Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration
Twenty-five radiocarbon age determinations on marine molluscs, basal organic pond sediments, charred remains in archeological sites, and a variety of other materials have allowed the construction of an emergence curve for Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island (78°35′N, 74°40′W). Only a narrow...
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1992
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/e92-153 2024-05-12T08:00:20+00:00 Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration Blake Jr., Weston 1992 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e92-153 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e92-153 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 29, issue 9, page 1958-1980 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 General Earth and Planetary Sciences journal-article 1992 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/e92-153 2024-04-18T06:54:50Z Twenty-five radiocarbon age determinations on marine molluscs, basal organic pond sediments, charred remains in archeological sites, and a variety of other materials have allowed the construction of an emergence curve for Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island (78°35′N, 74°40′W). Only a narrow fringe of land is present between the Prince of Wales Icefield and Smith Sound, yet emergence of the order of 135 m has taken place during the last 8500–8700 radiocarbon years. The highest in situ shells were collected at an elevation of 107.5 m, and ages of 8470 ± 100 BP (GSC-3314) and 8230 ± 70 BP (TO-230) were obtained on this material.The spectacular and fresh-appearing glacial sculpture along both sides of Smith Sound, coupled with the rapid emergence in Holocene time and the fact that the oldest dates on marine shells at the fiord heads to the west are 3000–4000 years younger than those at Cape Herschel, provides convincing evidence that an ice stream filled Smith Sound (> 500 m deep) during the Late Wisconsinan glacial maximum. The Smith Sound Ice Stream drained southward from the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Innuitian Ice Sheet, which were confluent over Kane Basin, and it overrode the top of Pim Island (550 m asl). Massive melt-off of ice must have been occurring at the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene time, and this melting continued until the mid-Holocene, when all investigated outlet glaciers were behind their present positions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* Greenland Ice Sheet Kane Basin Smith sound Canadian Science Publishing Arctic Ellesmere Island Canada Greenland Kane ENVELOPE(-63.038,-63.038,-73.952,-73.952) Smith Sound ENVELOPE(-73.996,-73.996,78.419,78.419) Pim Island ENVELOPE(-74.430,-74.430,78.725,78.725) Prince of Wales Icefield ENVELOPE(-78.998,-78.998,78.252,78.252) Cape Herschel ENVELOPE(-74.575,-74.575,78.587,78.587) Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 29 9 1958 1980 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Blake Jr., Weston Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences |
description |
Twenty-five radiocarbon age determinations on marine molluscs, basal organic pond sediments, charred remains in archeological sites, and a variety of other materials have allowed the construction of an emergence curve for Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island (78°35′N, 74°40′W). Only a narrow fringe of land is present between the Prince of Wales Icefield and Smith Sound, yet emergence of the order of 135 m has taken place during the last 8500–8700 radiocarbon years. The highest in situ shells were collected at an elevation of 107.5 m, and ages of 8470 ± 100 BP (GSC-3314) and 8230 ± 70 BP (TO-230) were obtained on this material.The spectacular and fresh-appearing glacial sculpture along both sides of Smith Sound, coupled with the rapid emergence in Holocene time and the fact that the oldest dates on marine shells at the fiord heads to the west are 3000–4000 years younger than those at Cape Herschel, provides convincing evidence that an ice stream filled Smith Sound (> 500 m deep) during the Late Wisconsinan glacial maximum. The Smith Sound Ice Stream drained southward from the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Innuitian Ice Sheet, which were confluent over Kane Basin, and it overrode the top of Pim Island (550 m asl). Massive melt-off of ice must have been occurring at the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene time, and this melting continued until the mid-Holocene, when all investigated outlet glaciers were behind their present positions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Blake Jr., Weston |
author_facet |
Blake Jr., Weston |
author_sort |
Blake Jr., Weston |
title |
Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration |
title_short |
Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration |
title_full |
Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration |
title_fullStr |
Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration |
title_sort |
holocene emergence at cape herschel, east-central ellesmere island, arctic canada: implications for ice sheet configuration |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e92-153 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e92-153 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.038,-63.038,-73.952,-73.952) ENVELOPE(-73.996,-73.996,78.419,78.419) ENVELOPE(-74.430,-74.430,78.725,78.725) ENVELOPE(-78.998,-78.998,78.252,78.252) ENVELOPE(-74.575,-74.575,78.587,78.587) |
geographic |
Arctic Ellesmere Island Canada Greenland Kane Smith Sound Pim Island Prince of Wales Icefield Cape Herschel |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Ellesmere Island Canada Greenland Kane Smith Sound Pim Island Prince of Wales Icefield Cape Herschel |
genre |
Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* Greenland Ice Sheet Kane Basin Smith sound |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ellesmere Island glacier* Greenland Ice Sheet Kane Basin Smith sound |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences volume 29, issue 9, page 1958-1980 ISSN 0008-4077 1480-3313 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/e92-153 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1958 |
op_container_end_page |
1980 |
_version_ |
1798842207255396352 |