A bizarre #sedimentary feature
Some layers in the #Neoproterozoic #Squantum Member of the #Roxbury #Conglomerate have been rolled up like a pie crust, into a tube. If this were a #tillite, as it once was thought to be, then it could have been caused by the drag of a #Gaskiers #glacier over the till. These rocks are mostly interpreted as deposited by submarine debris flows these days, in which case they could’ve been deformed during a slump and flow. Site of a field trip for #UMassBoston.
A small #outcrop of the #Squantum Member of the #Roxbury #Conglomerate
These #rocks are in the #BostonBay Group, which is currently dated to #Neoproterozoic. The Squantum Member was interpreted as a #tillite, possibly associated with the #Gaskiers #glaciation, although there a scant signs like scratched pebbles or faceted cobbles. It is currently commonly interpreted as a #debrite (debris flow). Details in captions.
#geology #glacier #turbidite #Quincy #Boston #Massachusetts #NewEngland
Anomalous pebble in layered #sedimentary #rock
An angular pebble is conformably surrounded by argillaceous and sandy layers in this #photograph of the #Neoproterozoic #Squantum Member of the #Roxbury Conglomerate. The wide range of clast sizes led to an interpretation as a #glacial #tillite thru the 1970s, but the Squantum Member is now mostly interpreted as a #debrisFlow (#debrite or #turbidite). My #photo.
Deformed bedding in meta#sedimentary #rocks
The horizontal bedding of the #Squantum Member of the #Roxbury Conglomerate (#Neoproterozoic, #Boston Bay Group) has been disturbed locally.
In the #glacial #tillite interpretation of the Squantum (favored through at least the 1970s), the distortion might be caused by glaciotectonic drag at the ice base. The current interpretation as a #debrite or #turbidite would probably attribute the deformations to synsedimentary slumping. My #photo. #fieldTrip
Rapid changes in #clast size in #sedimentary #rocks
The #Neoproterozoic #Squantum Member of the #Roxbury Conglomerate (#Boston Bay Group) transitions from sandstone, to almost-clast-supported conglomerate, to laminated argillite…in about 25 cm. Fifty years ago, it was interpreted as a #glacial deposit and called the Squantum #Tillite, presumably associated with the #Gaskiers Glaciation. Paucity of evidence (e.g., few scratches or faceted clasts) suggests a debris flow. My #photo.
The #glacier went that-a-way
The #striations on this face of the #Ediacaran (ca. 560 Ma) #Squantum Member of the #Roxbury #Conglomerate were probably left by the #Pleistocene #Laurentide ice sheet, which retreated ca. 12 ka. The striations have the right orientation, from northwest to southeast.
The Squantum Member was once interpreted as a (#glacial) #tillite. The most common contemporary model is a peri-#Gondwana #debrite (#turbidite).
Chris White