Simon Fraser University

Marine and glacio-marine geology of Bowen Island and nearby Howe Sound:
insights into paraglacial sedimentation in the marine environment

 

Field Trip leaders: Lionel Jackson and Andrée Blais-Stevens


Recently completed multibeam scan bathymetry for Howe Sound has permitted imaging of submarine fans and deposits of submarine landslides. This has been followed up with piston coring, marine seismic surveys, radiocarbon dating, and ROV traverses. These have produced insights into patterns and rates of sedimentation in the open fiord and along fiord and island margins.

   
This trip will take participants to Bowen Island by ferry. They will visit an exposure of the upper marine limit and evidence of late glacial/early Holocene slope adjustments following the retreat of the Howe Sound glacier from Bowen Island. Samples from cores that intersected paraglacial marine sediments will contrast true glaciomarine sediments. Evidence for enhanced rates of sedimentation during the first half of the Holocene in open parts of lower Howe Sound will be presented. Participants should be fit enough for a 200 m ascent by foot and they should be able to traverse rough and possibly muddy trails. If the weather is good, there will be beautiful views of Howe Sound along route. The trip will conclude at the Bowen Island Pub to sample the local beer before the short voyage back to the mainland.