Glacial microsedimentology—a new lens to investigate glacial sediments—a review

Abstract

Glacial sediment research using thin sections began post-1945. Microsedimentology examines sediments at the microscopic level deriving insights into the processes of glacial erosion, transport, and deposition. Two issues exist (1) the difficulty by some in recognizing microstructures in thin section; and (2) the absence of quantitative data making data reproduction difficult. The latter is hard to resolve but more image capture and software methodologies are now becoming available at reasonable costs. Thin sections are two-dimensional sections of three-dimensional objects, and this must be considered when measurements, fabrics and other data are assessed. Research into the micro-aspects of glacial sediments followed a typical scientific trajectory: thin sections description with little uniformity or common ‘language’ for observed microstructures: standardization allowed comparison between different sediments; with standardization, came an open-ended classification; and with cross-comparison with multiple thin sections - a quantitative means of study needs developed. It has become apparent that the basic principles of structural geology had to be applied. Thus, micromorphology has subsumed into a microsedimentological study of glacial sediments where stress parameters, structural fabrics and the mapping of deformation structures and contextual integration allows an understanding of how these sediments have been formed. Examples of the development stages of glacial micromorphology / sedimentology are presented here as well as discussion of future avenues of study. In addition, multiple thin sections are used to illustrate the many aspects of glacial micromorphology and the parameters necessary to understand glacial sedimentology and the processes of glacial sedimentation.