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Timing of Late Quaternary Glaciations in the Western United States Based on the Age of Loess on the Eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Steven L. Forman ,
Richard P. Smith ,
William R. Hackett ,
Julie A. Tullis  and
Paul A. McDaniel
Steven L. Forman
Affiliation:
Byrd Polar Research Center and Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1308
Richard P. Smith
Affiliation:
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, E G and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415
William R. Hackett
Affiliation:
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, E G and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415
Julie A. Tullis
Affiliation:
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, E G and G Idaho, Inc., Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415
Paul A. McDaniel
Affiliation:
Soil Science Division, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83843
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Abstract

The most viable sources for ubiquitous loess deposits on the eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho are aggraded river valleys, active alluvial fans, and fluctuating pluvial lake margins associated with regional late Pleistocene glaciation of the northern Rocky Mountains. Stratigraphic studies on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory document two distinct loess deposits, separated by a well-developed paleosol, resting on basaltic lava. Baked sediments beneath this lava yielded thermoluminescence (TL) age estimates of 108,000 ± 13,000 and 101,000 ± 7000 yr, and baked organic matter gave radiocarbon ages of >32,000 yr B.P., consistent with an earlier K/Ar age for the flow of 95,000 ± 25,000 yr. The overlying two loess deposits yielded TL age estimates of 74,000 ± 6000 and 28,000 ± 3000 yr. The available geochronology indicates that the latest period of loess deposition commenced ca. 40,000 to 35,000 yr ago and ceased approximately 10,000 yr ago, which is generally coincident with the inferred timing of regional Pinedale glaciation and pluvial lake expansion. We estimate that the penultimate loess depositional episode dates between 80,000 and 60,000 yr ago, which is significantly younger than previous age estimates of 140,000 to 150,000 yr based on stratigraphic position. We speculate that this period of loess deposition may correlate with documented early to middle Wisconsinan glaciation and a high stand of pluvial lakes in the Basin and Range province.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , July 1993 , pp. 30 - 37
Copyright
University of Washington

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