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A sediment-mixing process model of till genesis, using texture and clay mineralogy data from Saginaw lobe (Michigan, USA) tills

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2020

Randall J. Schaetzl Open the ORCID record for Randall J. Schaetzl [Opens in a new window] ,
Christopher Baish ,
Patrick M. Colgan ,
Jarrod Knauff ,
Thomas Bilintoh ,
Dan Wanyama ,
Michelle Church ,
Kevin McKeehan ,
Albert Fulton  and
Alan F. Arbogast
Randall J. Schaetzl*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
Christopher Baish
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
Patrick M. Colgan
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan49401, USA
Jarrod Knauff
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
Thomas Bilintoh
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts01610, USA
Dan Wanyama
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
Michelle Church
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
Kevin McKeehan
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
Albert Fulton
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
Alan F. Arbogast
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan48823, USA
*
*Corresponding author e-mail address: soils@msu.edu (R.J. Schaetzl).
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Abstract

We present a sediment-mixing process model of till genesis based on data from surface tills of the Saginaw lobe terrain in lower Michigan. Our research uses a spatial approach to understanding glacial landsystems and till genesis. We sampled calcareous till at 336 upland sites and at 17 sites in lacustrine sediment of the Saginaw Lake plain. The loamy tills have bimodal grain-size curves, with a fine-texture mode near the silt–clay boundary and a sand mode. Spatial grouping analysis suggests that tills can be divided into six groups, each with different textures and clay mineral compositions that vary systematically down-ice. The similarity among groups with respect to the silt–clay mode and clay mineralogy argues for a common origin for the fines—illite-rich lacustrine sediment of the Saginaw Lake plain. Fine-textured sediments were probably entrained, transported, and deposited down-ice as till, which also becomes sandier and enriched in kaolinite, reflecting increasing mixing with shallow sandstone bedrock with distance from the lacustrine clay source. Clayey tills on the flanks of the Saginaw terrain may reflect proglacial ponding against nearby uplands. A process model of progressive down-ice mixing of preexisting fine lake sediments with crushed/abraded sandstone bedrock helps to better explain till textures compared with a purely crushing/abrasion process model.

Keywords

TillSpatial analysisBox plotsGISGlacial landsystemsSaginaw Lake plainClay mineralogySediment-mixing processTill genesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 94 , March 2020 , pp. 174 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2020

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