Varve Deposition and the Sediment Yield Record at Three Small Lakes of the Southern Canadian Cordillera

Abstract

Lacustrine sediments deposited in three small glacier-fed lakes of the southern Canadian Cordillera are derived primarily from subglacial erosion and delivered via short proglacial streams or by direct melting and calving of cirque glaciers. Sediment transport and deposition during early summer is controlled by runoff-generated bottom currents and in the late summer through winter by settling from suspension. This forms distinct rhythmic laminations of silt and clay in distal lake areas. Cesium-137 content in all three lakes indicates that these are varve sediments. Time series of varve thickness covering the interval 1863 to present show distinct declines in sediment yield from 310 to less than 150 t km^–2 a^–1. The decline is related to sediment exhaustion following glacier retreat from Little Ice Age maxima and the opening of intervening sediment storage sites. Annual varve thickness is significantly related to fluctuations in summer or late summer temperature highlighting the importance of ice ablation, meltwater runoff, and subglacial sediment sources in controlling deposition rates. Singular climate events, such as autumn storms provide distinctive sedimentary signatures in the varve record. Reconstructed sediment yield for the Little Ice Age is as much as 100% greater than the average Holocene rate.