Relative Ages of Pleistocene Moraines Discerned from Pebble Counts: Eastern Sierra Nevada, California

A modified Wolman pebble count, traditionally used in fluvial science, is used to assess relative ages for glacial moraines at Bloody and Sawmill canyons, eastern California. Results show statistically separable size distributions among surface deposits of five known moraine groups, with finer distributions associated with older deposits. Large variance in clast size prevents robust distinction of younger moraines, but not older moraines that are most difficult to date. Results contribute to ongoing debate about the locale’s oldest age groups, with Mono Basin predating Tahoe 1 moraines. [