Drift carbonate on the Canadian Shield. II: Carbonate dispersal and ice-flow patterns in northern Manitoba

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Author: Dredge, L. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1988
• Subjects: Ice; Ice Sheet; Keewatin; permafrost
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e88-073; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e88-073

In northern Manitoba, carbonates were glacially dispersed westwards for distances up to 260 km beyond the limit of carbonate bedrock. The dispersal pattern in the surface till reflects the interaction of Keewatin and Hudson – Labrador ice in the region during the Wisconsin glaciation and suggests the presence of ice streams within the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Pre-Wisconsinan tills show different dispersal and ice-flow patterns. In unfrozen terrain, carbonate till sheets on the Shield buffer the effects of natural lake acidification and acid rain; however, their ability to buffer appears to be severely limited in permafrost terrain.