Drumlin evolution and ice sheet oscillations along the NE Atlantic margin, Donegal bay, western Ireland

J Knight, AM McCabe

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    49 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Satellite imagery of Donegal Bay, northwestern Ireland, reveals two streamlined subglacial bedform sets produced during the late Devensian glaciation (ca. 22,000-15,000 yrs B.P.). The first bedform set trends northeast-southwest and records fast ice flow from inland ice domes onto the eastern Atlantic continental shelf. The second bedform set, trending east-west crosscuts and partially reorientates the first. Morphological and sedimentary evidence show that the second set corresponds to the last phase of fast ice flow (drumlinization) in northwestern Ireland. Morphological characteristics of the Donegal Bay drumlin field, and sedimentary characteristics of the Mullinasole drumlin, Donegal Bay, support a two-stage interpretation of drumlin evolution. These are the following. (1) Deposition of glaciomarine mud and diamict facies at a tidewater glacier margin. Stratified diamicts record debris flow events and sediment reworking. This facies sequence is erosionally truncated. (2) Deposition of subglacial diamict and sand facies recording ice readvance and drumlinization. Drumlinization (sediment streamlining) reflects ice mass-balance destabilization, episodic fast ice flow and ice-marginal oscillation, and may be correlated with millennial-time scale climate changes in the circum-North Atlantic.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)57-72
    JournalSedimentary Geology
    Volume111
    Issue number1-4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Jul 1997

    Bibliographical note

    Vth International Drumlin Symposium at the XIVth INQUA Congress, BERLIN, GERMANY, 1995

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Drumlin evolution and ice sheet oscillations along the NE Atlantic margin, Donegal bay, western Ireland'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this