Sedlmenta_ry Geology

ELSEVIER Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

Seismic-stratigraphy of Shuswap Lake, British Columbia, Canada

N. Eyles ,, H.T. Mullins b
a Department of Environmental Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ont. MIC 1A4, Canada b Department of Earth Sciences, Heroy Geological Laboratory, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1070, USA
a*

Received 5 January 1996; accepted 1 August 1996

Abstract Shuswap Lake is a glacially-overdeepened 'fiord lake' located in the Shuswap Highlands of southern British Columbia, Canada, and consists of two sub-basins each nearly 60 km long and up to 3 km wide. Single-channel seismic reflection data, collected along 218 km of track line, identifies a tripartite infill stratigraphy up to 800 m thick preserved in bedrock basins eroded as much as 298 m below sea level. A similar tripartite stratigraphy is exposed in nearby outcrops along the valley of the South Thompson River and allows interpretation of age and depositional settings for the infill identified on seismic records. In Shuswap Lake, the lowermost seismic-stratigraphic sequence (SSSI), up to 407 m thick, shows chaotic seismic facies with large-scale diffractions and fills axial parts of V-shaped bedrock basins. Outcrop data suggest that this sequence consists of subaqueously-deposited, ice-contact silts, sands and gravels deposited in a deep (1 km?) ice-frontal lake during late Wisconsin deglaciation (ca. 10 ka). The overlying seismic-stratigraphic sequence (SSSII; up to 403 m thick) shows continuous, high-frequency seismic facies that pass down-basin into transparent (reflection-free) facies. High-frequency facies are interpreted as rhythmically-deposited silts and sands deposited by underflows (varves?); such facies are well exposed along the South Thompson River valley. Transparent 'distal' facies likely record uninterrupted settling from suspended sediment transported down-basin by interflow or overflow plumes and similar deposits are reported as currently forming in nearby Kamloops Lake. A relatively thin (<70 m) postglacial sequence of rhythmically-laminated Holocene silts (III) immediately underlies the modem lake floor. Deposition of very thick late-glacial stratigraphic successions and an absence of older pre-Late Wisconsin strata, appears to be a characteristic shared by other narrow, glacially-overdeepened valleys and basins in central British Columbia. This may be the result of scour by subglacial meltwaters and sediment focussing during deglaciation of fiord-like valleys occupied by deep ice-frontal lakes and rapidly retreating ice margins.
Keywords: fiord lake; seismic stratigraphy; glacial; late Wisconsin

1. Introduction " . . . while looking on the unruffled w a t e r s . . , the i m a g i n a t i o n . is carried into recesses. otherwise Corresponding author. Fax: +1 (416) 287-7204. E-mail: eyles @lake.scar.utoronto.ca

i m p e n e t r a b l e " W. Wordsworth: The Excursion to the Lakes. Book VI, 1814, line 294.

During the course of the last century, the origin and glacial stratigraphy of overdeepened lake basins in glaciated terrains was widely discussed (e.g., Spencer, 1889). Only recently, however, have

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P11S0037-0738(96)00060-7

284

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins /Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

data been collected from the deeper Pleistocene infills of glaciated lake basins, principally by the application of geophysical techniques hitherto used in the marine realm (e.g., Hsu and Kelts, 1984; Finck et al., 1984; Mullins and Hinchey, 1989; Mullins et al., 1990, 1991; Eyles et al., 1990, 1991; Desloges and Gilbert, 1991; Mullins and Eyles, 1996). In western Canada, the interior of British Columbia contains many elongate and overdeepened lake basins (Fig. 1) to which the term 'fiord lake' has been applied (Nasmith, 1962; Hamblin and Carmack, 1978; Eyles et al., 1991). High-resolution seismic investigations have identified very substantial thicknesses (<800 m) of late Wisconsin (last glaciation) sediments within Okanagan and Kalamalka lakes of central British Columbia and Lake McDonald to the south in Montana, U.S.A. (Eyles et al., 1990; Mullins et al., 1990, 1991). The present

study reports a detailed seismic reflection investigation of Shuswap Lake, a large fiord lake excavated in the Interior Plateau of central British Columbia some 50 km north of Okanagan Lake (Fig. 1). 2. Physical and regional geological setting of Shuswap Lake Shuswap Lake (5100'N, l1900'W; Fig. 1) consists of two elongate sub-basins (Shuswap LakeSeymour Arm and Salmon Arm-Anstey Arm; Fig. 2) that are joined by shallow narrows where water depths are less than 5 m (Cinnemousun Narrows). Individual basins are nearly 60 km long and up to 3 km wide. To avoid confusion, the term 'Shuswap lakes' is used informally in this paper to refer to the study area as a whole. Present-day lake level in the Shuswap lakes lies at an elevation of 345 m

52

122 I

120 I

I O

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116 I ,

/
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AND RIVERS, SE
BRITISH

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,~

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UNITED STATES WASHINGTON 123
I I I I I I

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= ,, 117
I

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121

119

Fig. 1. Physiography, location of principal intermontane fiord lakes of southern British Columbia and sites of previous work. (1) Gilbert and Desloges (1992); (2) Gilbert (1975); Desloges and Gilbert (1994); (3) Hamblin and Carmack (1978); Pharo and Carmack (1979); (4) This study; (5) Eyles et al. (1990, 1991); (6) Mullins et al. (1990); (7) Fulton and Pullen (1969); (8) Desloges and Gilbert (1991); (9) Ashley and Moritz (1979).

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins /Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

285

that the South Thompson River, Adams River and Little Shuswap Lake follow faults.
2.1. Pleistocene geology

Fig. 2. Shuswaplakes drainagebasin.

above sea level (masl). Water depths are as much as 171 m in Seymour Arm and 132 m in Salmon Arm (Canadian Hydrographic Service, 1986; Fig. 3). The Shuswap lakes are excavated into the Shuswap Highlands (Fig. 1) and form the northern end of a structurally-controlled intermontane valley system that extends southwards through the North Okanagan Valley, through Okanagan Lake to the U.S border. There is no through drainage at present as a result of plugging by a very thick infill of Late Pleistocene sediment (e.g., MacAuley and Hobson, 1972; Vanderburgh and Roberts, 1996). Bedrock strata are part of a metamorphic core complex (Shuswap Complex) recording Mesozoic terrain accretion along the western margin of North America (Okulitch, 1989). Subsequently, the area experienced substantial uplift, extension, and denudation during regional Cretaceous to Paleocene compression (Brown and Journeay, 1987). Like many elongate basins such as fiords, the Shuswap Lake system is likely structurally-controlled (e.g., Nesje and Whillans, 1994); bedrock mapping by Okulitch (1979, 1989) suggests

The drainage basin of the Shuswap lakes consists mostly of exposed bedrock with little drift cover (Fulton, 1975). Postglacial fan deltas occur at the mouths of Scotch Creek, Ross Creek and the Anstey River (Fig. 2). Postglacial progradation of a large fan delta at the mouth of the Adams River has separated Little Shuswap Lake from Shuswap Lake (Fig. 2). The drainage basins of Anstey Arm and Seymour Arm have cirque glaciers in their upper headwaters at elevations above 2300 masl in the Monashee Mountains (Duford and Osborn, 1978). During successive Late Pleistocene glaciations ice streams flowed southwest away from the mountains as part of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet that covered British Columbia and adjacent parts of Alberta and the U.S.A. (Clague, 1991). During the maximum of the last glaciation, a composite piedmont ice lobe flowed south from Shuswap and Okanagan lakes into Washington State (the Okanogan lobe; Flint, 1935a,b) and was coeval with lobes to the west (e.g., Puget lobe; Booth, 1994) and east (Columbia River, Purcell Trench and Flathead lobes; Booth, 1987; Clague, 1991). During regional deglaciation, at about 10 ka, a succession of very deep proglacial lakes (up to 500 m above modern levels with maximum water depths approaching 1000 m) formed along the interior valleys (Flint, 1935a,b; Mathews, 1944; Fulton, 1965, 1975; see below). Considerable thicknesses (150 m +) of glaciolacustrine silt are exposed in outcrops close to the present study area along the valley of the South Thompson River west of Little Shuswap Lake (Fig. 1). These sediments were deposited in ice-dammed Glacial Lake Kamloops (Fulton, 1965) which extended eastward into an ancestral Shuswap Lake.
3. Methods

Three axial lines and 91 crossing profiles, with a total length of 218 km, were collected during a highresolution, single-channel seismic reflection investigation of the Shuswap Lake basins in October 1991 (Fig. 4). The methodology used was that described

286

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins / Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

BATHYMETRY

re

re

0
r

miles
0 km 5

=E >I.g u~

=: r

4
0 -40 m 40 - 80 m
80 - 120 m 12 0 -160 m

Over 160 m

Fig. 3. Bathymetry of Shuswap Lake system with maximum depths indicated (m). After Canadian Hydrographic Service (1986).

in reports of investigations at other lakes in the western Cordillera (Eyles et al., 1990, 1991; Mullins et al., 1990, 1991). A Bolt Technology air gun source suspended from a buoy was employed in conjunction with an eight-element hydrophone streamer. Two different sizes of air gun chamber (5 and 10 in3---ca. 82 and 164 cm 3, respectively) were used at variable fire rates (2, 4, 6 s) and shot spacing (4, 6, 8 m) to determine optimum acoustic penetration and resolution. The best results were obtained using a 5-in 3 air gun, a 2-s fire rate and 8 m shot spacing.

Data were graphically displayed as an analog record and archived on magnetic tape. Time sections were converted to depth sections using an average P-wave velocity of 1750 m/s based on velocity determinations from other basins which range from 1500 to 2100 m/s (see Finck et al., 1984; Heim and Finck, 1984; Finger and Weidmann, 1987; Mullins and Hinchey, 1989; Eyles et al., 1991; Fleisher et al., 1992). MacAuley and Hobson (1972) report a modal P-wave velocity of 1570 m/sec for sediments infilling the North Okanagan Valley just south of

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins/Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

287

In2

TRACKLINES

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115113 ~,~'

~O~'~ ~t~~-

And Figure#

Fig. 4. Seismic tracklines in the basins of the Shuswap Lake system. Dots show ends of axial tracklines illustrated herein; respective figure numbers are shown in circles. Total trackline length is 218 km.

Shuswap Lake. A velocity of 1445 rn/sec was used for the water column. The terminology used in this paper for describing seismic facies and the general procedure for recognising seismic sequences follows well-established procedures (e.g., Mitchum et al., 1977; Carlson, 1989; Mullins and Hinchey, 1989; Eyles et al., 1991). Crossing and axial seismic profiles were digitized and isopach maps drawn of individual seismic sequences and the total sediment fill. The bedrock

surface was contoured. No direct investigation of lake bottom sediments, however, was made.
4. Results

4.1. Bedrock surface

The form of the bedrock surface and thickness of the overlying sediment infill is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Representative crossing seismic profles are

288

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins / Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

BEDROCK SURFACE

>-

0
i

miles

5
I

co

km

~.t~~ "

N
-298 -206

[--1

345 to 200 rn a. s. I. 200 to 0 0 to-200 B e l o w -200

S E A LEVEL DATUM Lake level = 345 m a. s. I.

Fig. 5. Bedrock surface below the Shuswap lakes with elevations shown in metres relative to sea level. Present-day lake level is 345 masl.

shown in Figs. 7-10; longitudinal (axial) seismic profiles are shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The lowest bedrock elevation anywhere in the Shuswap lakes lies just off the mouth of the Adams River near the southern end of Shuswap Lake ( - 2 9 8 m below sea level; Fig. 5). In general, bedrock topographic contours and seismic profiles identify narrow V-shaped rock basins having very steep lateral margins and irregular 'up-and-down' longitudinal profiles showing bedrock highs and depressions. The bedrock floor of Shuswap Lake and Seymour

Arm shows considerable relief (Figs. 5, 11 and 12). At the southwestern end of Shuswap Lake, Copper Island is an emergent bedrock that separates two deep basins containing more than 800 m of sediment (Figs. 5 and 6). It must be noted that the seismic data presented in this paper are not migrated so care is required in interpreting steeply-dipping bedrock given that they may become steeper when processed; the cross-sectional form of buried valleys may become less V-shaped as a result (Sheriff, 1989; Stone, 1991).

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins/Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

289

SEDIMENT THICKNESS

:E 329

4~
0

0
,

miles

5
I

:E
nl 01 3. Lu o)

403

N
600 800

454

I--]

0 - 100 m 100 - 200 m 200 - 400 m 400 - 600 m Over 600 m

Fig. 6. Isopach map of total sediment thickness preserved in the Shuswap Lake basins. Maximum thicknesses indicated in metres. For isopachs of individual seismic-stratigraphic sequences (abbreviated as SSS) see Figs. 13-15.

4.2. Sediment infill

A maximum sediment thickness of 800 m occurs in Shuswap Lake, 329 m in Seymour Arm, 454 m in Salmon Arm and 403 m in Anstey Arm (Fig. 6). Given the uncertainty of interpretation from seismic data alone (since only average values of velocity were applied to the data) the actual thickness may vary by plus or minus 25%. A thickness of 600 m

may thus better represent the actual maximum depositional thickness found in the lake basins. The sediment infill of the lake system can be divided into three seismic-stratigraphic sequences (I-III) on the basis of lateral and vertical variation in seismic facies and bounding unconformities. To avoid repetition, the abbreviation SSS is used below for seismic-stratigraphic sequence.

290

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins / Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

5. Description of seismic-stratigraphic sequences

5.1. SSS I

This is the oldest seismic unit recognisable in the Shuswap lakes and rests directly on bedrock. It has a maximum thickness (407 m) within two sub-basins of Shuswap Lake (Fig. 13). The upper surface of this sequence is mostly fiat-lying (with exceptions; see below) such that thickness isopachs, in general, reflect the underlying bedrock topography. Along

Anstey Arm and Salmon Arm, the bedrock surface is relatively subdued and SSS I forms a continuous, blanket-like deposit along the entire basin (Fig. 13). In contrast, within Shuswap Lake and Seymour Arm, the sequence is restricted to deep sub-basins separated by bedrock highs (Figs. 11-13). SSS I is dominated by chaotic seismic facies showing large-scale internal diffraction patterns with no discernible internal stratigraphy (Figs. 7-10). Crudely-stratified facies, consisting of weak highfrequency reflections, are present locally within

~ ~
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Fig. 7. Crossing seismic profiles 13-14 (A) and 17-18 (B) with interpreted sections, from Anstey Arm. See Fig. 4 for location. M, multiples. Note in (A), lower massive and thick-bedded part of SSS II becoming well-stratified upwards, and hummocky surface of SSS
1 in (B).

~~~
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Fig. 8. (A) Crossing seismic profiles 62-63 (Shuswap Lake) and (B) 98-99 (Seymour Arm). See Fig. 4 for location. M, multiples. Note hummocky 'morainal' top of sequence I in (B).

A B

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lint

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Fig. 9. (A) Crossing seismic profiles 115-116 (Salmon Arm) and (B) 57-58 (Shuswap Lake) and interpreted sections. SSS II shows distinct onlap against SSS I on profile 57-58. See Fig. 4 for location, M, multiples from bedrock surface. Note unconformity between SSS I and II in (B).

N. Eyles, H.T. MuUins/Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

293

~;~..
/

PT. 6 PT 110
0
~

PT. 7

PT 111
~ 0.O

LAKE FLOOR

1 SO

O.2

150

O.2

I
0.4

IHm

I
1.0

(100

0.8

7~o

Fig. 10. (A) Crossing seismic profiles 110--111 and (B) 6-7 from Salmon Arm (Fig. 4). Note lower massive character of SSS II and better-stratified upper portion.

massive facies or occur exclusively within discrete bedrock basins such as that northeast of Copper Island in Shuswap Lake where SSS I is composed of irregular high-frequency reflections and is over 400 m thick (Figs. I1 and 13). The upper bounding surface of sequence I varies from smooth (Fig. 7A) to hummocky (Figs. 7B and

8B) and is overlain conformably by SSS II. In the southern half of Shuswap Lake, the upper surface is clearly erosional in origin (e.g., Fig. 9B). A strongly unconformable relationship between SSS I and SSS II is seen immediately to the north of Copper Island (Fig. llB).

294

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins /Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

NORTH

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ISLAND

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~ II1

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N

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-o6

600-

0.8

Fig. l 1. North-south axial seismic profile from Shuswap Lake (Fig. 4); note that there is a 2-km break between profiles (A) and (B). Note low-relief unconformity separating SSS I and SSS II on the north side of Copper Island (see also Fig. 8A) and presence of crudely-stratified seismic facies in SSS I where it fills bedrock lows; strata older than SSS I may be preserved in such lows but cannot be resolved.

5.2. SSS H

SSS II overlies SSS I along the axis of individual bedrock basins (e.g., Figs. 7A and 8) and onlaps either onto bedrock or SSS I along the sideslopes of the basins (e.g., Fig. 9). The upper surface of SSS II is planar and shows a distinct down-basin slope in

several parts of the Shuswap Lake basins e.g., south to north in Seymour Arm (Fig. 12) and south to north in Shuswap Lake (Fig. 11). SSS II is thickest in two sub-basins, one in Shuswap Lake, adjacent to the mouth of the Adams River (403 m), and the other in Anstey Arm (323 m; Fig. 14). Well-stratified seismic facies, characterized by continuous and

NORTH
..... tJ,i , , '

SOUTH

.z:

O.

_ _ ' j i l l

...

0.0

,I.

150,
-

.0.2

o. w 0

IN 300-~
I

~,,
BEDROCK

-0.4
t,j t~

<

"

450

1 km

SEYMOUR

(N)

0,6

Fig. 12. Part of north-south axial seismic profile from Seymour Arm (Fig. 4). Note well-defined down-basin (northwards) changes from stratified to massive Seismic facies in SSS II and gently undulatory surface topography of massive facies probably as a result of differential compaction over bedrock and SSS I. The upper surface of the latter is very irregular and in the central part of the profile cannot clearly be resolved from bedrock.

Po

296

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins / Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

UNIT I

=i nre 0 >u.l

miles

5
i

.%

o) ~r

407

0-50m
50- lOOm 100 - 200 m 200 - 300 m O v e r 3 0 0 rn

Fig. 13. Thickness isopachs for SSS I.

high-frequency reflections, and massive (transparent, reflection-free) seismic facies, predominate in SSS II. Typically, the lower part of this sequence is massive, transparent or weakly-stratified, and passes upward into increasingly well stratified facies (e.g., Figs. 7A, 8A and 10B). On axial profiles, massive facies show a lateral transition into stratified facies such as in Seymour Arm, where stratified seismic facies occupy the southern portion of the basin and pass northwards into massive, transparent

facies (Fig. 12). This gradation in seismic character occurs over a distance of some 2 km and is also accompanied by a change in the topography of the upper surface of the sequence; stratified facies have a flat or gently dipping upper surface whereas massive facies have a gently undulatory surface topography that mimics the irregular relief on the underlying bedrock surface and the hummocky surface of SSS I (e.g., mid-point of Fig. 12). The same down-dip facies change is observed in Shuswap Lake, over a

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins/Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

297

UNIT II
0
t

.. 0

miles

>uJ U~

~r

LU u~ ~r

323

403
d

403

I m m m

0 -lOOm 100 - 200 m 200 - 300 m 300 - 400 m

Over

400 m

Fig. 14. Thickness isopachs for SSS II.

comparable distance (Fig. 11). There, stratified seismic facies predominate at the southern end of the basin and slope northwards into predominantly massive seismic facies that show a subdued, undulatory surface topography.
5.3. SSS III

This sequence is the youngest present in the Shuswap lakes and underlies the present-day lake floors. It is characterized by very well-defined,

closely-spaced (very high-frequency) and parallel continuous reflections (e.g., Fig. 7A) that are not fully resolved by the low-frequency air gun source. SSS III fills the axial parts of the basins created by topographic lows on the top of sequence II (e.g., Fig. 7B) and is not found in water depths less than about 10 m. This sequence is physically continuous with the deposits of large postglacial fan deltas such as at the mouths of Adams River and Ross Creek and is thickest adjacent to these two areas (63, 68 m, respectively; Figs. 2 and 15).

298

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins /Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

n"

UNIT III

n0

0
i

miles 0 km 5

5
I

7
O W

i~~'~
,9

N
63

36

0-5m
5-10m 10-20 m

I1,.-,
I
I

20 - 40 m
Over 40 m

Fig. 15. Thickness isopachs for SSS III,

6. Interpretation of seismic stratigraphy

No direct samples of bottom sediment are available from the Shuswap lakes and there is no absolute age-dating control. In the absence of such data, any interpretation of the age and likely origin of the fill must remain tentative. Interpretation is strengthened, however, by the presence of extensive and welldated outcrops of late Wisconsin valley infill deposits along the South Thompson valley immediately west of Little Shuswap Lake (Fulton, 1965, 1969; Berger,

1985). These strata were deposited during regional deglaciation within a large, deep lake (Glacial Lake Thompson) dammed between an ice tongue issuing from the North Thompson Valley to the west, and ice occupying the Shuswap lakes to the east (Fig. 1). Lake levels and water depths were controlled by eastward calving of ice fronts back to the Monashee Mountains and the successive exposure of spillways that allowed lake waters to spill southwards into the Okanagan Valley (Mathews, 1944; Fulton, 1965, 1969). Given the very close geographic proximity, it

N. Eyles, H.T. Mullins/Sedimentary Geology 109 (1997) 283-303

299

is most probable that seismic facies of the Shuswap Lake basins are directly contiguous with Glacial Lake Thompson deposits now exposed along the valley of the South Thompson River. Outcrops show a bipartite stratigraphy, with lower chaotically-bedded ice-contact glaciolacustrine facies overlain by rhythmically-bedded facies, that is directly comparable to seismic-stratigraphic sequences I and II identified in the Shuswap lakes. Comparison between outcrop and seismic facies is examined below.
6.1. SSS I

Fulton (1965) described ice-contact glaciolacustrine deposits exposed below thick and rhythmically-bedded (varved) glaciolacustrine silts along the valley of the South Thompson River to the west of Shuswap Lake. Exposures of ice-contact facies show contorted silts, sands and gravels deformed as a result of rapid deposition, differential compaction over an irregular bedrock surface, syn-depositional downslope slumping and the melt of buried ice masses. These facies, their stratigraphy and morphological form are analogous to the characteristics displayed by SSS I within the Shuswap lakes. The character of SSS I can be also compared with sedimentary sequences identified in other fiord lakes such as Okanagan Lake (Eyles et al., 1991; Fig. 1) and several of the Finger lakes of New York State (MuUins et al., 1990; Fleisher et al., 1992; Mullins and Eyles, 1996). Basal seismic facies infilling the axial thalweg of these basins are dominated by chaotic, high-amplitude and incoherent reflections often having a hummocky ('morainal') surface topography. In New York State, these facies can be correlated to onland outcrops of rapidly-deposited and poorly-sorted ice-contact silts, sands and gravels (e.g., Valley Heads Moraine of Mullins and Hinchey, 1989) very similar to those described by Fulton (1965) from the South Thompson valley near Shuswap Lake. Given the presence of deep water, very steep sideslopes along very narrow basins, energetic subglacial meltwaters and sediment focussing, the incoherent character of these facies most likely records rapid dumping and slumping of debris at or under a retreating ice margin. Under these conditions, subglacial deposits, such as tills, are extremely

unlikely to accumulate because of enhanced scouring by meltwaters within confined, gorge-like valleys. Such scouting may also explain the flat-lying erosional surface cut across SSS I in the southern part of Shuswap Lake (Figs. 9B and 11B; see below). The local occurrence within SSS I of weaklystratifiedfacies that in places comprise discrete basin fills (e.g., Shuswap Lake, immediately north of Copper Island; Fig. 11B) records localized aggradation rather than rapid dumping. In this regard, interdigitation of massive and crudely-stratified seismic facies, comparable to those described here, is reported from 'morainal complexes' deposited by rapidly-retreating Alaskan tidewater glaciers that stabilize temporarily on bedrock highs and deposit subaqueous fans (e.g., Carlson, 1989).
6.2. SSS H

SSS II is characterized by well-defined, laterally continuous and high-frequency reflectors that pass down-dip into transparent (massive) facies (e.g., Shuswap Lake; Fig. 11 and Seymour Ann; Fig. 12). These characteristics are typical of glaciolacustrine sands and silts deposited by density currents (principally underflows) issuing from a point source such as a fan delta at the head of glaciolacustrine basin (see Ashley, 1975; Pickrill and Irwin, 1983; Eyles and Eyles, 1992). Rhythmically-bedded and laminated glaciolacustrine silts, of late-glacial age, outcrop west of Shuswap Lake along the South Thompson River valley (Fig. 1) where they rest on crudelystratified and deformed ice-contact facies described above (i.e., SSS I). Outcrops show normal and reverse-graded facies, together with tipple cross-laminated facies, and are interbedded with clay laminae. Silt units show a distinct thinning upwards from beds up to 6 m thick to laminae less than 1 cm in thickness. Fulton (1965) showed that rhythmites were seasonally-deposited varves and that individual rhythmites could be correlated many kilometres eastward along the South Thompson River valley to the area of Little Shuswap Lake. It is probable that such outcrops are directly correlative with SSS II of the Shuswap lakes. These latter facies are similarly characterized by an upward transition from massive to thickly-bedded facies to very well stratified, highfrequency facies (e.g., Fig. 7).

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A distinct down-basin transition from rhythmically-bedded (varved?) silts to mud-rich, massive glaciolacustrine facies seen on seismic records of SSS II (Figs. 11 and 12) is also found along the axis of nearby Kamloops Lake (Pharo and Carmack, 1979; Fig. 1). There, laminated facies are deposited close to fan deltas by seasonally-controlled density currents (underflows); massive distal facies result from the near-continuous deposition of fine-grained suspended sediment transported down-basin by lowdensity interflows and overflows (see also Pickrill and Irwin, 1983; Hsu and Kelts, 1984). In the Shuswap Lake basins, the gently undulating surface topography exhibited by massive facies of SSS II (e.g., Fig. 12) can most likely be explained by postdepositional, differential compaction of 'distal' fine-grained and water-rich sediment over an irregular topography.
6.3. SSS III

This sequence directly underlies the present-day floor of the lake basins and is contiguous with deposits of postglacial fan deltas constructed at the mouths of the larger creeks. Well-defined, very highfrequency parallel reflections of SSS HI are directly analogous to the seismic reflection characteristics of laminated postglacial silts identified elsewhere in southern British Columbia (e.g., lakes Okanagan, Kalamalka and Stave Lake (Mullins et al., 1990; Eyles et al., 1991; Gilbert and Desloges, 1992). A seasonal control on sedimentation from fan deltas along the margins of the Shuswap Lake system can be suggested; it is noted that the same conditions obtain in nearby Kamloops Lake at the present day (Pharo and Carmack, 1979). It is very likely that SSS III contains a high-resolution record of postglacial climate change. Investigation of postglacial silts just east of Kamloops has identified the presence of Mazama and St. Helens Y ash dated at 7.4-8.0 ka and 3.7 ka, respectively (corrected 14C dates; Cybulski et al., 1981) and these are likely present within the Shuswap lakes.
7. Discussion

The above interpretation of the age and origin of the thick (800 m) infill of the Shuswap Lake system

is made in the absence of any direct age-dating or physical sampling of bottom sediments. We are confident, however, on the basis of well-studied valley infill sediments of the former glacial Lake Kamloops that are exposed immediately west of the study area along the South Thompson valley, that the infill of the Shuswap lakes records sedimentation during late Wisconsin deglaciation. SSS I and SSS II of the Shuswap Lake system are directly comparable to outcrops of glaciolacustrine strata deposited during regional deglaciation at about 10 ka (Fulton, 1965; Eyles and Clague, 1991). Booth (1987) and Clague (1991) summarized a large literature beating on the Late Pleistocene glacial history of British Columbia and adjacent parts of the United States and demonstrated that the maximum extent of the late Wisconsin Cordilleran Ice Sheet is younger than 14-14.5 ka. Deglaciation was rapid and completed by 10 ka or shortly thereafter and was characterized by the formation of deep ice-frontal lakes and rapid deposition of substantial thicknesses of glaciolacustrine silts (Mathews, 1944; Booth, 1994). Mathews (1944) and Fulton (1965) both drew attention to the lack of till deposits and recessional moraine ridges in interior valleys of southern British Columbia and attributed this to rapid calving of ice margins terminating in deep lakes. Strand-lines record water levels up to 500 m above modern lake levels suggesting maximum water depths in excess of 1000 m. By analogy with well-studied, rapidly retreating Alaskan fiord glaciers these water depths would have promoted fast ice flow and rapid backwasting of ice tongues (e.g., Meier and Post, 1987; Kamb et al., 1994). The combination of deep water and rapid calving, together with meltwater and sediment focussing along narrow valleys, may explain the predominantly massive and incoherent character of seismic facies in sequence I of the Shuswap Lake system. These facies were likely deposited at or under the margin of a rapidly retreating, calving glacier. In contrast, sequence II likely records deposition from fan deltas associated with ice masses grounded in the upper valleys. Rapid fluctuations in lake levels and large-scale flows of meltwater from one sub-basin to another as ice retreated from one basin to another could account for erosion of the upper surface of SSS I and the unconformable re-

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301

lationship between SSS I and SSS II seen on some profiles (e.g., Figs. 9 and 11). The possibility remains, however, that SSS I is much older than that suggested here. Detailed reconstructions of basin filling and lake histories await integration of surface geomorphic mapping (e.g., Mathews, 1944) with seismic data. However, the gently dipping surface of SSS II and the accompanying down-basin transition from stratified to massive seismic facies, allows identification of palaeocurrent directions and associated sediment sources. In general, Shuswap Lake and Seymour Arm appear to have been filled from the south, most likely by meltwater and sediment issuing from ice in the Adams River Valley. The northward-dipping seismic facies in southern Salmon Arm also suggests the continuing presence of ice and associated meltwater inflows at the southern end of that basin and confirms the geomorphic reconstruction of Mathews (1944) of an ice dam in that area. In contrast, Anstey Arm and the contiguous portion of Salmon Arm were filled from the north, presumably from ice retreating back into the Monashee Mountains (Fig. 1). On a regional scale, the data presented here are in broad agreement with the findings of seismic surveys from nearby Okanagan and Kalamalka lakes (Mullins et al., 1990; Eyles et al., 1991). These basins contain a similar tripartite seismicstratigraphic succession and an absence of strata older than the last glaciation. Work in the North Okanagan Valley, between Shuswap and Okanagan lakes, reported by Vanderburgh and Roberts (1996), also identifies a thick but relatively simple infill stratigraphy that can be correlated with that in Okanagan Lake; most significantly, sediments older than 10 ka cannot be identified (Vanderburgh and Roberts, 1996). Sediments older than the last glaciation have been found in central British Columbia (e.g., Clague et al., 1990) and it is possible that such deposits may be present in Shuswap Lake but cannot be resolved on seismic data. Such strata could be preserved in bedrock lows but be indistinguishable from SSS I. The paucity of an older infill in the valleys of central British Columbia, and the considerable depth to which the bedrock surface has been overdeepened below sea-level (e.g., a maximum of - 2 9 8 m in the Shuswap lakes and -365 m in Okanagan Lake)

may be the result of fast ice flow and accelerated subglacial erosion along structurally-controlled valleys. Meltwaters most likely played the major role in eroding the bedrock surface thereby accounting for narrow, V-shaped cross-profiles. Several hundreds of metres of sediment was probably deposited in less than a few hundred years as a result of the focussing of large volumes of meltwater and sediment to narrow fiord lake basins. The same tendency for the stratigraphic record to be biased toward the deglacial phase has been noted for fiords (Andrews, 1990) suggesting parallels between conditions in the glaciomarine and glaciolacustrine environments. Deep seismic data are now required from deep fiord lake basins elsewhere in glaciated terrains such as New Zealand, Chile and Argentina (e.g., Pickrill and Irwin, 1983; Aniya and Skvarca, 1992) to test the broader applicability of this model.

8. Summary
A thick (up to 800 m on seismic records) glaciolacustrine infill succession consisting of three seismically-defined stratigraphic sequences can be identified in Shuswap Lake of southern British Columbia. Despite its considerable thickness, the succession can most likely be attributed to a short-lived phase of deposition during the closing stage of the last (Wisconsin) glaciation at around 10 ka. A lowermost seismic-stratigraphic sequence (SSS I) is interpreted as the product of sediment dumping from meltwaters below a calving ice margin; an overlying sequence (SSS II) has seismic characteristics typical of rhythmically-bedded and laminated (varved?) glaciolacustrine sediments deposited from fan deltas. Sequence HI is composed of varved postglacial silts and may contain a high-resolution record of climate variability in the interior of British Columbia. Any substantial basin infill that predates the late Wisconsin appears to have been removed; the same situation appears to exist in the nearby North Okanagan Valley and Okanagan Lake. This could be a general characteristic of narrow, overdeepened fiord lake basins that experience rapid flows of ice during deglaciation, scour by subglacial meltwaters and associated sediment focussing.

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and paleoecology of Pleistocene interstadial sediments, central British Columbia. Quat. Res., 34: 208-226. Cybulski, J., Howes, D.E., Haggarty, J.C. and Eldridge, M., 1981. Early human skeleton from south-central British Columbia: dating and bioarcheological inference. Can. J. Archeol., 5: 49-60. Desloges, J.R. and Gilbert, R., 1991. Sedimentary record of Harrison Lake: Implications for deglaciation in southwestern British Columbia. Can. J. Earth Sci., 28: 800-815. Desloges, J.R. and Gilbert, R., 1994. Sediment source and hydromorphic inferences from glacial lake sediments; the postglacial sediment record of Lillooet Lake, British Columbia. J. Hydrol., 159: 375-393. Duford, J.M. and Osborn, G.D., 1978. Holocene and late Pleistocene cirque glaciations in the Shuswap Highlands, British Columbia. Can. J. Earth Sci., 15: 865-873. Eyles, N. and Clague, J.J., 1991. Contrasting styles of glaciolacustrine sedimentation during ice sheet advance and retreat in central British Columbia. Geogr. Phys. Quat., 45: 317-331. Eyles, N. and Eyles, C.H., 1992. Glacial Depositional Systems. In: R.G. Walker and N.P. James (Editors), Facies Models: Response to Sea Level Change. Geol. Assoc. Can., pp. 74-92. Eyles, N., Mullins, H. and Hine, A.C., 1990. Thick and fast: Sedimentation in a Pleistocene fiord-lake of British Columbia, Canada. Geology, 18:1153-1157. Eyles, N., Mullins, H.T. and Hine, A.C., 1991. The seismic stratigraphy of Okanagan Lake, British Columbia; a record of rapid deglaciation in a deep 'fiord-lake' basin. Sediment. Geol., 73: 13-41. Finger, W. and Weidmann, M., 1987. Quelques donnres geologiques nouvelles sur la vallre du Rhone entre Sion et le Lrman. Bull. Murithienne Soc. Valais Sci. Naturaliste, 105: 27-40. Finck, P., Kelts, K. and Lambert, A., 1984. Seismic stratigraphy and bedrock forms in perialpine lakes. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 95: 1118-1128. Fleisher, P.J., Mullins, H.T. and Yuretich, R.F., 1992. Subsurface stratigraphy of Otsego Lake, New York: Implications for deglaciation of the northern Appalachian Plateau. Northeastern Geol., 14: 203-217. Flint, R.E, 1935a. 'White silt' deposits in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. R. Soc. Can. Trans., 29:107-114. Flint, R.F., 1935b. Glacial features of the southern Okanogan Region. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., 46: 169-194. Fulton, R.J., 1965. Silt deposition in late-glacial lakes in southern British Columbia. Am. J. Sci., 263: 553-570. Fulton, R.J., 1969. Glacial lake history, southern interior British Columbia. Geol. Surv. Can., Pap. 69-37, 14 pp. Fulton, R.J., 1975. Quaternary Geology and geomorphology, Nicola-Vernon area, British Columbia. Geol. Surv. Can., Mem. 380, 50 pp. Fulton, R.J. and Pullen, M.J.L.T., 1969. Sedimentation in Upper Arrow Lake, B.C. Can. J. Earth Sci., 6: 785-791. Gilbert, R., 1975. Sedimentation in Lillooet Lake, British Columbia. Can. J. Earth Sci., 12: 1697-1711. Gilbert, R. and Desloges, J.R., 1992. The late Quaternary sedimentary record of Stave Lake, southwestern British Columbia. Can. J. Earth Sci., 29: 1997-2006.

Acknowledgements
Funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada a t ard to NE. A1 Hine is thanked for loan of equipment and Tim Boynton for outstanding technical assistance in the field. Mike Gipp, John Petruccione and Bluewater Houseboats of Sicamous, British Columbia are thanked for logistical assistance; figures were draughted by Mike Doughty. We are very grateful to Bob Gilbert for comments on a first draft of the manuscript and Derek Booth and L.E Jansa for helpful journal reviews.

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