Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada
Abstract The fiordlands south of Merchants Bay contain an extensive, well-preserved moraine record of a late Foxe advance of local valley glaciers. This has allowed accurate reconstruction of former glacier margins and computation of former equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) by a variety of methods....
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1985
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000006511 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000006511 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0022143000006511 2024-06-23T07:51:29+00:00 Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada Hawkins, Fred F. 1985 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000006511 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000006511 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Journal of Glaciology volume 31, issue 109, page 205-213 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 journal-article 1985 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000006511 2024-06-12T04:04:53Z Abstract The fiordlands south of Merchants Bay contain an extensive, well-preserved moraine record of a late Foxe advance of local valley glaciers. This has allowed accurate reconstruction of former glacier margins and computation of former equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) by a variety of methods. Statistical comparison of three methods (maximum lateral-moraine elevation, median elevation, and accumulation area ratio (AAR)) shows that different techniques can give different results for the same glaciers. Lateral moraines gave estimates that were too low, probably due to post-glacial erosion or to non-deposition. Median elevations and the AAR method produced statistically similar results but only for glaciers of simple geometry. The median-elevation method fails to take into account variations in valley morphology and glaciological parameters, and so is not reliable in all situations. The AAR method is supported by empirical evidence and is the best of the three methods for estimating former ELAs. Analysis of trend surfaces of present and late Foxe ELAs shows changes in elevation and orientation through time due to changing environmental factors. Present ELAs are strongly influenced by local factors, southerly storm tracks, and warm maritime conditions. Paleo-ELAs do not show this influence, suggesting that Davis Strait may have been ice-covered during the late Foxe stade and that storm tracks were from the north. Article in Journal/Newspaper Baffin Island Baffin Davis Strait glacier* Journal of Glaciology Merchants Bay Cambridge University Press Baffin Island Canada Merchants Bay ENVELOPE(-62.830,-62.830,67.167,67.167) Journal of Glaciology 31 109 205 213 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The fiordlands south of Merchants Bay contain an extensive, well-preserved moraine record of a late Foxe advance of local valley glaciers. This has allowed accurate reconstruction of former glacier margins and computation of former equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) by a variety of methods. Statistical comparison of three methods (maximum lateral-moraine elevation, median elevation, and accumulation area ratio (AAR)) shows that different techniques can give different results for the same glaciers. Lateral moraines gave estimates that were too low, probably due to post-glacial erosion or to non-deposition. Median elevations and the AAR method produced statistically similar results but only for glaciers of simple geometry. The median-elevation method fails to take into account variations in valley morphology and glaciological parameters, and so is not reliable in all situations. The AAR method is supported by empirical evidence and is the best of the three methods for estimating former ELAs. Analysis of trend surfaces of present and late Foxe ELAs shows changes in elevation and orientation through time due to changing environmental factors. Present ELAs are strongly influenced by local factors, southerly storm tracks, and warm maritime conditions. Paleo-ELAs do not show this influence, suggesting that Davis Strait may have been ice-covered during the late Foxe stade and that storm tracks were from the north. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hawkins, Fred F. |
spellingShingle |
Hawkins, Fred F. Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada |
author_facet |
Hawkins, Fred F. |
author_sort |
Hawkins, Fred F. |
title |
Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada |
title_short |
Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada |
title_full |
Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada |
title_fullStr |
Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Equilibrium-Line Altitudes and Paleoenvironment in the Merchants Bay Area, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada |
title_sort |
equilibrium-line altitudes and paleoenvironment in the merchants bay area, baffin island, n.w.t., canada |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
1985 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000006511 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000006511 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.830,-62.830,67.167,67.167) |
geographic |
Baffin Island Canada Merchants Bay |
geographic_facet |
Baffin Island Canada Merchants Bay |
genre |
Baffin Island Baffin Davis Strait glacier* Journal of Glaciology Merchants Bay |
genre_facet |
Baffin Island Baffin Davis Strait glacier* Journal of Glaciology Merchants Bay |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology volume 31, issue 109, page 205-213 ISSN 0022-1430 1727-5652 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000006511 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
109 |
container_start_page |
205 |
op_container_end_page |
213 |
_version_ |
1802642598769197056 |