A radiocarbon‐dated gelifluction lobe in the Nachvak Fiord area, northern Labrador, Canada

• Published in: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
• Main Authors: Evans, David J. A., Rogerson, Robert J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1988
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Nachvak Fiord
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.3290130708; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fesp.3290130708; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.3290130708

Abstract Radiocarbon dates obtained on organic materials overridden by a gelifluction lobe allow some estimate of past gelifluction rates for a site near sea level in northern Labrador. The calculated mean gelifluction rate for the last 400 years is in the order of 8 mm yr −1 , somewhat higher than the average gelifluction rate described from other locations in the Canadian Arctic. The lobe contains two lithostratigraphic units: an inner diamicton, probably representing a buried gelifluction lobe, overlain by a silt/clay unit which may have been emplaced abruptly as a solifluction sheet. Mean creep rates for these units were in the order of 5 mm yr −1 and 15 mm yr −1 respectively. The area is presently subsiding, and transgressive beach material overlies terrestrial organics which are approximately 300 years old.