A constraint to the Wisconsinan glacial history, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

• Published in: Journal of Quaternary Science
• Main Author: Taylor, Alan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1988
• Subjects: Arctic; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Ellef Ringnes Island; Arctic Archipelago; Ice; permafrost; Queen Elizabeth Islands
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3390030104; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjqs.3390030104; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jqs.3390030104

Abstract Thick ice‐bearing permafrost is not observed today beneath the deeper channels of the central Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Analysis of a precision temperature log recently obtained at an offshore well near Ellef Ringnes Island indicates that the thermal regime beneath the seabed is in equilibrium with today's marine environment. If thick permafrost similar to that observed on land today had existed in the Pleistocene in areas that are presently offshore, then such permafrost must have started melting no later than 25000 years ago in order to allow the present thermal regime to evolve. This suggests that the inter‐island channels must have been water‐filled at least by that date.