The Quaternary History of Northern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T. Part I: The Late- and Neoglacial Deposits of the Akudlermuit and Boas Glaciers

Abstract

Moraines of local glaciers predating the Neoglacial occur in sections of northern Cumberland Peninsula. A study of these deposits is reported for the area between the heads of Quajon and Narpaing Fiords. A chronology is developed based on lichenometry, percent of lichen cover, and the weathering of boulders and pebbles. Initial dating is done by lichenometry and dates older than about 6000 BP are attempted by establishing rates of weathering. About 12 500 BP glaciers existed in both south- and north-facing corries with an equilibrium line at 850 m a.s.1. During the next 5000 years the south-facing glaciers retreated and disappeared. About 7000 BP, moraines were deposited in front of the Akuldermnit and Boas glaciers— these moraines are no longer ice-cored. The equilibrium line lay between 850 and 975 m a.s.1. A 'warm' interval followed and the ice cores melted. This was followed by an early Neoglacial advance, dated about 3800 BP for the period of moraine stabilization; after a 2000 year interval four younger readvances are recorded. All Neoglacial moraines are ice-cored. During the last few decades the equilibrium line has risen.