Last ice sheet recession and submarine slope failures in a complex arctic inlet, Inner Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, Nunavut ...

• Main Author: Deering, Robert
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2022
• Subjects: Arctic; Baffin Island; Cockburn; Frobisher Bay; Inner Bay; Nunavut; Baffin; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48336/q6h5-p840; https://research.library.mun.ca/15876/

The Cockburn Substage readvance marks the last major late-glacial advance of the northeast sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, but has been examined at only a handful of sites on Baffin Island. The causes of this abrupt, late reversal of retreat are still unclear, but greater chronological control may provide some insight. To date, the literature has focused on the large terminal moraines common in the region, providing a singular date of readvance (prior to c. 9.5-8.5 ka cal BP). In Frobisher Bay, the Cockburn Substage readvance and recession are marked by a series of end moraines spanning ~20 km on either side of the inner bay. New acoustic marine mapping reported here from inner Frobisher Bay (IFB) reveals five distinct seafloor ridges that roughly correspond to the onshore moraines, as well as two fields of DeGeer moraines. These differing types of ridges indicate that the style of ice retreat changed over time from an episodic recession to a more regular tidewater ice front retreat. Radiocarbon dated ...