Evidence of flash floods in Precambrian gravel dominated ephemeral river
deposits

Darrel G.F. Long

PII: S0037-0738(16)30282-2
DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2016.11.006
Reference: SEDGEO 5133

To appear in: Sedimentary Geology

Received date: 13 September 2016

Revised date: 8 November 2016
Accepted date: 13 November 2016

Please cite this article as: Long, Darrel G.F., Evidence of flash floods in Precam-
brian gravel dominated ephemeral river deposits, Sedimentary Geology (2016), doi:
10.1016/j.sedgeo.2016.11.006

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

Evidence of flash floods in Precambrian gravel dominated ephemeral

river deposits.

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Darrel G. F. Long, Department of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury ON,

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Canada. dlong@laurentian.ca

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ABSTRACT

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Fluvial strata at the base of the Whyte Inlet Formation on Baffin Island, to the
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west of Sikosak Bay, are predominantly boulder and cobble bearing large pebble

conglomerates of braided fluvial origin. Local development of narrow sinuous channels,

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possibly within the thalwegs of an initially braided bedrock confined system, is indicated
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by the presence of lateral accretion surfaces, some of which host isolated sub-vertically
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oriented boulders. These larger boulders were probably emplaced during exceptional
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flood events involving either hyper-concentrated flows or dilute debris flows, with

velocities in the order of 2.2 m/s. Isolated ridges of boulders and cobbles are perched on
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the upper parts of lateral accretion surfaces in mixed sandy-gravelly fluvial intervals.

These boulder berms developed down stream from channel bends or bedrock

constrictions in response to flow expansion during flash floods, with estimated peak

discharge of about 1.4 m/s. Associated sandstones on lateral accretion surfaces show

evidence of deposition under both upper and lower flow conditions. Similar boulder and

cobble berms of this type are known from Modern ephemeral and highly seasonal fluvial

systems in a wide range of climatic settings, and are a clear indication that highly variable

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to catastrophic discharge events affected the rivers responsible for deposition of these

conglomerates.

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KEY WORDS: Precambrian fluvial; boulder berms; hyper-concentrated flows; flash

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floods; Mesoproterozoic; Baffin Island.

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1. Introduction

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The effects of exceptional flood events are often difficult to recognize in the rock
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record (Mutti, et al., 1996), with the possible exception of glacier related outburst floods

(jökulhlaups) that produce a distinctive suite of sediment types and structures, and are
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intimately associated with glacial deposits (Maizels, 1989; Carling, 2013). Recognizing
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exceptional floods in non-glacial fluvial systems is more problematic, especially in gravel

dominated environments. Terrestrial conglomerates are a conspicuous feature of many

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Precambrian and early Paleozoic basins, where they have been interpreted as deposits of

alluvial fans, gravel-bed rivers with sediment gravity flows, and both deep (> 3 m) and
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shallow (< 3 m) gravel-bed braided river systems. In contrast meandering gravel-bed

rivers are exceptionally rare, and wandering gravel-bed river deposits have yet to be

described (Long, 2011). Pre-vegetation fan systems are typically thick, have a wedge-

shaped geometry, evidence of radiating paleo-flow, and contain both clast and matrix

supported conglomerate of local provenance (Nemec and Steel, 1984; Miall, 1996; Went,

2005; Post and Long, 2008; Eriksson et al., 2008). Random or transverse clast fabric in

matrix-supported conglomerates and conglomeratic sandstones is commonly cited as

evidence of debris flows (Nemec and Steel, 1984), while a preferred sub-horizontal clast

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fabric is taken as evidence of dilute debris flows or hyper-concentrated flows (Carling,

1987 a, b, 1989; Went, 2005). The same applies for identification of mass flow deposits

in proximal gravel-bed river deposits (Long, 2011; Long et al., 2011) and proglacial

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outwash (Maizels, 1989).

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In all these gravel dominated river systems, exceptional floods will tend to

destroy evidence of earlier floods, reworking sediment into new longitudinal and side

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bars, or into transverse debris flow lobes (Fig. 1). Carling (1986, 1987 b, 1989) has

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suggested that debris flows, dilute debris flows, and hyper-concentrated fluid flows,

generated during exceptional storm events can produce parallel ridges of boulders along
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valley walls (analogous to debris flow levees on fans), and perched linear ridges of gravel

on the upper parts of side bars in locations immediately downstream from channel
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inflection points (boulder berms). This paper describes the sedimentology and

architecture of a thin unit of fluvial conglomerates at the base of the Late

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Mesoproterozoic Whyte Inlet Formation, at the northeastern end of Fury and Hecla basin,
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on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, and suggests models for their formation in a pre-
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vegetation setting. It provides details of the oldest known example of perched boulder

berms, a flood element that has previously only been described from Modern and

Pleistocene settings.

<<Fig. 1>>

2. Mesoproterozoic, Fury and Hecla basin

The Fury and Hecla basin (Chandler, 1988) is an east-west oriented basin that lies

along the strait separating Baffin Island from Melville Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada

(Fig. 2). It is one of a series of sub-parallel fault bounded grabens (the Bylot basins) that

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developed as impactor basins (Şengör et al., 1978; Şengör, 1995) in response to far-field

stresses associated with continent-continent collision during the Grenville orogeny,

centered some 5000 km to the south, during amalgamation of Rodinia (Turner et al.,

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2016). Cenozoic examples of impactor basins associated with the Alpine–Himalayan

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orogeny include the Rhine graben, located about 100 km from the orogen, and the Baikal

rift, located more than 2500 km from the orogen (Şengör et al., 1978; Şengör, 1995,

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Turner et al. 2016). The oldest parts of the Bylot basins developed on an open platform,

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in a cratonic setting far from any continental margin, and are characterized by marine

sandstones, interbedded with subaqueous lava flows and minor stromatolites (Long and
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Turner, 2012). The lava flows had originally been correlated with the Mackenzie igneous

event (~ 1.27 Ga) on the basis of their paleomagnetic signature (Fahrig et al., 1981), but
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may be much younger, as K-Ar dates obtained by Jackson and Iannelli (1981) for the

Nauyat Formation include dates as recent as ~1.129 Ga.

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<< Fig 2 >>

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Subsidence associated with minor far-field collision induced trans-tension began

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about 1.1 Ga with accumulation of the Arctic Bay Formation in the Borden basin (Turner

and Kamber, 2012; Hann et al., 2015; Turner et al., 2016). Within the Fury and Hecla

basin this transition is marked by an unconformity at the base of the Whyte Inlet

Formation (Fig. 3). This basin contains up to 4.5 km of sandstone and mudstone, most of

which was deposited on an open marine, tide-influenced, storm-dominated shelf, with

local development of large sand-wave complexes (Chandler, 1988; Long and Turner,

2012). Igneous intrusions (or possibly flows) in the lower part of the basin have not been

dated, but may be equivalent to flows in the Borden basin. The strata are cut by vertical

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dikes, dated at 720 Ma by Pehrsson and Buchan (1999), that are considered to be part of

the ~723 Ma Franklin swarm (Heaman et al., 1992). Fluvial strata are restricted to a thin

unit of pebbly sandstones 300 m above the base of the Fury and Hecla Group (Nyobe

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Formation), on the northwest tip of Melville Peninsula (Fig. 3, Section 1), and the basal 3

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m of the Whyte Inlet Formation at the east end of the basin (Fig. 2. Right, and Fig. 3,

Section 5). At this latter location (Fig. 4), near Sikosak Bay on Baffin Island, the basal

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part of the formation consists of a thin sheet of boulder and cobble conglomerate with

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minor sandstone that rests disconformably on an irregular surface of Paleoproterozoic

gneiss that shows signs of incipient weathering, in that some of the feldspars have been
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converted to clays within a meter of the unconformity (Fig. 4 A). This basal

conglomerate is directly overlain by over 100 m of well-sorted medium to fine-grained

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sandstone, deposited predominantly by migrating marine sand-waves (Fig 4 B).

<< Figs 3, 4 >>

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3. Basal conglomerate of the Whyte Inlet Formation

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The basal conglomerate of the Whyte Inlet Formation west of Sikosak Bay is

from 1 to 4 m thick (between red and green lines on figure 4 B), and is dominated by

framework supported large pebble and cobble conglomerate in which interstitial space is

filled with massive medium-grained sandstone (Fig. 4 C, D). Clasts in these

conglomerates are typically compact to compact-elongate, with only rare platy and

bladed forms (terminology of Folk, 1974). They are typically sub-rounded, although

angular and sub-angular clasts are present locally (Fig. 4 C). Almost all of the clasts

examined consist of planar or cross-stratified medium-grained and fine-grained sandstone

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(siliceous, ferruginous, quartz arenite, with well-rounded grains), with less than 1% vein

quartz and basement gneiss. Clast orientation in most examples appears random,

although vertical and near-vertical clasts are common locally, especially near the top of

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isolated cobble units.

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In most localities conglomerate occurs in lenses of small or large pebble

conglomerate that are 0.3 to 1.2 m thick (Fig. 5), and have apparent widths of 3 to 20 m.

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This may be close to true width as the outcrops examined were approximately normal to

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net paleoflow. Massive and planar laminated sandstone units are present locally, infilling

small channel features up to 50 cm thick and 8 m apparent width. Examination of the

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exposure located on the right (western) side of Figure 4 A indicates that the

conglomerates do not have uniform size distributions. They include units of bouldery
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cobble conglomerate (Fig 5, A, B and K), with a marked bimodal size distribution, and

other cobble bearing elements (Fig.5, D, I, P, Q) with a dominant peak of large pebble
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grade material (-4 to -5 phi). Non-cobbly units typically have a strong unimodal size
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distribution, with peaks in the large pebble (-4 to -5 phi: Fig. 5 E, H) or medium pebble (-
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3 to -4 phi) grade (Fig. 5 C, F, G, J, M, N, O). As the conglomerates are all well lithified,

size analysis was undertaken by measuring the apparent area of exposed clasts on digital

photographs. This procedure involved outlining all gravel-sized clasts, and converting the

apparent area of each clast (measured using ACD Systems CanvasTMX drafting program

for Mackintosh computers) to the Phi size of an equivalent sphere. The calculated value

was used as a proxy for intermediate grain size as it was assumed that the long and short

axis of most clasts are preferentially exposed in vertical sections, hence measuring the

apparent short axis in the photographs would significantly underestimate true

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intermediate grain diameter (c.f. Neumann-Mahlkau, 1967; Kellerhals and Bray, 1971;

Adams, 1979; Cislaghi et al., 2016). Statistical values were calculated using methods

outlined by Folk and Ward (1957).

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<< Fig. 5 >>

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Most of the conglomerates illustrated in figure 5 are poorly to very poorly sorted,

coarse to fine skewed, and leptokurtic to very platykurtic (Table 1). Coarser units tend to

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show inverse coarse tail grading (Fig. 5 A, B, D, K, P). Field observations indicate that

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the matrix component is dominated by medium to fine sand, with no obvious mud grade

component. Units are typically massive, with no obvious preferred clast orientation.
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Trough cross-stratification was found in some of the finer grained conglomerate units

(Fig 5. G, L, M, N).
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<< Table 1 >>

Conglomerates exposed at the eastern end of the exposure (Fig. 4 B, D) appear to

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form a composite stacked channelized body with both east (Fig. 6) and west (Fig. 4 D)
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dipping bounding surfaces (away from bedrock highs). The complex is about 25 m wide
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and locally up to 4 m thick. It sits in an eroded bedrock concavity above an irregular

bedrock surface. Within this channel complex, most of the conglomerate units are of

large to very large pebble grade. Clast size analysis indicates that they are typically very

poorly sorted, near symmetrical, and very platykurtic (Table 1, Fig. 6). Boulders are most

common in lower units (Fig. 6, elements R, S). The largest clast observed, with apparent

dimensions of 0.71 x 0.54 m, is part of a cluster of boulders with a near vertical

orientation of apparent maximum clast axis (Fig. 6, element S). Most clasts have only a

weak preferred orientation, typically sub-parallel to the lower bounding surface of each

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element. A strong preferred orientation of platy clasts is apparent immediately adjacent to

the boundary of elements R and S (Fig. 6). There is a weak tendency for inverse coarse

tail grading in elements R and S, at the base of the complex, and to a lesser extent in

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elements U, V and X. The 3.2 m wide lens of medium sandstone overlying element S

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(Fig. 6, element T) is characterized by planar lamination, with isolated clasts up to small

cobble grade.

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<< Fig 6 >>

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Basal strata in the centre of the outcrop in figure 4 A, are characterized by a 1.7 to

2.2 m thick interval of interbedded sandstone and conglomerate within a channel

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estimated to be up to 30 m wide. They occur in packages, bounded by lateral accretion

surfaces with dips of 4 to 11° that can be traced laterally for 18 to 20 m (Fig. 7).
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<< Fig. 7 >>

Medium-grained sandstones are typically massive, with isolated pebbles (Figs. 8

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A, B, D, 9. F), or appear to be planar laminated (parallel to lower element boundary; Figs

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8 B, 9 B. C, D). Some of the thicker laminated sandstone cosets are parts of thick planar
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cross-stratified units, with foreset dips oblique to lower bounding surfaces (Fig. 7, 2 m an

15 m from east; Fig. 8 A). Locally sandstone units may exhibit trough cross-stratification

or upwardly domed, sinusoidal cross-stratification (Fig. 8 D).

<< Figs. 8, 9 >>

Conglomerates are highly lenticular and occur both at the base of the unit, and in

isolated lenses between sandstone units near the middle and top of the exposed section

(Fig. 7). All conglomerate units are framework supported, with a matrix of medium-

grained sand. Some have a weak horizontal fabric (Fig. 9 A, D), although vertical clasts

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are also present (Fig. 9 C). Some units show clear evidence of inverse coarse tail grading

(Fig. 7, Z, , , ; Fig. 9 A, B).

Grain size analysis (Table 1) confirms that the conglomerates are predominantly

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of small cobble (Fig. 7 Y, Z, ) or medium to very large pebble grade (Fig. 7 , ), with

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local development of small pebble conglomerate (Fig. 7 , ). Most are poorly sorted to

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very poorly sorted, and near symmetrical to fine skewed, with a platykurtic to very

platykurtic, unimodal size distribution (Fig. 7). Only one sample had a marked bimodal

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size distribution, with modes in the small cobble and granule size grades (Fig. 7 ).
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4. Architecture
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In this study depositional elements have been identified using the techniques
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outlined by Miall (1985, 1988, 1996), Fielding (2006) and Long (2006, 2011). The
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largest scale elements, channels (CH) appear to be defined by depressions in the bedrock
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surface.

Within the thinner, conglomerate dominated exposures (Fig. 5) most elements are
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relatively thin (12-93 cm, average 47 cm: Table 2). Elements A to E appear to have

limited lateral extent (0.47-4.23 m): the predominance of easterly dipping element

boundaries is suggestive of deposition primarily as lateral accretion (LA) elements,

developed against bedrock channel margins. The thin, steeply inclined element (E) that

appears to have developed at the margins of element F, may represent deposition as a

small-scale unit bar or incipient LA element along the cut bank of a broader channel.

Lower boundaries of these LA elements are typically highly irregular, and reflect marked

erosion at channel bases and margins. They typically dip at between 12 and 29°, with

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steeper margins (> 51°) possibly representing erosional bank margins. Smaller elements

recognized (F, G, L, M) include gravelly bedforms (GB) that may represent dune

migration within small-scale channel (CH) elements. Narrow, steep sided (depth = 17-40

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cm, width = 61-81 cm) gravel elements (H, I, J) near the top of the outcrop could

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represent the fill of narrow chute channels (ChCH). Elements N, N, O, P and Q appear to

be channel elements (CH), while element K may have developed as a LA element or

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channel (CH).

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Along the western side of the large bedrock channel shown in figure 6, the
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lowermost preserved conglomerate unit (R) appears to represent a LA element that

accumulated against a bedrock wall. The lower (left) part of this element shows stacking
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of elongate pebbles with a local steep dip away from the core of the bedrock channel,
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before transitioning into more disorganized coarser conglomerate, with evidence of

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coarsening upwards. The upper boundary of this element is characterized by a layer of

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flat cobbles and boulders oriented at the same inclination as the upper element boundary.

This layer is overlain by an ~6 m wide, 1.39 m thick, bouldery-cobble conglomerate unit

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(Fig. 6 S), here interpreted as a channel element (CH). The right side of this element

contains clasts that are oriented approximately parallel to the upper boundary of element

R. A 1.5 m wide ridge of small and medium boulders, near the centre of element R have

a preferred vertical to sub-vertical orientation, while smaller clasts to the left have a sub-

horizontal preferred orientation. The contact with the overlying planar laminated pebbly

sandstone (T), here interpreted as a channel fill sheet element (SE: Table 2), may have

been sub-horizontal (relief on the outcrop appears to distort the nature of the contact, as

this was photographed from below). Other sandstone units on the eastern side of the

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channel (Fig. 4 D) have lamination parallel to underlying LA surfaces, thickening

towards the core of the channel complex, and may themselves represent LA elements.

Above the SE sandstone element (T) there is a stacked sequence of conglomerate LA

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elements (Fig. 6 U, V, W, X) that appear to have accreted from west (right) to east. Clasts

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in elements V, W, and X appear to be randomly oriented. Sub-vertical orientation of

boulders in element U mimics the orientation of boulders in element S.

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Within the sandstone dominated channel shown in figure 7, sandstones and

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conglomerates appear to have been deposited predominantly on lateral accretion surfaces,

with consistent gentle slopes averaging 4 to 11° to the east (left). Elements in this figure
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are defined by their bounding surfaces. Elements A-B, B-C, C-D, D-E, E-F and F-G (Fig.

7) are here interpreted as LA elements, as are similar units exposed east of the panel
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examined (i.e. Fig. 9 D). Sandstone in most of these elements was deposited either as

planar laminae (parallel to the underlying LA surface), or as low-angle planar cross-

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stratification, oblique or normal to the underlying element boundary. Analysis of dip

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orientation of cross-strata, and dips and strikes of LA element boundaries (Fig. 10)
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indicates that some sandstones within the LA elements accumulated as dunes, exhibiting

alternating downstream accretion (DA) and lateral accretion (LA) characteristics (c.f.

Long, 2011). LA units interpreted as hosting DA components (C-D and E-F) have net

crossbed orientation within 11 to 22° of the vector mean for the major LA element

boundaries. Units (D-E, F-G), with vector mean of crossbeds at > 45° from underlying 3rd

order surfaces are interpreted as LA units characterised by oblique migration of sandy

bedforms, or downstream lateral accretion elements (DLA) of Long, 2016.

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Conglomerates that occur both locally near the base of LA elements (Fig. 7), as in

element D-E, and as isolated lenses on the upper parts of LA elements, are here

interpreted as boulder berms (Carling, 1986), that developed downstream from channel

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inflections (Fig. 1). These (BB) are typically clast supported, and lack marked

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imbrication. They typically have a concave upper surface, show evidence of inverse

coarse tail grading, and may fine laterally (Table 3). As with the other conglomerates the

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interstitial spaces are typically filled with massive medium-grained sandstone, and/or

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granules.
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5. Interpretation

Most of the conglomerates exposed at the base of Whyte Inlet Formation can be
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interpreted as deposits of valley-confined gravel-bed braided rivers with sediment gravity

flows (Model A of Miall, 1996) and/or debris torrents (Carling, 1987 b). These seem to
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be constrained within shallow bedrock valleys developed on basement gneisses, and are

capped by a major planar surface beneath marine sandstones in the upper part of the
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Whyte Inlet Formation. This planar surface represents a major flooding surface (sequence

boundary) that has yet to be located in the western parts of the basin (Long and Turner,

2012). The paucity of mud grade material in all of the conglomerates is consistent with

many other Precambrian fluvial deposits (Long, 1978, 2011), as well as many younger

flash-flood related deposits (Macklin et al., 1992; Carling, 2013) where fines are typically

transported through the system as a wash-load that has little chance of settling. In pre-

vegetation settings there would have been a more limited production of primary clays,

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due to lack or organic acids, or removal of mud grade material from the exposed land

surface by wind (Long, 1978).

The geometry of architectural elements seen in figures 5 and 6 closely resemble

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parts of the Sagavanirktoc River in Alaska, described by Lunt and Bridge (2004). Most of

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the LA elements are here interpreted as side bars, that were either attached to the channel

margins or to in-channel macroforms. The bimodal character of many of these LA

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deposits, combined with an absence of marked imbrication and a tendency towards

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inverse coarse tail grading, suggests that these were not deposited by normal (lower flow

regime traction currents) stream flow processes, but were deposited from hyper-
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concentrated flows, under transitional or upper flow regime conditions (Nemec and Steel,

1984; Costa, 1988; Maizels, 1989; Miall, 1996; Batalla et al., 1999; Sohn et al., 1999;
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Lowey, 2002). As these conglomerates lack a significant mud content (< 0.1%), true

debris flow mechanisms, including buoyancy and high yield strength, had minimal
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influence, and the flows must have been non-viscous hyper-concentrated (> 40%
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sediment concentration) flows, with clasts supported by collision induced dispersive

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pressures (Nemec and Steel, 1984; Costa, 1988) analogous to type C3 and C4 strata of

Maizels (1989). A hyper-concentrated flow origin is further supported by the presence of

a weak sub-horizontal fabric in some of the LA units (i.e. Fig. 6, elements S, U). The

presence of sub-vertical boulders and cobbles in these two elements also supports

emplacement by high-density hyper-concentrated flows (possibly at zones of flow

expansion at the lower end of side bars). The presence of a zone of platy cobbles parallel

to the upper boundary of elements a (Fig. 6), may reflect armoring of the channel margin

during less intense stream flow conditions. Carling (2013) suggests that a lack of

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armoring of channel floors may be indicative of rapid cessation of flows. The absence of

marked imbrication in the conglomerates may be a result of paucity of elongate platy

clasts, or may indicate that normal stream flow processes between flood events was

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minimal. Estimates of maximum flow velocities for normal clear-water stream flow

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conditions, based on maximum clast size (Costa, 1983) are between 0.8 and 3.6 m/sec

(Table 1). Estimated velocity for high-density hyper-concentrated flows is probably

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about 40% less than this (0.5 to 2.2 m/s), due to inertial effects on boulder movement

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(Alexander and Cooker, 2016).

Finer grained (small and medium pebble) massive conglomerates, with essentially
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unimodal size distributions (Fig. 5, elements C, E, O) are interpreted as channel fill (CH)

deposits formed under normal (turbulent, lower flow regime) stream flow conditions;
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elements H, I and J (Fig.5) represent chute channels, developed on the top of bars. These

all lack marked sub-horizontal or imbricate fabrics, suggesting that they were not
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significantly reworked during multiple flow events. Other CH elements of similar grade
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(Fig. 5, elements G, F, L, M, N) show evidence of local cross-stratification, reflecting

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deposition from gravelly bedforms (GB) within a channel thalweg. Net paleoflow was to

the north-northwest (Long and Turner, 2012), with the Melville Peninsula, immediately

south of the Fury and Hecla basin representing the most likely source area.

Thin sandy elements with planar lamination (Fig. 5 D) and dispersed pebbles (Fig.

6) indicate rapid deposition under upper flow regime conditions (Abdullatif 1989;

Fielding 2006; Long, 2006, 2011) either as LA elements (Fig. 4 D) or as fill in shallow

channels (Fig. 6).

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The inclined sandstone dominated LA elements shown in figure 7 appear to have

been deposited by lateral accretion on an attached bar, initiated on the west (right) side of

a bedrock channel. The medium and fine-grained sandstone units within these elements

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are predominantly planar laminated (parallel to underlying LA surface), indicating

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deposition under upper flow regime conditions. Similar planar laminated units have been

observed on lateral accretion surfaces in Keweenawan (~1.1 Ga) deep gravel bed systems

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in Ontario (Long, 2011) and on LA surfaces in ephemeral sandy meandering river

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deposits in the Neoproterozoic Katherine Group, in the Mackenzie Mountains (Long

1978, 2011). An aeolian origin is rejected as there is no evidence of pin-stripe lamination

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or adhesion warts Kocurek et al., 1982; Olsen and Clemmensen, 1989). Cross-stratified

sandstone units within sandy LA elements in the Whyte Inlet Formation indicate
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periodic deposition from migrating sandy bedforms (SB) under transitional to fully

turbulent lower flow regime conditions. These bedforms may be oriented at a high angle
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to the underlying LA surface, indicating a downstream accretionary component (DA), or

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oblique (>45°) to the underlying surface, indicating SB migration across the LA surface
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(Fig. 10). The apparent alternation of these conditions is difficult to explain. It may

indicate that the river is mostly flowing under super-critical conditions, but on falling

stage sub-critical conditions may have allowed dunes or other bedforms to form for brief

periods (Carling, personnel communication 2016).

Many of the very poorly sorted conglomerates represented in figure 7 occur as

isolated ridges on the upper parts of LA surfaces (Fig. 6, elements , , , ), or as

thicker discontinuous units neat the base of LA elements (Y, Z). Inverse coarse tail

grading is common in both these settings, indicating deposition from hyper-concentrated

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flows, rather than deposition by normal stream flow processes. Estimated flow velocities

for clear-water streams, based on maximum grain size (Costa, 1983) are from 0.9 to 2.9

m/sec (Table 1); for hyper-concentrate d flows maximum velocity would be in the order

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of 0.5 to 1.7 m/sec (Alexander and Cooker, 2016). The isolated ridges are here

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interpreted as boulder or cobble berms (Carling, 1986). These form as ridges of boulders

and cobbles on the upper part of lateral accretion surfaces during low-frequency

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catastrophic flood events in humid temperate (Carling, 1986, 1987 b, 1989; Johnson and

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Warburton 2002), Mediterranean (Maas and Macklin, 2002; Macklin et al., 1992, 2010),

tropical monsoonal (Nott and Price, 1999; Kale, 2002, 2005) and arid (Kehew et al.,
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2010) or semiarid environments (Waythomas and Jarrett, 1994; Keen-Zebert and Curran,

2009; Bodoque et al., 2011). They have also been recognized in settings associated with
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outburst floods from volcanic calderas (Manville, 2010), from floods in proglacial

settings (Glassner et al., 2009; Carling et al., 2009; Russell, 2009), on fans in Arctic-
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Alpine settings (Lowey, 2002; Zielinski, 2002; McEwan et al., 2011; McEwen and
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Matthews, 2013), and floods associated with the failure of natural (Acker et al., 2008)
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and man-made dams (Scott and Gravlee, 1968).

Boulder and cobble berms typically form at points of flow segregation in confined

bedrock channels, such as at meander bends, or downstream from bedrock obstacles, due

to rapid loss of flow competence (Carling, 1986). As a consequence ridges of boulders

and cobbles, exhibiting inverse coarse tail grading, that occur on the upper part of lateral

accretion surfaces in mixed sandy-gravelly fluvial deposits are a potential indicator of

highly variable to catastrophic discharge characteristics in both ephemeral and highly

seasonal fluvial systems (Carling, 1987 b, 1989).

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6. Conclusions

Most of the conglomeratic deposits at the base of the Whyte Inlet Formation, at

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the eastern end of the Fury and Hecla basin, appear to have been deposited initially as

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valley-confined gravel-bed rivers, characterized by highly variable (flashy) discharge,

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with the major architecture controlled by deposition from hyper-concentrated flows. The

presence of large-scale lateral accretion sets in sand-dominated sections, with perched

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boulder and cobble berms, characterized by inverse coarse tail grading, suggests local

deposition from both hyper-concentrated and normal stream flows on a broad attached
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bar, that developed down stream from a bedrock constriction (c.f. Fig 1, and Carling,

1989). Maximum flow velocities of up to 3.6 m/sec (Table 1), calculated using formula
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based of clear water streams, may overestimate true flow velocities by as much as 40%,

especially as hyper-concentrated flows are known to enhance impulsive forces acting on

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large clasts (Alexander and Cooker, 2016).

At the time of deposition of the conglomerates, the Fury and Hecla basin would
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have been located in a craton interior setting, some 2000 km away from the rising

mountains of the Grenville orogeny (Turner et al., 2016). Reconstructions of Rodinia by

Li et al., (2008) place the basin at about ~ 40° N at 1100 Ma, migrating to an equatorial

position by 1060 Ma. This migration would place the basin anywhere from the Horse

latitudes to the Doldrums, and so is not especially useful for estimating the climatic

setting. The absence of pronounced imbrication of clasts in the conglomerate suggests

that flow was both rapid and most likely ephemeral in nature. Sustained reworking by

perennial stream flows would have produced a greater degree of armoring, and

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development of imbricate clast fabric. The presence of boulder berms indicates that major

floods may have been both infrequent and flashy in nature. Given that more than a

kilometer of erosion may have occurred at the eastern end of the basin (c.f. Fig. 3), and

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that the bulk of the clasts resemble strata in older stratigraphic units, the headwaters of

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the river systems may have been within 26 to 40 km of the depositional site where

Neoarchean (2.5 – 2.8Ga) granite gneiss is exposed between NW oriented faults (Schau,

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1993). This proximity implies transpression driven uplift, caused by far-field tectonic

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stress from the Grenville orogen (Turner et al., 2016), was concentrated on a major fault,

or faults along the southern margin of the basin.

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Acknowledgements
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Field work was funded by Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office, with logistical

support from the Polar Continental Shelf Program of Natural Resources Canada. I thank
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Benjamin Gammon for enthusiastic field support, and Elizabeth C. Turner for

encouraging me to undertake this study. I thank Paul Carling and an anonymous reviewer
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for providing constructive comments on the manuscript. Research for this project was

undertaken following the provisions of Scientific Research License 01-062010R-M,

issued by the Nunavut Research Institute, and associated land use permits from the

Qikiktani Inuit Association.

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1. Depositional model for gravel-bed rivers influenced by exceptional flood

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events, based on Carling (1987, 1989), Macklin et al. (1992), Lowey (2002), and

Anderson et al. (2004). Note that both boulder berms and debris levees are typically clast

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supported, with or without a sandy matrix. Boulder berms and levees commonly exhibit

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inverse coarse tail grading and have a mound-like cross section. Mud content is typically

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very low (< 2%).
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Figure 2. Location of the Mesoproterozoic Fury and Hecla basin, and associated strata of

the Bylot basins (yellow), northern Baffin Island, Nunavut (after Long and Turner, 2012).
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Red zone, parallel to the coast is a dike considered to be part of the Franklin swarm
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(Heaman et al., 1992). Section on right is the exposure of Whyte Inlet Formation exposed
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at the east end of the basin near Sikosak Bay. M = mudstone, S = sandstone, G = gravel.
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Figure 3. Stratigraphy of the Fury and Hecla Group. Formation names and sections 2 to 4

from Chandler (1988). Sections 1 and 5 from Long and Turner (2012). Stars indicate

location of fluvial strata. Boulder berms are restricted to section 5 at the east end of the

basin.

Figure 4. A/B: exposure of basal part of the Whyte Inlet Formation (seen from the north),

showing a well exposed 1-4 m thick sheet of predominantly massive cobble and pebble

conglomerate, capped by medium grained sandstones above a flat marine erosion surface

(red lines). The basal unconformity (green) is sharp with marked local relief. C: Detail of

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basal unconformity and typical appearance of the massive conglomerate ~250 m west of

A. D: Detail of lateral accretion sets, separated by flat laminated medium grained

sandstones in a compound channel fill unit (orange box in B). Boulder berm locality is

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marked by the orange box at the centre of A.

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Figure 5. Conglomerate elements exposed at the west end (right) of the exposures in

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figure 4 A. Boulders are shown in pink, cobbles in orange, and pebbles in green, grey

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and white. White lines indicate element boundaries based on major changes in grain size.

Grain size distribution is based on Photo-sieving (see text). Note slopes up to 90° along
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basal unconformity, and slopes of up to 47° between some depositional elements. Letters

indicate specific depositional elements, refered to in text

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Figure 6. West side of 25 m wide channel at the eastern side (right) of the outcrop belt
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(Fig 4 B). Letters indicate specific depositional elements, refered to in text. Note the
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poorly sorted nature of all of the conglomerates, and the elongate, near vertical
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orientation of boulders in unit S. The finer grained unit (T) is a pebbly medium grained

sandstone, with ~ 5% large to very large pebbles and well developed sub-horizontal

planar lamination. Lower white line indicates unconformity; other white lines indicate

element boundaries (Fig. 4 D is from the east side of this channel).

Figure 7. Architectural model of boulder berm locality shown in Fig. 4 A; Panel A (top)

shows outcrop of the basal part of Whyte Inlet Formation. Panel B shows location of

berms, with histograms of gravel sized clasts. Letters and greek symbols indicate specific

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depositional elements, refered to in text. Outline of the unconformity shown in red, and

depositional element boundaries (0th order in black, 2nd and higher in blue). Panel C

shows distribution of larger clasts and element boundaries, with red arrows representing

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the direction of 0th order surfaces (foresets), blue pins represent the direction of 1st and

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higher element boundaries. Green pins represent direction of dip corrected slope of the

unconformity on underlying gneisses. All vector data have been adjusted so that slopes

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away from the observer point up, and those sloping towards the observer point down.

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Panel D (bottom) shows grouped paleocurrent data (roses) plotted for main architectural

elements (A to H). Red roses represent 0th order surfaces, Black roses represent 1st and
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higher order element boundaries. Green rose represents dip of irregular unconformity (6th

order surface) as for pins. Ø = Vector mean in degrees; n = number of observations; L =

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vector strength; V = variance. Small histograms indicate distribution of surface dips, and

average dip values after correction for tectonic dip of 2 degrees towards 150°.
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Figure 8. Sandstone units associated with boulder and cobble berms. A: Stack of massive
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(Sm), and planar cross-stratified sandstone (Sp) between units of poorly sorted cobble

conglomerate exposed 2.3 m from the eastern end of figure 7. B: Exposures of clast-

bearing massive sandstone (Sm) and plane laminated sandstone (Sh). C: Well sorted

medium sandstone, with apparent planar lamination at eastern end of figure 7. This unit

appears planar laminated in this view, but is part of a 60 cm thick unit with planar cross-

stratification (2.8 m interval of figure 7). D: Minor lenses of massive pebbly (Sm)

sandstone (Sm), trough cross-stratified sandstone (St) and possible sinusoidal cross-

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stratification (Ss), between units of cobble conglomerate, exposed 4 m from eastern end

of figure 7.

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Figure 9. Boulder and cobble berms from the channel depicted in figure 7. A: Cobble

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berm (), 12 m from east end of panel. B: Large cobble berm (Z in panel B of figure 7),

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7.3 m from end of panel. C: Cobble berm 4 m from end of panel. D; Isolated cobble

berm, located 5 m east of the east end of the panel.

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Figure 10. Orientation of third (or 4th) order element boundaries (black), set boundaries
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(1st and 2nd order surfaces, in grey), and foreset laminae (0th order surfaces) exposed in

channel shown in Fig. 6. All data have been dip corrected (method of Curray 1956), and
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plotted with north to the top. Comparison of the vector mean of 0th order surfaces, with
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underlying 1st and 2nd order surfaces, and 3rd element boundaries, allows the preferred
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mode of accumulation of sandstones within each element to be determined (letters to

CE

right). Lower boundary of unit A (green rose) is erosional, and illustrates the highly
AC

irregular orientations of bedrock surfaces.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Grain size characteristics of conglomerates in the basal Whyte Inlet Formation,

based on volume estimates of clasts exposed in vertical exposures. Values in italics were

extrapolated from probability plots. Velocity estimates provided are based on clear water

flows (Costa, 1983) and are probably about 40% higher than the predicted velocity of

hyper-concentrated flows (Alexander and Cooker, 2016).

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Table 2. Size and character of architectural elements in the two conglomerate dominated

panels. T = thickness in cm. W = width in metres. Minimum and maximum dips are

PT
measured on the lower bounding surface of each element. B = lies on bedrock. S = lies on

RI
sediment.

SC
Table 3. Size and character of architectural elements in the meandering channel (Fig. 6).

NU
Abbreviations as in Table 2. BC+ indicates host element, and distance from east (left)

side of Fig. 6. Y, Z and  to  indicate units with grain size analysis, Prefix indicates
MA
host element.
D
P TE
CE
AC

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PT
RI
SC
NU
MA
D
TE
P
CE
AC

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