The Geomorphology of Glaciomarine Sediments in a High Arctic Fiord
A general geomorphic model describing marine transgressions and regressions under non-glacial conditions is applied to the glacial environment. The general model recognizes two variables: i) the rate of relative sea level change, and ii) the rate of sedimentation at the coastline. The interaction of...
| Published in: | Géographie physique et Quaternaire |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal
1988
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.7202/032709ar http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/032709ar |
| Summary: | A general geomorphic model describing marine transgressions and regressions under non-glacial conditions is applied to the glacial environment. The general model recognizes two variables: i) the rate of relative sea level change, and ii) the rate of sedimentation at the coastline. The interaction of the two variables determines the nature of transgression or regression at a particular shoreline. In glaciated areas both sedimentation rates and relative sea level changes are controlled mainly by glacioclimatic responses of the ice. This is best illustrated along arctic coastlines where glacioisostatic loading caused extensive marine inundations during, and immediately after, the last glaciation. Subsequent emergence in the early Holocene has exposed extensive raised marine deposits. Clements Markham Inlet, on the northernmost coast of Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, contains raised marine deposits which have a definite spatial and sequential distribution related to the glacial history. The general geomorphic model is used to explain the distribution and geomorphology of this sediment. As the glacial cycle proceeds the balance between fluxes of sediment input and rate of sea level rise or fall will have a direct bearing on the type of stratigraphie sequence found in a particular area. Un modèle géomorphologique général décrivant les transgressions et les régressions marines se produisant en régimes non glaciaires est appliqué à un environnement glaciaire. Ce modèle comprend deux variables : i) la vitesse du changement du niveau marin et ii) la vitesse de sédimentation en zone littorale. L'interaction de ces deux variables détermine la nature des transgressions et des régressions pour une ligne de rivage donnée. En régions à modelé glaciaire, la vitesse de sédimentation et les changements du niveau marin sont surtout commandés par les réactions de nature glacioclimatique de la glace. Ce phénomène est bien illustré le long du littoral arctique où la charge glacioisostatique a provoqué d'importantes ... |
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