GLACIAL FEATURES OF TANQUARY FIORD AND ADJOINING AREAS OF NORTHERN ELLESMERE ISLAND, N. W. T.

• Main Author: Hattersley-Smith,G.
• Other Authors: DEFENCE RESEARCH TELECOMMUNICATIONS ESTABLISHMENT OTTAWA (ONTARIO)
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1968
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; (*GLACIERS; ELLESMERE ISLAND); ICE; EROSION; RIVERS; TERRAIN; DRAINAGE; THICKNESS; DEPOSITS; ROCK; SILT; MOUNTAINS; LAKES; STRATIGRAPHY; BATHYTHERMOGRAPH DATA; CANADA; MORAINES; PEAT; TANQUARY FIORD(CANADA); Canada; Ellesmere Island; Glacial Lake; Tanquary Fiord; glacier*; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0689115; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0689115

The results of the present study support the conclusion that the former ice cover of northern Ellesmere Island was very much more extensive than the present, although the age of maximum glaciation is not known. In the Tanquary Fiord area the conclusion is based on: bathymetric data indicating considerable overdeepening of the fiords; morphology of the main valleys; and the presence of moraines, erratics and glacial lake deposits at high levels. Tanquary Fiord became free of glacial ice at least 6,500 years ago and peat was forming in the valleys by this time. A long period of river erosion followed the main retreat of the ice. Subsequently, and within the last 4,000 years, glaciers advanced to re-occupy V-shaped valleys, and at the same time small ice caps were probably regenerated. In the last 900 years, however, there has been little change in the terminal position of most of the major glaciers, which appear to be advancing slightly, although in the last 40 years the side glaciers have receded from well-marked terminal moraines. (Author)