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Periglacial microjointing and faulting in Weichselian fluvio‐aeolian deposits
Author(s) -
Mol Joanne,
Vandenberghe Jef,
Kasse Kees,
Stel Harry
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.3390080103
Subject(s) - geology , ice wedge , platy , permafrost , aeolian processes , geomorphology , wedge (geometry) , geochemistry , geotechnical engineering , geometry , materials science , oceanography , mathematics , composite material
Abstract A Weichselian Late Pleniglacial fluvio‐aeolian deposit has been investigated in the southern Netherlands. Three main structural lineaments have been distinguished: (1) very small, vertical platy structures (microjoints), in a parallel and a columnar configuration; (2) large joints and normal faults with minor displacement (‘Grubbenvorst type’), arranged in a conjugate fault‐system; (3) large joints and normal faults (‘wedge‐type’), located adjacent to ice‐wedge casts. Since clay is absent, the occurrence of the vertical platy structures cannot be attributed to desiccation cracking. The vertical platy structures are interpreted as the result of thermal contraction cracking of a relatively thin layer, due to a sudden temperature drop. The large joints and normal faults of the Grubbenvorst type are the result of failure of the sediment due to the melting of the permafrost in the Late Pleniglacial, just before the formation of the Beuningen Gravel Bed. In other areas large periglacial convolutions have been formed during the same period. The normal faults and joints of the wedge type are more generally known. They are the result of failure of the sediment adjacent to a melting ice wedge.