Reconstruction of late quaternary ice-flow directions, east central Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territory.

Abstract

This study identifies Late Quaternary glacial ice-flow direction in east-central Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., by the study of its composition and its relation to bedrock sources. The spatial distribution of five till types suggests a hypothesis which attempts to reconcile the Innuitian Ice Sheet model of Blake with the Franklin Ice Complex model of England. Glaciers draining from ice sheets in northern Ellesmere Island and Greenland filled Kane Basin and flowed southward toward Smith Sound. When this southward-flowing ice reached the bottleneck at Smith Sound (40 km wide), it overrode the adjacent landmasses of Pim Island and Cape Herschel and forced Buchanan Bay ice southward through the channel that is now occupied by Rice Strait. Southward-flowing ice continued to drain towards Baffin Bay, overriding the coastal areas of Nares Strait at Wade Point and Cape Isabella. The results presented here partially support the Innuitian ice sheet hypothesis, but do not negate the Franklin Ice Complex model. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)