Textural parameters as characteristics of deposits in the modern glaciomarine sedimentary environment, Hornsund Fjord, Spitsbergen

The main purpose of this study was to establish a reliable set of criteria that can be used in recognition and classification of both modern and ancient glaciomarine sediments, and in distinguishing them from associated glacial tills.;Two statistical methods (cluster analysis and discriminant function) based on twenty textural and mass physical parametres of the surface sediments deposited in the modern glaciomarine sedimentary environment of the northwestern Brepollen Bay, Hornsund Fjord, Spitsbergen, have resulted in the recognition of the three major lithofacies. According to the origin, type of transport, and depositional pattern they were identified as: (i) glacial till, (ii) ice-rafted sediments, (iii) water transported sediments. This classification system based on the discriminant function enabled the facies identification of older subsurficial deposits as it was the case with core samples.;The thorough study of the parameters indicated typical values of individual lithofacies and those parameters which are most sensitive in differentiation and characterization of particular lithofacies. An analysis of interrelations of the discussed parameters has allowed to choose the diagrams, which provide the satisfactory separation of distinguished lithofacies. The areal distribution of analyzed textural and physical properties and their interrelations, against a background of the rapid retreat of tidewater glaciers (43 to 100 m annually), a varied sedimentation rate (4 to 110 mm a year), and the presence of dead ice blocks on the bay floor preserved by salt (34%) and cold (...