Ice-Sheet Dynamics and Glacial History of Southeasternmost Baffin Island and Outermost Hudson Strait

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Authors: Miller, Gifford H., Hearty, Paul J., Stravers, Jay A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1988
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Earth-Surface Processes; Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous); Hudson Bay; Baffin Island; Hudson; Frobisher Bay; Hudson Strait; Cockburn; Meta Incognita Peninsula; Baffin; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(88)90018-x; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:003358948890018X?httpAccept=text/xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:003358948890018X?httpAccept=text/plain; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400019190

Southeasternmost Baffin Island is mantled by Hudson Strait drift; it contains abundant limestone erratics and 20 to 50% carbonate in the matrix. To the northwest, it is replaced by drift dominated by locally derived rock of the Canadian Shield. The sense and orientation of ice-erosional features demonstrate that Hudson Strait drift is associated with northeasterly ice flow that crossed the tip of Meta Incognita Peninsula; local drift, associated with ice flow S10°W along the Hudson Strait coast, was derived from a dispersal center on the peninsula. Erratic lithologies contained in the Hudson Strait drift indicate a Labradorean provenance. Large-scale bedrock molding and the distribution of cirques indicate NE-flowing ice has been dominant throughout the middle and late Quaternary. Radiocarbon dates of in situ shells confirm that deglaciation began more than 11,000 yr ago, with the Frobisher Bay coast becoming ice free by 9300 yr ago. Five dates from Hudson Strait suggest that the strait was deglaciated before 9000 yr BP. However, ice from the Labradorean Sector recrossed Hudson Strait during the Cockburn Substage, about 8500 yr ago, damming drainage from the west. Final retreat of Labradorean ice from Baffin Island was complete by 8000 yr ago, at which time the sea was able to penetrate Hudson Bay.