Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-15T14:38:01.090Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Quaternary History of Northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T.: Part V: Factors Affecting Corrie Glacierization in Okoa Bay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

J. T. Andrews  and
R. E. Dugdale
R. E. Dugdale
Affiliation:
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80302
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Corries in Okoa Bay contain glaciers, ice patches or are empty. Each of 165 corries is described by 17 variables that describe shape, location and geometry and also have some relationship to the glaciological conditions in each basin. Analyses of these data in terms of “explaining” the factors controlling glacierization (using information and graph-theoretic methods and multiple stepwise discriminant analysis) all emphasize the importance of elevation on the current pattern. Orientation is also significant as virtually all glaciers and ice patches are contained in north-facing corries. Residual elevations from a linear trend surface on corrie lip altitudes indicate that empty corries lie, on average, only 200 m below those currently ice-filled, thus the area is extremely sensitive to the effects of climatic change. Empty corries also lie at the same elevations, on average, in north- and south-facing locations. The orientation of glacierized corries toward the north is a reflection of the variations in insolation between north- and south-facing slopes at latitude 67°30′N. Calculations indicate a difference under clear skies of 25% for global radiation and ∼50% for absorbed short-wave radiation. The 200-m lowering of local snowline implied by the corrie lip data is equivalent to a 1.2°C temperature decrease—this is the same as estimates based on changes in the earth's orbital parameters for this latitude. A lowering of temperature results in an increase in the ratio: sublimation/melting which leads to a reduction in the amount of ablation. It is suggested that glacierization of much of Baffin Island is possible with a lowering of snowline by 200 m, this could then trigger other areas such as Labrador and Keewatin.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 1 , Issue 4 , December 1971 , pp. 532 - 551
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, T.W. (1958). "Introduction to Multivariate Statistical Analysis." John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T. (1965). The corries of the northern Nain-Okak section of Labrador Geographical Bulletin 7, 129–136.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Barry, R.G., Drapier, L. (1970). An inventory of the present and past glacierization of Home Bay and Okoa Bay, east Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada, and some climatic and paleoclimatic considerations Journal of Glaciology 9, 337–362.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T. Estabrook, G. (1971). Applications of information and graph theory to multivariate geomorphological analyses Journal of Geology 79, 207–221.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.T. Miller, G.H. (1972). Quaternary history of northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T. Part IV: Maps of the present glaciation limit and lowest equilibrium line altitude for north and south Baffin Island Arctic and Alpine Research 4, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryson, R.A., Wendland, W.M. (1967). Radiocarbon isochrones on the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet Technical Report No. 53, University of Wisconsin, Department of Meteorology, Madison, Wisconsin 25 pp.Google Scholar
Charlesworth, J.K. (1957). "The Quaternary Era, with Special Reference to its Glaciation Edward Arnold London 2 vol. 1700 pp.Google Scholar
Dixon, W.J. (1970). "Biomedical Computer Programs." University of California Press Berkeley 600 pp.Google Scholar
Evans, I.S. (1969). The geomorphology and morphometry of glacial and nival area In "Water, Earth and Man." (Chorley, R.J.Ed.), Methuen London pp. 369–380.Google Scholar
Estabrook, G. (1967). An information theory model for character analysis Taxon 16, 86–97.Google Scholar
Flint, R.F. (1971). "Glacial and Quaternary Geology." John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 892 pp.Google Scholar
Krumbein, W.C. Graybill, F.A. (1965). "An Introduction to Statistical Models in the Geological Sciences. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York 475 pp.Google Scholar
Linton, D.L. (1959). Morphological contrasts of eastern and western Scotland In "Geographical Essays in Honour of Alan G. Ogilvie" (Miller, R. Watson, J.W.Eds,). pp. 16–45.Google Scholar
Løken, O.H. (1969). La distribution des glaciers de l'extreme-nord du Labrador, Canada-ancienne et presente VIII INQUA Congress Paris, Résumés des Communications, pp. 34.Google Scholar
Miller, M.M. (1961). A distribution study of abandoned cirques in the Alaska-Canada Boundary Range "Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Arctic Geology." Vol. 2 University of Toronto Press pp. 833–847.Google Scholar
Manley, G. (1959). The late-glacial climate of northwest England Proceedings of the Liverpool and Manchester Geological Society 2, 188–215.Google Scholar
Meier, M.F. (1965). Glaciers and climate In "The Quaternary of the United States." (Wright, H.E. Frey, D.G.Eds.), pp. 795–805.Princeton University press.Google Scholar
Milankovitch, M. (1941). "Canon of Insolation and the Ice-age Problem." Translated 1969 by Israel program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem 484 pp.Google Scholar
Paterson, W.S.B. (1969). "The Physics of Glaciers." Pergamon Press London 250 pp.Google Scholar
Peterson, J.A. (1968). Cirque morphology and Pleistocene ice formation conditions in south-eastern Australia Australian Geographical Studies 6, 67–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, J.A. Robinson, G. (1969). Trend surface mapping of cirque floor levels Nature 222, 75–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, S.C. (1964). Composite Pleistocene snow line of Olympic Mountains and Cascade Range, Washington Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 75, 477–482.Google Scholar
Porter, S.C. (1966). Pleistocene geology of Anaktuvuk Pass, Central Brooks Range Arctic Institute of North America Technical Paper 18, 100 pp.Google Scholar
Richmond, G.M. (1965). Glaciation of the Rocky Mountains In "The Quaternary of the United States. (Wright, H.E. Frey, D.G.Eds.), pp. 217–230. Princeton University Press Google Scholar
Sagar, R.B. (1966). Glaciological and climatological studies on the Barnes Ice Cap, 1962–1964 Geographical Bulletin 8, 3–47.Google Scholar
Saltzman, B., Vernekar, A.D. (1971). Note on the effect of earth orbital radiation variations in climate Journal of Geophysical Research 76, 4195–4197.Google Scholar
Seddon, B. (1957). Late-glacial cwn glaciers in Wales Journal of Glaciology 3, 94–99.Google Scholar
Shaw, D.M. Donn, W.L. (1968). Milankovitch radiation and variations: a quantitative evaluation Science 162, 1270–1272.Google Scholar
Sissons, J.B. (1967). "The Evolution of Scotland's Scenery" Oliver and Boyd London, 259 pp.Google Scholar
Sugden, D. (1969). The age and form of corries in the Cairngorms Scottish Geographical Magasine 85, 34–46.Google Scholar
Svensson, H. (1959). Glaciation och morfologi (English summary) Meddelelser fran Lunds Universitets Geografiska Institut 36, 280 pp.Google Scholar
"Smithsonian Meteorological Tables" (1966). Prepared by R. J. List Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, D. C., 527 pp.Google Scholar
Temple, P.H. (1965). Some aspects of cirque distribution in the west-central Lake District, northern England Geografiska Annaler 47, 185–193.Google Scholar
White, W.A. (1970). Erosion of cirques Journal of Geology 78, 123–126.Google Scholar
Williams, L.D., Barry, R.G., Andrews, J.T. (in press). Application of computed global radiation for areas of high relief. Journal of Applied Meteorology.Google Scholar