First description of subglacial megalineations from the late Paleozoic ice age in southern Africa

Graham D Andrews; Andrew T McGrady; Sarah R Brown; Shannon M Maynard

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0210673

First description of subglacial megalineations from the late Paleozoic ice age in southern Africa

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 30;14(1):e0210673. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210673. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Graham D Andrews¹, Andrew T McGrady¹, Sarah R Brown¹, Shannon M Maynard¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, United States of America.

Abstract

We identify late Paleozoic ice age (LPIA) subglacial megalineations from field and geospatial imagery of the Twyfelfontein area of northern Namibia, and present the results of a geomorphometric analysis of those data. Asymmetric 0.1-1.5 km-long megawhalebacks indicate a paleo-ice flow to the northwest. We infer that an ice stream draining the LPIA Kaokoveld ice sheet existed within the proto-Huab River valley and that was comparable to ice streams in modern Antarctica. Recognition of a paleo-ice stream in northern Namibia supports interpretations of glaciogenic sedimentary successions (Itararé Group) in southern Brazil that suggest the presence of major, terrestrial glacial outlet systems in southern Africa during the LPIA.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Africa, Southern
Geologic Sediments / analysis*
Ice Cover*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the West Virginia Space Grant Consortium (awarded to Andrew McGrady). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.