Coastal dune development in a thermokarst environment: Some implications for environmental reconstruction, Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula N.W.T.

Abstract The landscape of the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula coastal plain, Northwest Territories, has been strongly affected by thermokarst processes. Along thermokarst lakes developed in glacio‐fluvial sands lake‐shore dunes are common. Their formation seems related to complete or partial lake drainage. Du...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Permafrost and Periglacial Processes
Main Author: Ruz, Marie‐Hélène
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1993
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ppp.3430040307
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fppp.3430040307
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ppp.3430040307
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Summary:Abstract The landscape of the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula coastal plain, Northwest Territories, has been strongly affected by thermokarst processes. Along thermokarst lakes developed in glacio‐fluvial sands lake‐shore dunes are common. Their formation seems related to complete or partial lake drainage. During the Holocene the rise of relative sea level has induced the submergence of the coastal plain that extended offshore of the present‐day coastal lowlands. Today coastal retreat rates in excess of 1 m/yr result in thermokarst lakes breaching and landward migration of spits and barrier‐islands. A unique type of coastal dune has been observed along two coastal sections. Late Holocene lake‐shore dunes are eroded alongshore and capped by modern coastal dunes. These coastal dunes developed in a thermokarst environment are indicators of lake drainage probably induced by late Holocene sea level rise.