The deglaciation of Atlantic Canada as reconstructed from the postglacial relative sea-level record

1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 2232-2246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garry Quinlan ◽  
Christopher Beaumont
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Atlantic Canada ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Exact Position ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Ice Morphology

The post-Wisconsinan relative sea-level record from Atlantic Canada is used to reconstruct the morphology of late Wisconsinan age ice cover during its retreat from the Atlantic region. The proposed reconstruction has little or no grounded ice in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, an ice dome over the north shore of the St. Lawrence, and thin ice, often less than 1 km thick, over much of the rest of the area. A sensitivity analysis shows that the proposed reconstruction is not unique in its ability to account for the relative sea-level record but that the thickness of ice in any individual area of the reconstruction is unlikely to be in error by more than a factor of two. The exact position of the ice margin in some areas is not well constrained by the model; an example is in southeastern Newfoundland.The numerical model used to relate ice morphology to postglacial relative sea level assumes that the ice sheets are isostatically equilibrated at the glacial maximum and, therefore, that load changes associated with earlier ice-sheet growth may be ignored. This assumption is shown to be reasonable. The same rapid relaxation of the Earth that allows one to ignore the effects of glacial accumulation, however, prohibits one from recognizing the effects of large-scale ablation that may have occurred prior to the assumed glacial maximum. For this reason the proposed reconstruction may be representative of only a late stage in the ablation of much more extensive and thicker ice sheets.Surfaces of relative sea level are presented for Atlantic Canada at various times in the past. These surfaces coincide with observational data where such data exist and are felt to provide reasonable estimates of relative sea level at all other locations for at least the last 13 000 years.

A comparison of observed and theoretical postglacial relative sea level in Atlantic Canada

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 1146-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garry Quinlan ◽  
Christopher Beaumont
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Sea Level Change ◽  
Atlantic Canada ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Level Curves ◽  
Level Change ◽  
The Common ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Outermost Zone

Two extreme models of late Wisconsinan ice cover in Atlantic Canada and the northeastern U.S.A. are shown to produce postglacial relative sea level curves that bracket existing field observations at six sites throughout the region. This suggests that the true late Wisconsinan ice distribution is probably intermediate to the two contrasting reconstructions proposed. Both ice models predict the existence of four relative sea level zones: an innermost zone closest to the centre of glaciation in which relative sea level falls continuously throughout postglacial time; an outermost zone in which it rises continuously; and two transitional zones in which it first falls and then rises in varying proportions according to the distance from the ice margin. The distinctive forms of the relative sea level curves are probably representative of each of the zones and are unlikely to be significantly perturbed even by large local ice readvances. They, therefore, establish patterns with which future field data are expected to conform. The form that the geological record of relative sea level change is likely to take within each zone is discussed and promising settings for the collection of new data are proposed. The common practice of separating relative sea level into an isostatic and a eustatic component is analysed and shown to be incorrect as usually applied. The practice is also shown to be unnecessary because the models discussed in this paper predict changes in relative sea level that can be compared directly with the observations.

Late Holocene Coastal Plain Stratigraphy and Sea-Level History at Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaiian Islands

1996 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Scott Calhoun ◽  
Charles H. Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Hawaiian Islands ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
And Sea Level ◽  
Whole Earth

AbstractFluvial, marine, and mixed fluvial-marine deposition on the coastal plain of Hanalei Bay on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii, records a middle- to late-Holocene fall of relative sea level. Radiocarbon dating of the regression boundary preserved in the stratigraphy of the coastal plain documents a seaward shift of the shoreline beginning at least 4800–4580 cal yr B.P. and continuing until at least 2160–1940 cal yr B.P. Marine sands stranded in the backshore and coastal plain environment are buried by fluvial floodplain and channel sands, silts, and muds. In places, erosion at the regression contact exposed older marine sands thus increasing the hiatus at the regression disconformity. The shoreline regression is best explained as the result of a fall in relative sea level. The age and elevation of the cored regression boundary at sites that have not been influenced by erosion are consistent with a middle- to late-Holocene highstand of relative sea level as predicted by geophysical models of whole Earth deformation related to deglaciation.

Linking marine fog variability in Atlantic Canada to changes in large-scale atmospheric and marine features

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Duplessis ◽  
Minghong Zhang ◽  
William Perrie ◽  
George A Isaac ◽  
Rachel Y W Chang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Internal Variability ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Atlantic Canada ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
The North ◽  
Marine Traffic ◽  
Highly Correlated

<p>Marine and coastal fog forms mainly from the cooling of warm and moist air advected over a colder sea surface. Atlantic Canada is one of the foggiest regions of the world due to the strong temperature contrast between the two oceanic currents in the vicinity. Recurring periods of low visibility notably disrupt off-shore operations and marine traffic, but also land and air transportation. On longer time-scales, marine fog variability also has a significant impact on the global radiative budget. Clouds, including fog, are the greatest source of uncertainty in the current climate projections because of their complex feedback mechanisms. Meteorological records indicate a significant negative trend in the occurrence of foggy conditions over the past six decades at most airports in Atlantic Canada, with large internal variability, including interannual and interdecadal variations. Using the airport observations, reanalysis data and climate model outputs, we investigated the various variabilities on the trend, at interannual and interdecadal scales, and attempted to address what caused these changes in fog frequency. Our results show that the strength and position of the North Atlantic Subtropical High as well as the sea-surface temperature of the cold and warm waters near Atlantic Canada were highly correlated with fog occurrence. We applied the derived fog indices on climate model outputs and projected the fog trends and variability in the different future climate scenarios. The results from this study will be compared with those obtained from other methods and the implications will be discussed.</p>

Postglacial relative sea-level change, Port au Port area, west Newfoundland

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 1039-1047 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. Brookes ◽  
D. B. Scott ◽  
J. H. McAndrews
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
High Water ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Ice Load ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Port Area ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Late Wisconsinan

We first report pollen and foraminifera analyses and radiocarbon dates from two cores taken from salt-marsh deposits bordering Port au Port Bay, southwestern Newfoundland. Results show that relative sea level (RSL) stood at 2.8 m below present higher high-water level (HHWL) at 2770 ± 300 years BP and at −1.8 m at 2365 ± 175 years BP at the core sites. They permit calculation of a rate of late Holocene RSL change from western Newfoundland. We then report other available dates bearing on the earlier RSL record of this area.A date of 5800 ± 200 years BP fixes the age of minimum RSL in Port au Port Bay at 11–14 m below present. A date of 9350 ± 120 years BP from St. George's provides a minimum age for the passage of sea level below present there. A date of 12 600 ± 140 years BP from Stephenville fixes a sea level at 29 m above present, whereas one of 13 600 ± 110 years BP from Abrahams Cove dates the marine limit at 44 m. These geographically restricted data closely constrain a curve of postglacial RSL change in the Port au Port Bay – northern St. George's Bay area. The form of the curve supports a recent model predicting sea-level response to wastage of a limited late Wisconsinan ice load in the wider region.

scholarly journals Salt-marsh reconstructions of relative sea-level change in the North Atlantic during the last 2000 years

2014 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha L.M. Barlow ◽  
Antony J. Long ◽  
Margot H. Saher ◽  
W. Roland Gehrels ◽  
Mark H. Garnett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sea Level Change ◽  
Relative Sea Level ◽  
Level Change ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

scholarly journals Late Triassic – Jurassic development of the Danish Basin and the Fennoscandian Border Zone, southern Scandinavia

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 459-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars H. Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
Border Zone ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Sequence Stratigraphic ◽  
The North ◽  
Layer Cake ◽  
Thermal Cooling

The continental to marine Upper Triassic – Jurassic succession of the Danish Basin and the Fennoscandian Border Zone is interpreted within a sequence stratigraphic framework, and the evolution of the depositional basin is discussed. The intracratonic Permian–Cenozoic Danish Basin was formed by Late Carboniferous – Early Permian crustal extension followed by subsidence governed primarily by thermal cooling and local faulting. The basin is separated from the stable Precambrian Baltic Shield by the Fennoscandian Border Zone, and is bounded by basement blocks of the Ringkøbing–Fyn High towards the south. In Late Triassic – Jurassic times, the basin was part of the epeiric shallow sea that covered most of northern Europe. The Upper Triassic – Jurassic basin-fill is subdivided into two tectono-stratigraphic units by a basinwide intra-Aalenian unconformity. The Norian – Lower Aalenian succession was formed under relative tectonic tranquillity and shows an overall layer-cake geometry, except for areas with local faults and salt movements. Deposition was initiated by a Norian transgression that led to shallow marine deposition and was accompanied by a gradual climatic change to more humid conditions. Extensive sheets of shoreface sand and associated paralic sediments were deposited during short-lived forced regressions in Rhaetian time. A stepwise deepening and development of fully marine conditions followed in the Hettangian – Early Sinemurian. Thick uniform basinwide mud blankets were deposited on an open storm-influenced shelf, while sand was trapped at the basin margins. This depositional pattern continued until Late Toarcian – Early Aalenian times when the basin became restricted due to renewed uplift of the Ringkøbing–Fyn High. In Middle Aalenian – Bathonian times, the former basin area was subjected to deep erosion, and deposition became restricted to the fault-bounded Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone. Eventually the fault margins were overstepped, and paralic–marine deposition gradually resumed in most of the basin in Late Jurassic time. Thus, the facies architecture of the Norian – Lower Aalenian succession reflects eustatic or large-scale regional sea-level changes, whereas the Middle Aalenian – Volgian succession reflects a strong tectonic control that gradually gave way to more widespread and sea-level controlled sedimentation. The uplift of the Ringkøbing–Fyn High and most of the Danish Basin occurred concurrently with the uplift of the North Sea and a wide irregular uplifted area was formed, which differs significantly from the postulated domal pattern.

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