Multiple glaciations and sea level changes, northern Ellesmere Island, high arctic Canada

• Published in: Boreas
• Main Authors: LEMMEN, DONALD S., ENGLAND, JOHN
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1992
• Subjects: Arctic; Ellesmere Island; Canada; Greenland; glacier*; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1992.tb00021.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1502-3885.1992.tb00021.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1992.tb00021.x

Along the northern coasts of Ellesmere Island, at least two glaciations are recognized on the basis of morphostratigraphy. The early Holocene ice limit lay only 5 to 60 km beyond present glaciers due to constraints imposed by aridity and calving. This limited ice advance likely extended beyond any Wisconsinan glacial limit. Marine limits established during, retreat from the last glacial maximum reach 148 m a.s.l. In contrast, earlier, more extensive glaciations inundated the coastlines and are associated with former relative sea levels now reaching 286 m a.s.l. Correlation of these pre‐Wisconsinan glaciations is based upon amino acid ratios. However, this approach is severely limited by slow rates of racemization, a lack of in situ samples, and complex thermal histories owing to multiple transgressions. Models favoring extensive regional glaciation of northern Ellesmere Island and Greenland must include a glacioclimatic scenario recognizing the constraint that aridity places on glaciation. We suggest that the large ice volume associated with the oldest recognized glaciation relates to a period of reduced sea‐ice cover, possibly >400,000 BP, and may correlate with an interglacial stage of the marine oxygen isotope record.