Evolution and morphodynamics of a prograded beach‐ridge foreland, northern baffin island, canadian arctic archipelago

2015 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 615-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique St‐hilaire‐gravel ◽  
Donald L. Forbes ◽  
Trevor Bell
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Beach Ridge

Geomorphic diversity and complexity of the inner shelf, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, based on LiDAR and multibeam sonar surveys

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-132
Author(s):  
John Shaw ◽  
D. Patrick Potter ◽  
Yongsheng Wu
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Gas Hydrate ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Slight Modification ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Beach Ridge ◽  
Terrestrial Lidar ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Glacial Landforms

Data from two surveys by multi-beam sonar and two by marine/terrestrial LiDAR are used to evaluate the geomorphology of the seafloor in littoral areas of the Canadian Arctic Channels, near King William Island, Nunavut. Submarine terrains show well-preserved glacial landforms (drumlins, mega-scale glacial lineations, iceberg-turbated terrain, recessional moraines, and glaciofluvial landforms) with only slight modification by modern processes (wave action and sea-ice activity). At Gjoa Haven the seafloor is imprinted by fields of pits 2 m wide and 0.15 m deep. They may result from gas hydrate dissolution triggered by falling relative sea levels. The Arctic Archipelago displays what might be termed inverted terrains: marine terrains, chiefly beach ridge complexes, exist above modern sea level and well-preserved glacial terrains are present below modern sea level. This is the inverse of the submerging regimes of Atlantic Canada, where glacial terrains exist on land, but below sea level they have been effaced and modified by marine processes down to the lowstand depth.

scholarly journals Area, elevation and mass changes of the two southernmost ice caps of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago between 1952 and 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1667-1704
Author(s):  
C. Papasodoro ◽  
E. Berthier ◽  
A. Royer ◽  
C. Zdanowicz ◽  
A. Langlois
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Area Reduction ◽  
Elevation Changes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the far south of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA), on the Meta Incognita Peninsula (Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada), the small Grinnell and Terra Nivea ice caps have received little attention compared to the much larger ice masses further north. Their evolution can, however, give valuable information about the impact of the recent Arctic warming at lower latitudes (i.e. 62.5° N). In this paper, we measure historical and recent rates of area, elevation and mass changes of both ice caps using in-situ, airborne and spaceborne datasets. Results show that the Terra Nivea Ice Cap (TNIC) areal extent has decreased by 34% since the late 50s, while the Grinnell Ice Cap (GIC) extent was reduced by 20% since 1952. For both ice caps, rates of area reduction accelerated at the beginning of the 21st century. The glacier-wide mass balance for the GIC was −0.37 ± 0.21 m a−1 water equivalent (w.e.) for the 1952–2014 period, and −0.47 ± 0.16 m a−1 w.e. on the TNIC for the 1958/59–2014 period. More recently, the TNIC has experienced an accelerated rate of mass loss of −1.68 ± 0.36 m a−1 w.e. between 2007 and 2014. This rate is 5.6 times as negative when compared to the 1958/59–2007 period (−0.30 ± 0.19 m a−1 w.e.) and 2 times as negative when compared to the mass balance of other glaciers in the southern parts of Baffin Island over the 2003–2009 period. A similar acceleration in mass loss is suspected for the GIC, given the calculated elevation changes and the proximity.

scholarly journals Area, elevation and mass changes of the two southernmost ice caps of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago between 1952 and 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1535-1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Papasodoro ◽  
E. Berthier ◽  
A. Royer ◽  
C. Zdanowicz ◽  
A. Langlois
Keyword(s):  
Mass Loss ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Grinnell and Terra Nivea Ice Caps are located on the southern Baffin Island, Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. These relatively small ice caps have received little attention compared to the much larger ice masses further north. Their evolution can, however, give valuable information about the impact of the recent Arctic warming at lower latitudes (i.e. ~ 62.5° N). In this paper, we measure or estimate historical and recent changes of area, elevation and mass of both ice caps using in situ, airborne and spaceborne data sets, including imagery from the Pléiades satellites. The area of Terra Nivea Ice Cap has decreased by 34 % since the late 1950s, while that of Grinnell Ice Cap has decreased by 20 % since 1952. For both ice caps, the areal reduction accelerated at the beginning of the 21st century. The estimated glacier-wide mass balance was −0.37 ± 0.21 m a−1 water equivalent (w.e.) over Grinnell Ice Cap for the 1952–2014 period, and −0.47 ± 0.16 m a−1 w.e. over Terra Nivea Ice Cap for the 1958/59–2014 period. Terra Nivea Ice Cap has experienced an accelerated rate of mass loss of −1.77 ± 0.36 m a−1 w.e. between 2007 and 2014. This rate is 5.9 times as negative when compared to the 1958/59–2007 period (−0.30 ± 0.19 m a−1 w.e.) and 2 times as negative when compared to the mass balance of other glaciers in the southern parts of Baffin Island over the 2003–2009 period. A similar acceleration in mass loss is suspected for the Grinnell Ice Cap, given the calculated elevation changes and the proximity to Terra Nivea Ice Cap. The recent increase in mass loss rates for these two ice caps is linked to a strong near-surface regional warming and a lengthening of the melt season into the autumn that may be indirectly strengthened by a later freezing of sea ice in the Hudson Strait sector. On a methodological level, our study illustrates the strong potential of Pléiades satellite data to unlock the under-exploited archive of old aerial photographs.

Conodont paleontology and biostratigraphy of Ordovician carbonates and petroliferous carbonates on Southampton, Baffin, and Akpatok islands in the eastern Canadian Arctic

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 1880-1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander D. McCracken ◽  
Godfrey S. Nowlan
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Bedding Plane ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Jordan River ◽  
Oil Shales ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Eastern Canadian Arctic

Carbonate and petroliferous carbonate units ("oil shales") on Southampton, Baffin, and Akpatok islands have yielded a total of 2277 conodonts, the more biostratigraphically useful of which indicate not all units are correlative. The Boas River "shale", the lower of the two petroliferous units on Southampton Island, overlies the Bad Cache Rapids Group and contains a diverse fauna, including elements of Amorphognathus ordovicicus Branson and Mehl. Previous reports have indicated the presence of Culumbodina penna Sweet, a species whose range only barely overlaps that of A. ordovicicus in the middle Maysvillian. Carbonate beds and bedding-plane surfaces of the higher Red Head Rapids Formation at Sixteen Mile Brook yielded A. ordovicicus faunas containing Aphelognathus cf. A. divergens Sweet. These beds are likely Richmondian, since A. divergens is known elsewhere only from Richmondian strata. A metasicula of "Glyptograptus" hudsoni Jackson, several natural conodont assemblages, and fused enigmatic coniform elements were also found at Sixteen Mile Brook.The petroliferous unit in unnamed strata at Amadjuak Lake on Baffin Island contains Belodina area Sweet, which is indicative of a late Edenian to early Maysvillian age. Conodonts from the petroliferous strata at Jordan River on Baffin Island suggest a Trentonian to early Maysvillian age. The conodonts recovered from unnamed strata on Akpatok Island are not very diagnostic but indicate an age range from Shermanian to Gamachian.

MEASUREMENTS OF GRAVITY IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC AND GREENLAND

1950 ◽  
Vol 28a (5) ◽  
pp. 535-541
Author(s):  
Michael Beer
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
The Other ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Resolute Bay ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Cornwallis Island

Four determinations of gravity were made during the summer of 1948, with the pendulum apparatus of the Dominion Observatory, at Goose Bay, Labrador (latitude 53°), Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island (latitude 64°), Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island (latitude 75°), and Thule, Greenland (latitude 77°), approximately. The anomalies at the two most northerly stations are comparatively small and those at the other two stations, although larger, do not exceed many that have been observed in other parts of Canada. Norgaard's determination at Thule is confirmed by the author.It is anticipated that these determinations, apart from their immediate interest, will serve as useful reference points for future work in the Canadian Arctic.

scholarly journals Regional variability of acidification in the Arctic: a sea of contrasts

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. Popova ◽  
A. Yool ◽  
Y. Aksenov ◽  
A. C. Coward ◽  
T. R. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Arctic Ocean is a region that is particularly vulnerable to the impact of ocean acidification driven by rising atmospheric CO2, with potentially negative consequences for calcifying organisms such as coccolithophorids and foraminiferans. In this study, we use an ocean-only general circulation model, with embedded biogeochemistry and a comprehensive description of the ocean carbon cycle, to study the response of pH and saturation states of calcite and aragonite to rising atmospheric pCO2 and changing climate in the Arctic Ocean. Particular attention is paid to the strong regional variability within the Arctic, and, for comparison, simulation results are contrasted with those for the global ocean. Simulations were run to year 2099 using the RCP8.5 (an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) scenario with the highest concentrations of atmospheric CO2). The separate impacts of the direct increase in atmospheric CO2 and indirect effects via impact of climate change (changing temperature, stratification, primary production and freshwater fluxes) were examined by undertaking two simulations, one with the full system and the other in which atmospheric CO2 was prevented from increasing beyond its preindustrial level (year 1860). Results indicate that the impact of climate change, and spatial heterogeneity thereof, plays a strong role in the declines in pH and carbonate saturation (Ω) seen in the Arctic. The central Arctic, Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Baffin Bay show greatest rates of acidification and Ω decline as a result of melting sea ice. In contrast, areas affected by Atlantic inflow including the Greenland Sea and outer shelves of the Barents, Kara and Laptev seas, had minimal decreases in pH and Ω because diminishing ice cover led to greater vertical mixing and primary production. As a consequence, the projected onset of undersaturation in respect to aragonite is highly variable regionally within the Arctic, occurring during the decade of 2000–2010 in the Siberian shelves and Canadian Arctic Archipelago, but as late as the 2080s in the Barents and Norwegian seas. We conclude that, for future projections of acidification and carbonate saturation state in the Arctic, regional variability is significant and needs to be adequately resolved, with particular emphasis on reliable projections of the rates of retreat of the sea ice, which are a major source of uncertainty.

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