Redeposition: A process in till formation

Abstract

Already accumulated glacial material has obviously been redeposited owing to oscillations during the deglaciation. Redeposition also seems to have taken place subglacially during phases of full glacial activity, probably because of changed ice physics owing to changed direction of ice motion and/or climatic fluctuations. Many tills in each glaciation may also be in part the result of major redepositions, i.e. re-organizations of previous sediments of all kinds. Many divergent till characteristics may be better explained in this way, e.g. the local occurrences of very far-travelled rock material and the often obvious homogeneity or heterogeneity in composition, both locally and over large areas. Indeed, several facts directly and indirectly indicate such a complex till formation, i.e. many tills are a mixture of glacially eroded rock material and redeposited older sediments.