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Stratigraphic and geomorphologic evidence of three MIS 2 glacial advances in the South Fork Hoh River valley, Olympic Mountains, Washington, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2019

Cianna E. Wyshnytzky ,
Tammy M. Rittenour ,
Glenn D. Thackray  and
James Shulmeister
Cianna E. Wyshnytzky*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-4505, USA
Tammy M. Rittenour
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322-4505, USA
Glenn D. Thackray
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho 83209-8072, USA
James Shulmeister
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072 Queensland, Australia
*
*Corresponding author e-mail address: cianna.wyshnytzky@usda.gov
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Abstract

The geomorphology and stratigraphy of the South Fork Hoh River (SF Hoh), Olympic Mountains, Washington, allow for greater understanding of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 2 (MIS 2) ice fluctuations, glacial dynamics, and sedimentation. Age control from optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon dating constrains deposited sediments associated with four Late Pleistocene ice-marginal positions that formed under reduced ice volume conditions compared with MIS 3–5 glaciers in the same drainage. The earliest MIS 2 ice margin extended into the main Hoh River valley (pre–SF 1, 28 ka to >23.0 ka). After retreat, the ice occupied three closely spaced ice-marginal positions (SF 1–3) that range in age from 22.0 ka to shortly after 18.7 ka. While the SF 1 and SF 3 positions were previously identified as the Twin Creeks I and II positions, the intermediate SF 2 position had not been recognized. Moraines are composed of poorly sorted, but stratified, sediment and few tills. Diamicton units show evidence of water reworking. This research documents a detailed record of MIS 2 glaciation in a maritime setting in western North America and provides evidence of rapid MIS 2 ice-marginal fluctuations that likely reflect responses to millennial-scale climatic fluctuations and may be relevant to understanding other complex MIS 2 moraine sequences.

Keywords

Glacial geomorphologyoutwashstratigraphyglacial sedimentologyOlympic MountainsMIS 2
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 92 , Issue 3 , November 2019 , pp. 708 - 724
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2019 

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Footnotes

1

present address: Natural Resources Conservation Service, Salt Lake City, Utah 84138, USA

2

present address: School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8020, New Zealand

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