The Late Clause Samples

The Late. Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet reached its terminal position south of Block Island at the last glacial maximum, coinciding with the low-stand in eustatic sea level around 26,000 yBP, before beginning to retreat northward (Boothroyd and ▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2002; ▇▇▇▇ et al., 2002; ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ and Fairbanks, 2006; ▇▇▇▇▇ and Borns jr., 1986). As the glacier retreated, melt-water issuing from the ice deposited sediment in a variety of depositional environments (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 1987; Stone and Stone, 2005) on what is now the southern Rhode Island shoreface and outer continental shelf. Of particular interest to this study are previously identified large glacial deltas, which underlie the modern coastal lagoons and extend south into Block Island Sound (Figure 3). These deltas were deposited into Glacial Lake Block Island sometime before 21,000 yBP (Oakley and Boothroyd, 2013; Oakley, 2012), prior to sea level inundating the study area. Sub-bottom seismic reflection profiles collected by ▇▇▇▇▇▇ (2012) from the present upper shoreface and inner continental shelf showed southerly dipping (5 - 15º) reflectors offshore of the Rhode Island south shore, interpreted to have been deposited in a delta slope depositional environment (Figure 4) (Oakley, 2012), These were hypothesized to contain significant volumes of sand and gravel. Characterizing the location, sedimentology, and volume of these deltas was a primary focus of this study.