Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada

Clements Markham Inlet cuts into the Grant Land Mountains of the northernmost coast of Ellesmere Island. The head of the inlet is bounded on three sides by mountain ice caps that surround lowlands mantled by extensive raised marine deposits. Fieldwork and mapping of late Quaternary sediments were us...

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Published in:Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Main Author: Bednarski, Jan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1986
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e86-129
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e86-129
id crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e86-129
record_format openpolar
spelling crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e86-129 2024-09-15T18:02:09+00:00 Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada Bednarski, Jan 1986 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e86-129 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e86-129 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 23, issue 9, page 1343-1355 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 journal-article 1986 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/e86-129 2024-07-25T04:10:08Z Clements Markham Inlet cuts into the Grant Land Mountains of the northernmost coast of Ellesmere Island. The head of the inlet is bounded on three sides by mountain ice caps that surround lowlands mantled by extensive raised marine deposits. Fieldwork and mapping of late Quaternary sediments were used to determine the limits of past glaciations and the nature of ice retreat from the inlet head. Forty-five radiocarbon dates on driftwood and marine shells provide a deglacial chronology and document related sea-level adjustments.High-level ice-marginal meltwater channels and mountain summit erratics indicate that ice once inundated all of Clements Markham Inlet. During at least one of these undated glaciations, ice flowed unconstrained by the local topography. In contrast, the most recent glaciation involved confluent trunk glaciers, which terminated near the head of the inlet. Beyond this terminus, smaller glaciers entering the sides of the inlet debouched into a glacioisostatically depressed sea (full glacial sea). Retreat from the last glaciation is documented by moraines, kame terraces, and ice-contact deltas.Inside the ice limit at the head of the inlet, sections commonly show that a marine transgression occurred immediately after the retreat of the ice. Conversely, sections outside the last ice limit, along the sides of the inlet, show complex intercalations of marine and glacigenic sediments. These indicate proximal ice-front conditions where small valley glaciers locally contacted the sea.The oldest date on the last ice limit is 9845 BP. After this, slow retreat was in progress, and some glaciers were within 6 km of their current positions by ca. 9700 BP. At the head of the inlet, the mouths of the confluent valleys became ice free by 8000 BP. After 8000 BP, glacial retreat accelerated greatly, so that the entire lowland became ice free within 400 years.Relative sea-level curves from the inlet indicate ice-load changes that confirm this pattern of ice retreat. Outside the last ice limit, the full glacial ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Clements Markham Inlet Ellesmere Island glacier* Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 23 9 1343 1355
institution Open Polar
collection Canadian Science Publishing
op_collection_id crcansciencepubl
language English
description Clements Markham Inlet cuts into the Grant Land Mountains of the northernmost coast of Ellesmere Island. The head of the inlet is bounded on three sides by mountain ice caps that surround lowlands mantled by extensive raised marine deposits. Fieldwork and mapping of late Quaternary sediments were used to determine the limits of past glaciations and the nature of ice retreat from the inlet head. Forty-five radiocarbon dates on driftwood and marine shells provide a deglacial chronology and document related sea-level adjustments.High-level ice-marginal meltwater channels and mountain summit erratics indicate that ice once inundated all of Clements Markham Inlet. During at least one of these undated glaciations, ice flowed unconstrained by the local topography. In contrast, the most recent glaciation involved confluent trunk glaciers, which terminated near the head of the inlet. Beyond this terminus, smaller glaciers entering the sides of the inlet debouched into a glacioisostatically depressed sea (full glacial sea). Retreat from the last glaciation is documented by moraines, kame terraces, and ice-contact deltas.Inside the ice limit at the head of the inlet, sections commonly show that a marine transgression occurred immediately after the retreat of the ice. Conversely, sections outside the last ice limit, along the sides of the inlet, show complex intercalations of marine and glacigenic sediments. These indicate proximal ice-front conditions where small valley glaciers locally contacted the sea.The oldest date on the last ice limit is 9845 BP. After this, slow retreat was in progress, and some glaciers were within 6 km of their current positions by ca. 9700 BP. At the head of the inlet, the mouths of the confluent valleys became ice free by 8000 BP. After 8000 BP, glacial retreat accelerated greatly, so that the entire lowland became ice free within 400 years.Relative sea-level curves from the inlet indicate ice-load changes that confirm this pattern of ice retreat. Outside the last ice limit, the full glacial ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Bednarski, Jan
spellingShingle Bednarski, Jan
Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada
author_facet Bednarski, Jan
author_sort Bednarski, Jan
title Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada
title_short Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada
title_full Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada
title_fullStr Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada
title_full_unstemmed Late Quaternary glacial and sea-level events, Clements Markham Inlet, northern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada
title_sort late quaternary glacial and sea-level events, clements markham inlet, northern ellesmere island, arctic canada
publisher Canadian Science Publishing
publishDate 1986
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e86-129
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e86-129
genre Clements Markham Inlet
Ellesmere Island
glacier*
genre_facet Clements Markham Inlet
Ellesmere Island
glacier*
op_source Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
volume 23, issue 9, page 1343-1355
ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313
op_rights http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1139/e86-129
container_title Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
container_volume 23
container_issue 9
container_start_page 1343
op_container_end_page 1355
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