A flowline map of glaciated Canada based on remote sensing dataThis paper is accompanied by a large foldout map entitled A flowline map of glaciated Canada based on remote sensing data (see pocket on back cover).

Abstract

The map A flowline map of glaciated Canada based on remote sensing data presents flowlines for the former Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets based on flow indicators derived from aggregated, flow-parallel landforms — drumlins and crag and tails, fluting, sinuous ridges and furrows, and rises. An extensive review introduces the concepts and evolution of flowline mapping at continental-ice-sheet and regional scales, emphasizing the use of new remote sensing data. Coherent, glaciologically plausible sets of flowlines mapped as flow tracts reflect large-scale flow structure in the paleo-ice sheets and demarcate fields of flow-parallel bedforms. In addition to flow reconstruction, mapped distributions of fields of glacial terrain types — hummocky terrain, Rogen terrain, and bedrock-dominant terrain — increase our power to interpret flowlines and, in turn, give evidence on the genesis of these terrains. End moraines and eskers also aid map interpretation. Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper+ (ETM+) satellite images and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) hill shades provide the basic information for this flowline mapping in a Geographical Information System (ArcMap). Information on the Flowline Map allows us to develop conceptual models of ice sheets and to appreciate regional constraints on applications in mineral exploration, in aggregate and groundwater discovery and assessment, in soil and landform genesis, and in glaciology, paleoclimatology, and paleoceanography.