Bird’s-eye view of an Ediacaran subglacial landscape

Autor: Yuchong Wang, Hongwei Kuang, Yongqing Liu, Lars Scharfenberg, Graham A. Shields, Xiaoshuai Chen, Bethan J. Davies, Thomas Matthew Vandyk, Zhenrui Yang, Daniel Paul Le Heron
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geology. 47:705-709
ISSN: 0091-7613
Popis: Depositional evidence for glaciation (dropstones, diamictites) is common in Neoproterozoic strata, and often debated, but erosional evidence (e.g., unconformities cut directly by ice) is rare. Only two such unconformities are known to have been well preserved globally from the Ediacaran Period (in western Australia and central China). This paper provides the first full description of a spectacular subglacial landscape carved beneath ice masses in the Shimengou area of central China, with classical subglacial bed forms including general faceted forms, müschelbruche, cavetto, spindle forms, and striations that testify to an abundance of meltwater during subglacial erosion. These features were produced during the southward, somewhat sinuous, flow of a temperate to polythermal ice mass.
Databáze: OpenAIRE