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Preservation of Arctic landscapes overridden by cold-based ice sheets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

P. Thompson Davis ,
Jason P. Briner ,
Roy D. Coulthard ,
Robert W. Finkel  and
Gifford H. Miller
P. Thompson Davis*
Affiliation:
Department Natural Sciences, Bentley College, Waltham, MA 02452-4705, USA.
Jason P. Briner
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303-0450, USA.
Roy D. Coulthard
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303-0450, USA.
Robert W. Finkel
Affiliation:
Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, L-397 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
Gifford H. Miller
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303-0450, USA.
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 781 891 2838.Email Address:pdavis@bentley.edu(P.T. Davis).
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Abstract

For nearly 40 years, a massive, well-preserved glaciomarine delta more than 54,000 years old and ancillary landforms have formed the cornerstone of models positing limited ice-sheet extent in Arctic Canada during the late Wisconsinan. We present exposure ages for large boulders on the delta surface, which coupled with preservation of relict landforms demonstrate that the region was covered by minimally erosive, cold-based ice during the late Wisconsinan. Our data suggest that surficial features commonly used to define the pattern of late Wisconsinan ice movement cannot be used on their own to constrain late Wisconsinan ice-sheet margins in Arctic regions.

Keywords

Baffin IslandGlacial erosionQuaternary chronologyCosmogenic nuclide datingRadiocarbon dating
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 156 - 163
Copyright
University of Washington

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