deformation. However, the ssile structure of the till can be explained by deforming bed processes and the microstructures observed in thin section are typical of a deforming bed. Thus we believe that the whole >5 m of till was formed as a deforming bed. It is important to rehearse the alternative hypotheses: (i) The deforming bed has never been thicker than the 30 cm to cover the sand lens, and that this deforming bed has moved upward to form the overlying diamicton in an accretionary sequence. The implication of this scenario is that there is sedimentation in between the ice and the deforming bed and that particles are being lodged because the ice cannot overcome the friction against a moving, lubricated bed. (ii) A glacier deformed the sand lens, after which deformation ceased and was replaced by particle-by-particle lodgement of all or part of the overlying till sequence. Following this hypothesis it is conceivable that the overlying till could have been constructed by alternation of deformation and lodgement. The latter scenario would explain the presence of deformational microstructures, but not the absence of any major structural boundaries. In addition to the above information it is important to note that the sub-till sediments consist of uniform, ne sands with frost wedges, which have been plastically deformed to a depth of several decimetres (van der Meer and Kars, 1995), and of sand, silt and clay laminated sediments which show evidence of intense deformation over a thickness of up to 5 m and interngering with the
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base of the till (see also Rappol, 1983). The 5 m thickness gives an indication of the depth to which subglacial deformation can extend.
6. Tectomict
*
To many, sediments are deposits that are made up of particles of pre-existing rocks or their alteration products. At the same time, the term carries the notion of these particles having been deposited by water, wind, ice, air or gravity. However, in light of the foregoing discussion of till as a deforming bed, the question needs asking: is subglacial till a sediment?. To place this question in context it is important to recall that not all accumulations of pre-existing rock material are deposited by water, wind, ice, air or gravity. Peats grow in situ, as do certain limestones. Fault gouge is not deposited by water, wind, ice, air or gravity, although it is composed of particles of pre-existing rocks. There are three types of sediments: (i) those that are deposited by water, wind, ice, air or gravity, (ii) those that grow in situ, and (iii) those that are the result of structural, tectonic (kinetic) processes. It is our contention that subglacial tills fall into the third category, together with fault gouge. This is not a new notion as already in Pettijohn (1949), in his book Sedimentary Rocks under the heading Cataclastic breccias and conglomerats stated: Formed in an analogous matter is till, which is the product of glacial action. This material is basically an extensive gouge, caused by grinding along the base of an overthrust ice sheet. Petrographic and structural similarities and mode of origin justify the grouping together of the glacial and tectonic moraines. At a higher level, these structural sediments can be grouped together with cataclastic, metamorphic rocks. In order to avoid the confusion over the traditional concept of sediments we propose to use the term tectomict for sediments such as subglacial till that are the result of structural processes.
to occur, and we are of the opinion that they do not exist. Debris release from ice can be discussed in terms of lodgement or melt-out processes, but hitherto, subglacial sediments (except melt-out tills in contact with glacier ice) produced by these processes have yet to be recognised. Deformational microstructures demonstrate that the intensity of deformation is inuenced by glacier velocity, water content, clay content, possibly deposition of secondary carbonates and to a lesser extent by clay mineralogy. A combination of spatial changes in water and clay content results in a strongly diversied deforming bed, continuously changing its conguration over space and time. However, because the changes in water content can be modelled, it is possible to predict the till resulting from glaciation for any known sedimentary sequence. Viewing subglacial tills as spatially and temporally highly variable deforming beds and discarding till varieties like lodgement and subglacial melt-out is not a step back in understanding tills, instead it leads to much better understanding of the complexity of till structures and properties, and allows prediction of till properties with a precision hitherto unknown. It diminishes the number of till varieties but increases the number of recognisable processes and the factors that inuence them. Understanding subglacial tills in all the complexities of a spatially and temporally highly variable deforming bed instead of understanding them in depositional processes increases our understanding of the processes of till formation. Processes active within deforming beds explain:
7. Conclusions We conclude that:

*
(i) the close associations of tills of markedly different composition and without apparent mixing, (ii) geochemical anomalies, (iii) the development of ssility in till, (iv) the development of deformation macrostructures such as shears, folds and fractures, (v) the development of deformation microstructures in till including birefringent plasmic fabrics and marble-bed conguration, (vi) the development of internal and lower boundaries of till beds, including till wedges.
*
Extensive use of till micromorphology has established a range of microstructures which demonstrate that all subglacial tills, including macroscopically massive ones, are former deforming glacier beds. Hitherto, much consideration of the existence of former or present deforming beds, has ignored these observations. Because all subglacial tills are deforming glacier beds, it follows that classical till varieties such as lodgement till and subglacial melt-out till are unlikely
Both (iii) and (iv) have important consequences for the hydraulic properties of many tills. Differences in bed velocity under constant ux conditions lead to differences in thickness of the deforming bed. One way to accommodate this is the formation of glacier bedforms which respond to the variations in stress at the glacier bed. Because this automatically leads to streamlining, the nal result is a drumlin or a ute eld, and the consequence of
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changing glacier or deforming bed properties are superimposed bedforms. Subglacial tills are not depositional but structural sediments and are dened as tectomicts. All till properties and their development, for instance porosity or internal and external boundaries have to be redened following the concept of the deforming bed. Given the origin of subglacial tills as deforming beds, the nature and amount of glacial erosion has to be redened, which will lead to a reassessment of glacial transport and deposition.
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Acknowledgements We would like to thank the technicians that over the years have provided us with thin sections of good quality, despite the difcult nature of the material: Frans Backer, Candy Kramer, Jerry Lee, Adrian Palmer, John Taylor, Cees Zeegers. Likewise the students and colleagues who have provided us with samples, the opportunity to examine their ndings and many challenging discussions (please note that inclusion in this list does not automatically imply agreement with our views): Marcel Bakker, Peter Barrett, Ernst van Beek, Oscar Bloetjes, Jaume Bordonau, Geoffrey Boulton, Simon Carr, Tha.enne van Dijk, Dietrich Ellwanger, Ed Evenson, Maarten van Ginkel, Vic . Gostin, John Hiemstra, Hans Hoe, Aoibheann Kilfeather, Kurt Kjaer, Johannes Kruger, Cees Laban, . Erik Lagerlund, Mark Lloyd Davies, JuhaPekka Lunkka, Danny McCarroll, Herman Mucher, . Sandra Passchier, Ross Powell, Mike Prentice, Jorge Rabassa, Martin Rappol, Kenneth Rijsdijk, Christian Schluchter, Vincent Simons, Anders Solheim, Miranda . Steward, Arjen Stroeven, Anja Verbers, Johan Visser, Willie Warren, Dick van der Wateren, Colin Whiteman, Grant Young, Kamil Zaniewski. Similarly the many different funding agencies that have sponsored our research. We would like to profoundly thank the reviewers of this paper, Jan Piotrowski and Tavi Murray. Their professional approach and very critical comments have hopefully led to a better paper, even if it does not take away all their problems. Last, but not least, we would also like to acknowledge the participants in the International Workshops on the Micromorphology of Glacial Sediments (Amsterdam, Brock, London, Tubingen), the students in the NERC . sponsored M.Sc. in Quaternary Science at Royal Holloway University of London, as well as those in other (short) courses for continuously asking but is it a lodgement till?. This question has now given them more than they bargained for.
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Quaternary Science Reviews 22 (2003) 16591685

Subglacial till: the deforming glacier bed

Boulton and Deynoux (1981) Dreimanis (1990)

Systematic areally consistent

Hicock et al. (1996)

52 39 123 18 24 122 4 23 2 39 145 66 170

Denmark Glacial; non-till Non-glacial Total

us (m/yr1) B3.00 B4.00 B16.00 B450.00 B277.00439.00 B30.0040.00 B500.00

es (yr1) B8.57 B8.39 B40.00 B32.00 B75.00 B33.33 B22.22

Clay content Low crushed grains cl-supp

7. Conclusions We conclude that:

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