Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Deltaic Complexes of the Québec North Shore

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Landscapes and Landforms of Eastern Canada

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

One of the most particular morphological features of the Québec North Shore (North Shore of the Estuary and Gulf of the St. Lawrence , eastern Canada) is the occurrence of deltaic complexes that form thick and extensive sediment bodies (gravel, sand and mud) along the modern coastline. The deltaic complexes were emplaced during the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from the region that commenced about 11 ka in the context of falling relative sea level . Deltaic complexes are made up of three distinct, superimposed depositional systems, consisting of: (1) ice-contact subaqueous fans and deltas, (2) ice-distal glacifluvial deltas , and (3) coastal suites and meandering channel belts. Ice-contact systems were emplaced immediately after deglaciation of the region at the front of the ice-margins. Subsequent ice retreat fed glacifluvial deltas in meltwater and glacigenic sediments until the complete retreat of the ice-margin from the drainage basin a few thousand years ago. The resulting shutdown in sediment supply led to the reworking of the now-inactive glacifluvial deltas by shore-related and fluvial processes that resulted in the deposition of coastal suites and meander channel belts. Submarine sediment accumulations and related morphologies revealed by high-resolution swath bathymetric and seismostratigraphic data collected off these deltaic complexes are the subaqueous counterparts of these deltas. The modern evolution of these deltaic complexes is controlled by the reworking, transport, and deposition of sediments by shore-related processes along the coast, on the shallow shelf, and through submarine channels and canyons .

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bernatchez P, Dubois J-MM (2008) Seasonal quantification of coastal processes and cliff erosion on fine sediment shorelines in a cold temperate climate, North Shore of the St. Lawrence Maritime Estuary, Québec. J Coastal Res 24:169–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulton GS (1990) Sedimentary and sea level changes during glacial cycles and their control on glacimarine facies architecture. In: Dowdeswell JA, Scourse JD (eds) Glacimarine environments: processes and sediments. Geological Society of London SP 53:15–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich P, Ghienne J-F, Normandeau A, Lajeunesse P (2016) Upslope-migrating bedforms in a proglacial sandur delta: cyclic steps from river-derived underflows? J Sediment Res 86:113–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich P, Ghienne J-F, Schuster M, Lajeunesse P, Nutz A, Deschamps R, Roquin C, Duringer P (2017a) From outwash to coastal systems in the Portneuf-Forestville deltaic complex (Québec North Shore): Anatomy of a forced regressive deglacial sequence. Sedimentology 64:1044–1078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich P, Ghienne J-F, Normandeau A, Lajeunesse P (2017b) Reconstructing ice-margin retreat using delta morphostratigraphy. Sci Rep 16936

    Google Scholar 

  • Dionne JC (2001) Relative sea-level changes in the St. Lawrence Estuary from deglaciation to present day. In: Weddle TK, Retelle MJ (eds) Deglacial history and relative sea-level changes, Northern New England and Adjacent Canada. Geological Society America Special Paper 351, pp 271–284

    Google Scholar 

  • Dionne J-C, Dubois J-MM, Bernatchez P (2004) La terrasse Mitis à la pointe de Mille-Vaches (péninsule de Portneuf), rive nord de l’estuaire maritime du Saint-Laurent: nature des dépôts et évolution du niveau marin relatif à l’Holocène. Géogr Phy Quat 58:281–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Drapeau G (1992) Dynamique sédimentaire des littoraux de l’estuaire du Saint-Laurent. Géogr Phys Quat 46:233–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Dredge LA (1983) Surficial geology of the Sept-Îles area, Quebec North Shore. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 408, 40 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubois JMM, Dionne JC (1985). The Québec North Shore moraine system: A major feature of Late Wisconsin deglaciation. Geological Society America Special Papers 197, pp 125–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Duchesne MJ, Long B, Urgeles R, Locat J (2003) New evidence of slope instability in the Outardes Bay delta area, Quebec, Canada. Geo-Mar Lett 22:233–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser C, Hill PR, Allard M (2005) Morphology and facies architecture of a falling sea level strandplain, Umiujaq, Hudson Bay, Canada. Sedimentology 52:141–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagné H, Lajeunesse P, St-Onge G, Bolduc A (2009) recent transfer of coastal sediments to the Laurentian Channel, Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (Eastern Canada), through submarine canyon and fan systems. Geo-Mar Lett 29:191–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gagnon-Poiré A, Lajeunesse P, Normandeau A, Francus P, St-Onge G, Nzekwe OP (2018) Late-Quaternary glacial to postglacial sedimentation in three adjacent fjord-lakes of the Quebec North Shore (eastern Canadian Shield). Quat Sci Rev 186:91–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hein FJ, Syvitski JPM, Dredge LA, Long BF (1993) Quaternary sedimentation and marine placers along the North Shore, Gulf of St-Lawrence. Can J Earth Sci 30:553–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hein CJ, FitzGerald DM, Buynevich IV, Van Heteren S, Kelley JT (2014) Evolution of paraglacial coasts in response to changes in fluvial sediment supply. In: Martini IP, Wanless HR (eds) Sedimentary coastal zones from high to low latitudes: similarities and differences. Geol Soc London SP 388:247–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Lajeunesse P, St-Onge G, Locat J, Duchesne MJ, Higgins MD, Sanfaçon R, Ortiz J (2013) The Corossol structure: a possible impact crater on the seafloor of the northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence, Eastern Canada. Meteorit Planet Sci 48:2542–2558

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lajeunesse P (2014) Buried preglacial fluvial gorges and valleys preserved through quaternary glaciations beneath the eastern Laurentide Ice Sheet. Geol Soc Am Bull 126:447–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lajeunesse P (2016) Late-Wisconsinan grounding-zone wedges, northwestern Gulf of St. Lawrence (eastern Canada). In: Dowdeswell J, Canals M, Jakobsson M, Todd BJ, Dowdeswell EK, Hogan KA (eds) Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, quaternary and ancient. Geol Soc London Mem 46:227–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Lajeunesse P, Dietrich P, Ghienne J-F (2018) Late Wisconsinan grounding zones of the Laurentide Ice Sheet margin off the Québec North Shore (NW Gulf of St. Lawrence). In: Le Heron DP, Hogan K, Phillips E, Huuse M, Busfield M, Graham A, Kouwe W (eds) Glaciated margins: the sedimentary and geophysical archive. Geol Soc London SP 475-10

    Google Scholar 

  • Tooth S, Brandt D, Hancox PJ, McCarthy TS (2004) Geological controls on alluvial river behavior: a comparative study of three rivers on the South African Highveld. J Afr Earth Sci 38:79–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mulder T, Syvitski JP (1995) Turbidity currents generated at river mouths during exceptional discharges to the world oceans. J Geol 103:285–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Normandeau A, Lajeunesse P, St-Onge G (2013) Shallow-water longshore drift-fed submarine fan deposition (Moisie River Delta, Eastern Canada). Geo-Mar Lett 33:391–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Normandeau A, Lajeunesse P, St-Onge G (2015) Submarine canyons and channels in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary (Eastern Canada): Morphology, classification and recent sediment dynamics. Geomorphology 241:1–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Normandeau A, Lajeunesse P, Poiré AG, Francus P (2016) Morphological expression of bedforms formed by supercritical sediment density flows on four fjord-lake deltas of the south-eastern Canadian Shield (Eastern Canada). Sedimentology 63:2106–2129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Normandeau A, Dietrich P, Lajeunesse P, St-Onge G, Ghienne J-F, Duchesne M, Francus P (2017) Timing and controls on the delivery of coarse sediment to deltas and submarine fans on a formerly glaciated coast and shelf. Geol Soc Am Bull 129:1424–1441

    Google Scholar 

  • Nutz A, Ghienne J-F, Schuster M, Dietrich P, Roquin C, Hay MB, Bouchette F, Cousineau P (2015) Forced regressive deposits of a deglaciation sequence: Example from the Late Quaternary succession in the Lake Saint-Jean basin (Québec, Canada). Sedimentology 62:1573–1610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Occhietti S, Parent M, Lajeunesse P, Robert F, Govare E (2011) Late Pleistocene-early Holocene decay of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. In: Ehlers J, Gibbards PL, Hughes PD (eds) Quaternary glaciations—extent and chronology. A closer look. Developments in Quaternary Science, 15, 601–630, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Peltier WR, Argus DF, Drummond R (2015) Space geodesy constrains ice age terminal deglaciation: the global ICE-6G_C (VM5a) model. J Geophys Res 120:450–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinet N, Brake V, Campbell DC, Duchesne MJ (2011) Seafloor and shallow subsurface of the St. Lawrence River Estuary. Geosci Can 38:31–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinet N, Brake V, Duchesne MJ (2016) Partly-filled U-shaped morphology of the Laurentian Channel, St Lawrence Estuary, Canada. In: Dowdeswell J, Canals M, Jakobsson M, Todd BJ, Dowdeswell EK, Hogan KA (eds) Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, quaternary and ancient. Geol Soc London Mem 46:163–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Sella GF, Stein S, Dixon TH, Craymer M, James TS, Mazzotti S, Dokka RK (2007) Observation of glacial isostatic adjustment in “stable” North America with GPS. Geophys Res Lett 34

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw J, Gareau P, Courtney RC (2002) Palaeogeography of Atlantic Canada 13-0kyr. Quat Sci Rev 21:1861–1878

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw J, Piper DJW, Fader GBJ, King EL, Todd BJ, Bell T, Batterson MJ, Liverman DGE (2006) A conceptual model of the deglaciation of Atlantic Canada. Quat Sci Rev 25:2059–2081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Todd BJ (2016) The Laurentian Channel: a major cross-shelf trough in Atlantic Canada. In: Dowdeswell J, Canals M, Jakobsson M, Todd BJ, Dowdeswell EK, Hogan KA (eds) Atlas of submarine glacial landforms: modern, quaternary and ancient. Geol Soc London Mem 46:161–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodworth PL, Gehrels WR, Nerem RS (2011) Nineteenth and twentieth century changes in sea level. Oceanography 24:80–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Univ Rennes, CNRS, Géosciences Rennes, UMR 6118, 35000, Rennes, France

    Pierre Dietrich

  2. Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Pierre Dietrich

  3. Geological Survey of Canada, Atlantic, Dartmouth, NS, Canada

    Alexandre Normandeau

  4. Département de Géographie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

    Patrick Lajeunesse

  5. Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, UMR 7516, CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Jean-François Ghienne & Mathieu Schuster

  6. Centre Européen de Recherche et d’Enseignement des Géosciences de l’Environnement (CEREGE), Aix-Marseille University, 13545, Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France

    Alexis Nutz

  7. Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Alexis Nutz

Authors
  1. Pierre Dietrich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexandre Normandeau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Patrick Lajeunesse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jean-François Ghienne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mathieu Schuster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Alexis Nutz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pierre Dietrich .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Olav Slaymaker

  2. Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, St John's, NL, Canada

    Norm Catto

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Dietrich, P., Normandeau, A., Lajeunesse, P., Ghienne, JF., Schuster, M., Nutz, A. (2020). Deltaic Complexes of the Québec North Shore. In: Slaymaker, O., Catto, N. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Eastern Canada. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35137-3_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation