Jökull - 01.12.1988, Page 11

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ffEfri- Rauðafœkur r- 4' 41
Fig. 8. Outcrops of shell-bearing sedimentary strata at Rauðalækur and Ytri-Rangá.
Mynd 8. Staðsetning skeljafundarstaðanna við Rauðalœk og Ytri-Rangá.
shell-bearing sediments are exposed at 10-20 m a.s.l.
The sedimentary strata can be traced intermittently
along the Rauðalækur riverlet downstream from
Highway 1 at least 3 km southwest.
Loc. 1: Surteigur at the village of Rauðalækur is
a well known shell locality, described by Kjartans-
son (1958). A 3-5 m thick strata of horizontally
stratified silty sand rests on the bedrock. Intrabeds
and lenses of laminated silt and rounded pebbles
occur in the sand. We interpret the sand unit to be
near-shore marine or littoral sediments. The sand is
overlain by a blanket of subsoil aeolian sediments.
Shells are found in an outcrop in the east bank of
the brook, south of Highway 1 at c. 20 m a.s.l.
Radiocarbon dating gave the value of 9.825±130 BP
(Table II: Lu-2405).
Loc. 2: Immediately south of the Syðri-Rauða-
lækur farm, in the banks of the Rauðalækur riverlet
and in the banks of a small tributary brook, a
roughly 10 m thick sequence of stratified sandy silt
and silty sand is exposed, below a sandy soil horizon
(Fig. 8). The base of the sediments is not exposed.
Shell fragments (Table IV) can be found throughout
the sequence, but appear to be somewhat more con-
centrated in its lower part. A radiocarbon dating of a
sample from the lower part of the sequence at 10-12
m a.s.l. gave the value of 9.505±90 BP (Table II:
Lu-2598). The sediments and the fauna refiect a
marine environment. This locality has not been
described before.
Loc. 3: An additional locality is in the west bank
of the Rauðalækur riverlet some 0.5 km south of
JÖKULL, No. 38, 1988 9