Sedimentology of tunnel valley deposits

加拿大的城市化地区正在迅速扩大，越来越需要找到、管理和保护饮用水源，特别是地下水库（蓄水层）。然而，水文地质学家试图找到新的地下水资源所面临的一个主要问题是确定渗透性沉积物单元的大小和位置，这些沉积物单元在厚厚的连续冰川沉积物中承载地下水资源（含水层）。最近的调查表明，许多地下水含水层存在于大通道（隧道谷）中沉积的渗透性沉积物中，这些通道形成于大约20 000年前覆盖北方的冰盖之下。不幸的是，有有限的了解，这些隧道山谷的沉积物填充的性质或其起源。在这份提案中，我寻求资金，以调查在阿拉斯加和安大略南部的隧道谷沉积物的特点，目的是更好地了解他们的沉积记录和演变。加强对隧道谷沉积物沉积学的了解对于加拿大未来的地下水勘探和管理至关重要。 拟议的研究将调查两种情况下隧道谷的填充物：阿拉斯加的沿海地区，那里的晚新生代Yakataga地层暴露良好，以及安大略南部，那里的地表暴露和钻孔数据通过更新世隧道谷沉积物。之所以选择这些地点，是因为这两个地点都提供了特殊的，可访问的，通过隧道山谷沉积物在广泛的波浪切割平台和垂直悬崖部分的暴露，其规模在世界上任何地方都是无与伦比的。 将采用创新的"土地系统"方法进行研究，将冰川地貌与其下的沉积物结合起来。这里提出的研究涉及初步识别和映射的隧道谷功能在网站在阿拉斯加和安大略南部的卫星图像，这些地图将指导现场调查的地形和露头使用标准的沉积学技术，文件粒度，沉积结构，和单位的几何形状。我们还将使用无人驾驶飞行器（UAV/drone）收集波浪切割平台和悬崖暴露的沉积物的高分辨率图像。所有这些数据将用于开发隧道谷系统的新沉积模型，这将加强对这些沉积物中地下水运动的预测。 这项研究将大大有利于加拿大，提高我们对冰川沉积物及其对地下水运动的影响的了解，并将有助于地下水资源的勘探和管理。这项研究还将涉及培训至少6名新毕业的HQP和10名本科生，鉴于加拿大预计缺乏熟练的专业地球科学家，这项研究意义重大。

The urbanized regions of Canada are rapidly expanding and there is a growing need to locate, manage and protect sources of drinking water, particularly from groundwater reservoirs (aquifers). However, a major problem facing hydrogeologists trying to locate new sources of groundwater is determining the size and location of units of permeable sediments that host groundwater resources (aquifers) in thick successions of glacial sediment. Recent investigations have shown that many groundwater aquifers are hosted in permeable sediments deposited in large channels (tunnel valleys) that developed beneath the ice sheets that covered northern North America approximately 20,000 years ago. Unfortunately, there is limited understanding of the nature of the sediments infilling these tunnel valleys or their origin. In this proposal I seek funding to investigate the characteristics of tunnel valley sediments in Alaska and Southern Ontario with the aim of better understanding their sedimentological record and evolution. Enhanced understanding of the sedimentology of tunnel valley deposits is essential for future groundwater exploration and management in Canada. The proposed research will investigate the infills of tunnel valleys in two settings: the coastal region of Alaska where the late Cenozoic Yakataga Formation is well exposed, and in southern Ontario where surface exposures and borehole data through Pleistocene tunnel valley deposits are available. These sites were chosen because both locations provide exceptional, and accessible, exposures through tunnel valley deposits on extensive wave cut platforms and in vertical cliff sections on a scale unmatched anywhere in the world. Research will be conducted using an innovative `landsystems' approach that integrates examination of glacial landforms with the sediments underlying them. The research proposed here involves initial identification and mapping of tunnel valley features at sites in Alaska and Southern Ontario from satellite imagery; these maps will then guide field investigations of landforms and outcrops using standard sedimentological techniques that document grain size, sedimentary structures, and unit geometries. We will also use an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV/drone) to collect high resolution imagery of sediment exposed on wave cut platforms and in cliff exposures. All of these data will be used to develop new depositional models for tunnel valley systems that will enhance the prediction of groundwater movement in these deposits. This research will greatly benefit Canada by enhancing our understanding of glacial sediments and their influence on the movement of groundwater, and will aid in the exploration for, and management of, groundwater resources. This research will also involve the training of at least 6 new graduate HQP's and 10 undergraduates and is significant given the anticipated shortage of skilled professional geoscientists in Canada.