Late Wisconsinan buildup and wastage of the Innuitian Ice Sheet across southern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut

2004 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H England ◽  
Nigel Atkinson ◽  
Arthur S Dyke ◽  
David JA Evans ◽  
Marek Zreda
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Ellesmere Island ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Subsequent Removal ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Global Sea Level ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

During the Late Wisconsinan, a precursor of the Prince of Wales Icefield, southern Ellesmere Island, formed a prodigious ice divide of the Innuitian Ice Sheet. Initial buildup occurred after 19 ka BP, when the icefield advanced west (inland) across Makinson Inlet from margins similar to present. Subsequent reversal of flow to the east required ice divide migration to the west onto a plateau that is largely ice-free today. From this divide, a trunk glacier flowed eastward through Makinson Inlet to join the Smith Sound Ice Stream en route to nothern Baffin Bay. Westward flow from this divide filled Baumann Fiord, depositing a granite dispersal train that extends a further 600 km across the archipelago to the polar continental shelf. Deglaciation of most of Makinson Inlet occurred catastrophically at ~9.3 ka BP, forming a calving bay that thinned the Innuitian divide, thereby triggering deglaciation of most of Baumann Fiord by 8.5 ka BP. Ninety 14C dates on Holocene shells and driftwood constrain deglacial isochrones and postglacial emergence curves on opposite sides of the former Innuitian divide. Isobases drawn on the 8 ka BP shoreline rise northwest towards Eureka Sound, the axis of maximum former ice thickness. Ice margins on Ellesmere Island were similar to present from ~50–19 ka BP (spanning marine isotope stages 3 and 2). However, significant regional variation in ice extent during this interval is recorded by ice rafting from the Laurentide Ice Sheet into Baffin Bay. Later buildup of the Innuitian Ice Sheet occurred during the low global sea level that defines the last glacial maximum (18 ka BP). We also suggest that the Innuitian Ice Sheet was influenced by the buttressing and subsequent removal of the Greenland Ice Sheet along eastern Ellesmere Island.

scholarly journals Ice-age ice-sheet rheology: constraints from the Last Glacial Maximum form of the Laurentide ice sheet

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 163-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Richard Peltier ◽  
David L. Goldsby ◽  
David L. Kohlstedt ◽  
Lev Tarasov
Keyword(s):  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Flow Law ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractState-of-the-art thermomechanical models of the modern Greenland ice sheet and the ancient Laurentide ice sheet that covered Canada at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) are not able to explain simultaneously the observed forms of these cryospheric structures when the same, anisotropy-enhanced, version of the conventional Glen flow law is employed to describe their rheology. The LGM Laurentide ice sheet, predicted to develop in response to orbital climate forcing, is such that the ratio of its thickness to its horizontal extent is extremely large compared to the aspect ratio inferred on the basis of surface-geomorphological and solid-earth-geophysical constraints. We show that if the Glen flow law representation of the rheology is replaced with a new rheology based upon very high quality laboratory measurements of the stress-strain-rate relation then the aspect ratios of both the modern Greenland ice sheet and the Laurentide ice sheet, that existed at the LGM, are simultaneously explained with little or no retuning of the flow law.

scholarly journals Laurentide ice sheet aspect ratio in models based on Glen’s flow law

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lev Tarasov ◽  
W. Richard Peltier
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Flow Enhancement ◽  
Flow Law ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractThe problem of recovering the small aspect ratio of the ICE-4G reconstruction of the Last Glacial Maximum Laurentide ice sheet has proven to be a challenge for state-of-the-art thermomechanically-coupled three-dimensional ice-sheet models coupled to reduced climate models. Flow enhancements to Glen’s flow law, 20 to 30 times those required to adequately simulate the present-day Greenland ice sheet, have been found necessary in order to reproduce both the thickness and areal extent of the geophysical reconstruction. Within the confines of the Glen flow rheology, it is unclear what mechanism might explain the magnitude of this discrepancy in required flow enhancement for the Laurentide relative to the Greenland ice sheet We present a comparative analysis of three alternative explanations of such a questionable flow-law enhancement: radical changes to mass balance; radical changes to ice-sheet history; and strongly enhanced basal flows Based on this analysis, we argue that none of these alternatives provide a fully acceptable explanation for the small ICE-4G LGM aspect ratio of the Laurentide ice sheet, that has been inferred geophysically.

Late Wisconsinan glaciation and postglacial relative sea-level change on western Banks Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

2014 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Lakeman ◽  
John H. England
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽  
Geomorphological Mapping ◽  
Banks Island ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

The study revises the maximum extent of the northwest Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) in the western Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) during the last glaciation and documents subsequent ice sheet retreat and glacioisostatic adjustments across western Banks Island. New geomorphological mapping and maximum-limiting radiocarbon ages indicate that the northwest LIS inundated western Banks Island after ~ 31 14C ka BP and reached a terminal ice margin west of the present coastline. The onset of deglaciation and the age of the marine limit (22–40 m asl) are unresolved. Ice sheet retreat across western Banks Island was characterized by the withdrawal of a thin, cold-based ice margin that reached the central interior of the island by ~ 14 cal ka BP. The elevation of the marine limit is greater than previously recognized and consistent with greater glacioisostatic crustal unloading by a more expansive LIS. These results complement emerging bathymetric observations from the Arctic Ocean, which indicate glacial erosion during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to depths of up to 450 m.

Holocene emergence at Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada: implications for ice sheet configuration

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1958-1980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weston Blake Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Ellesmere Island ◽  
East Central ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Ice Stream ◽  
Emergence Curve ◽  
Late Wisconsinan

Twenty-five radiocarbon age determinations on marine molluscs, basal organic pond sediments, charred remains in archeological sites, and a variety of other materials have allowed the construction of an emergence curve for Cape Herschel, east-central Ellesmere Island (78°35′N, 74°40′W). Only a narrow fringe of land is present between the Prince of Wales Icefield and Smith Sound, yet emergence of the order of 135 m has taken place during the last 8500–8700 radiocarbon years. The highest in situ shells were collected at an elevation of 107.5 m, and ages of 8470 ± 100 BP (GSC-3314) and 8230 ± 70 BP (TO-230) were obtained on this material.The spectacular and fresh-appearing glacial sculpture along both sides of Smith Sound, coupled with the rapid emergence in Holocene time and the fact that the oldest dates on marine shells at the fiord heads to the west are 3000–4000 years younger than those at Cape Herschel, provides convincing evidence that an ice stream filled Smith Sound (> 500 m deep) during the Late Wisconsinan glacial maximum. The Smith Sound Ice Stream drained southward from the Greenland Ice Sheet and the Innuitian Ice Sheet, which were confluent over Kane Basin, and it overrode the top of Pim Island (550 m asl). Massive melt-off of ice must have been occurring at the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene time, and this melting continued until the mid-Holocene, when all investigated outlet glaciers were behind their present positions.

scholarly journals A numerical investigation of ice-lobe–permafrost interaction around the southern Laurentide ice sheet

2000 ◽  
Vol 46 (153) ◽  
pp. 311-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul M. Cutler ◽  
Douglas R. MacAyeal ◽  
David M. Mickelson ◽  
Byron R. Parizek ◽  
Patrick M. Colgan
Keyword(s):  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Surface Profile ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Ice Dynamics ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractPermafrost existed around and under marginal parts of the southern Laurentide ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum. The presence of permafrost was important in determining the extent, form and dynamics of ice lobes and the landforms they produced because of influences on resistance to basal motion and subglacial hydrology. We develop a two-dimensional time-dependent model of permafrost and glacier-ice dynamics along a flowline to examine: (i) the extent to which permafrost survives under an advancing ice lobe and how it influences landform development and hydrology, and (ii) the influence of permafrost on ice motion and surface profile. The model is applied to the Green Bay lobe, which terminated near Madison, Wisconsin, during the Last Glacial Maximum. Simulations of ice advance over permafrost indicate that the bed upstream of the ice-sheet margin was frozen for 60–200 km at the glacial maximum. Permafrost remained for centuries to a few thousand years under advancing ice, and penetrated sufficiently deep (tens of meters) into the underlying aquifer that drainage of basal meltwater became inefficient, likely resulting in water storage beneath the glacier. Our results highlight the influence of permafrost on subglacial conditions, even though uncertainties in boundary conditions such as climate exist.

The Magnitude and Proximate Cause of Ice-Sheet Growth Since 35,000 yr B.P.

2001 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac J. Winograd
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Proximate Cause ◽  
Ice Volume ◽  
The North ◽  
Data Compilation ◽  
Sst Warming ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractThe magnitude of late Wisconsinan (post-35,000 yr B.P.) ice-sheet growth in the Northern Hemisphere is not well known. Ice volume at ∼35,000 yr B.P. may have been as little as 20% or as much as 70% of the volume present at the last glacial maximum (LGM). A conservative evaluation of glacial–geologic, sea level, and benthic δ18O data indicates that ice volume at ∼35,000 yr B.P. was approximately 50% of that extant at the LGM (∼20,000 yr B.P.); that is, it doubled in about 15,000 yr. On the basis of literature for the North Atlantic and a sea-surface temperature (SST) data compilation, it appears that this rapid growth may have been forced by low-to-mid-latitude SST warming in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with attendant increased moisture transport to high latitudes. The SST ice-sheet growth notion also explains the apparent synchroneity of late Wisconsinan mountain glaciation in both hemispheres.

STRUCTURE OF THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM AT THE SOUTHERN MARGIN OF THE LAURENTIDE ICE SHEET

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas V. Lowell ◽  
◽  
Henry Loope ◽  
B. Brandon Curry ◽  
Stephanie L. Heath ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Southern Margin ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

scholarly journals The deglaciation of coastal areas of southeast Greenland

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1535-1544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence M Dyke ◽  
Anna LC Hughes ◽  
Camilla S Andresen ◽  
Tavi Murray ◽  
John F Hiemstra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
Coastal Areas ◽  
Glacial Cycle ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
The North ◽  
Exposure Ages ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

Large marine-terminating glaciers around the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet have retreated, accelerated and thinned over the last two decades. Relatively little is known about the longer term behaviour of the Greenland Ice Sheet, yet this information is valuable for assessing the significance of modern changes. We address this by reporting 11 new beryllium-10 (10Be) exposure ages from previously uninvestigated coastal areas across southeast Greenland. The new ages are combined with existing data from the region to assess the timing of glacier retreat after the Last Glacial Maximum. The results show that deglaciation occurred first in the north of the region (~68°N) and progressed southwards. This north–south progression is attributed to the influence of the warm Irminger Current on the ice margin. Areas in the south of the region were isolated from the warm waters by the shallow bathymetry of the continental shelf. This demonstrates that oceanographic forcing paced the deglaciation of southeast Greenland through the Younger Dryas and early Holocene. In most areas of southeast Greenland bedrock ages are systematically older than their counterpart boulder samples; this offset is likely the result of inherited 10Be content in bedrock surfaces. This suggests that subglacial erosion during the last glacial cycle was insufficient to completely remove pre-existing 10Be content. Alternatively, this pattern may be the signature of a substantial retreat and advance cycle prior to final Holocene deglaciation.

Implications for Deglaciation Chronology from New AMS Age Determinations in Central West Greenland

1996 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank G. M. van Tatenhove ◽  
Jaap J. M. van der Meer ◽  
Eduard A. Koster
Keyword(s):  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Greenland Ice Sheet ◽  
New Age ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
West Greenland ◽  
System A ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

AbstractNew evidence has been obtained for the age of the Umı̂vı̂t/Keglen and Ørkendalen moraine systems close to the present ice sheet margin in central West Greenland. The Umı̂vı̂t/Keglen moraine system is dated at 7500 to 6500 14C yr B.P., which is older than the previously assumed date of 7300 to 6000 14C yr B.P. The Ørkendalen system is now dated at 6200 to 5600 14C yr B.P. against earlier estimates of 300 to 700 14C yr B.P. The new age is based on AMS radiocarbon-dated organic material within depressions between morainic ridges belonging to the Ørkendalen system. A major implication of the new age is that ice margin positions prevailed for about 6000 years behind the present ice sheet margin. The retreat behind the present margin could be substantial, and in the light of deglaciation rates prior to the Ørkendalen phase, may be ca. 10's of kilometers rather than kilometers. Circumstantial evidence is found for the retreat of the ice sheet margin behind its present position during the Holocene climatic optimum. The results, placed into a time frame of deglaciation since the last glacial maximum, enable comparison with Greenland ice sheet models and ice core records.

The deglaciation of the northwestern Laurentide Ice Sheet in the Mackenzie Mountains

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Stoker ◽  
Martin Margold ◽  
Duane G. Froese ◽  
John C. Gosse
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modelling ◽  
Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Mackenzie Mountains ◽  
The Last Glacial Maximum ◽  
The Last Glacial

<p>The northwestern sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet coalesced with the Cordilleran Ice Sheet over the southern Mackenzie Mountains, and with local montane glaciers along the eastern slopes of the Mackenzie Mountains. Recent numerical modelling studies have identified rapid ice sheet thinning in this region as a major contributor to Meltwater Pulse 1A. Despite advances in remote sensing and numerical dating methods, the configuration and chronology of the northwestern sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet has not been reconstructed in detail. The last available studies date back to the 1990s, where field surveys and mapping from aerial imagery were used to reconstruct the Last Glacial Maximum glacier extents in the Mackenzie Mountains. Cross-cutting relationships between glacial landforms and a series of <sup>36</sup>Cl cosmogenic nuclide dates were used to propose a deglacial model involving a significant ice readvance in the region. However, the chronological evidence supporting the readvance is uncertain because the individual ages are few and poorly clustered. Here we present an updated map of the Last Glacial Maximum glacial limits and the recessional record in the Mackenzie Mountains, based on glacial geomorphological mapping from the ArcticDEM. Sixteen new <sup>10</sup>Be dates from four sites that were previously glaciated by the Laurentide Ice Sheet constrain the deglacial sequence across the region. These dates indicate ice sheet detachment from the eastern Mackenzie Mountains at ~16 ka as summits became ice-free. The Mackenzie Valley at ~ 65 °N became ice free at ~ 13 – 14 ka, towards the end of the Bølling-Allerød warm period. These chronological constraints on the deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet allow us to reinterpret landform relationships in the Mackenzie Mountains to reconstruct the ice sheet retreat pattern. Our updated model of the LGM extent and timing of deglaciation in the Mackenzie Mountains provides important constraints for quantifying past sea level contributions and numerical modelling studies.</p>

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