Weathering as an Indicator of the age of quaternary glacial deposits in Tasmania.

Abstract

Comparison of the degree of post-depositional erosion and weathering to which different landforms and sediments have been subject over time provides a valuable aid to age differentiation of Quaternary deposits. A variety of parameters, including erosional modification both of depositional and older erosional landforms, the weathering of surface clasts and the weathering of subsurface clasts and matrix, has proven useful to Quaternary workers. However, time is only one of a number of factors that control the amount of weathering and erosion that occurs at a site. Examples from the glacial deposits of Tasmania show that if results useful for dating are to be obtained, it is essential to minimise the influence of other factors which may obscure a time-dependent sequence.