Early growth of the last Cordilleran ice sheet deduced from glacio-isostatic depression in southwest British Columbia, Canada

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Authors: Clague, John J., Froese, Duane, Hutchinson, Ian, James, Thomas S., Simon, Karen M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2005
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2004.09.007; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589404001188?httpAccept=text/xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0033589404001188?httpAccept=text/plain; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400013144

Relative sea level at Vancouver, British Columbia rose from below the present datum about 30,000 cal yr B.P. to at least 18 m above sea level 28,000 cal yr B.P. In contrast, eustatic sea level in this interval was at least 85 m lower than at present. The difference in the local and eustatic sea-level positions is attributed to glacio-isostatic depression of the crust in the expanding forefield of the Cordilleran ice sheet during the initial phase of the Fraser Glaciation. Our findings suggest that about 1 km of ice was present in the northern Strait of Georgia 28,000 cal yr B.P., early during the Fraser Glaciation.