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Relative Sea Levels, Northeastern Margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, on Timescales of 103 and 102 A

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Glacial Isostasy, Sea-Level and Mantle Rheology

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 334))

Abstract

Three decades of research on the relative sea level (RSL) history along the NE margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) is reviewed and placed in the context of glacial/environmental conditions that may explain the field relationships. These responses are viewed on timescales of thousands of years in terms of differences between early and late last glaciation events, and in hundreds of years for the late (Foxe) glaciation. Recent research on SE Baffin Is. has concentrated on the identification of Holocene marine transgressions through a program of coring lakes below marine limits. An analysis of data from the Jackman Sound area, Frobisher Bay, adjacent to the Terra Nivea Ice Cap, suggests a RSL curve that includes a rapid fall in RSL from 80 to 0 m aht, a rapid rise to ca. 34 m aht by ca. 8.4 ka, and then a final interval of emergence. Although supported by several lines of evidence this scenario is still a hypothesis, but it may indicate that short-lived glacial re-advances can result in an appreciable depression of the crust at sites proximal to the ice margin.

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Andrews, J.T. (1991). Relative Sea Levels, Northeastern Margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, on Timescales of 103 and 102 A. In: Sabadini, R., Lambeck, K., Boschi, E. (eds) Glacial Isostasy, Sea-Level and Mantle Rheology. NATO ASI Series, vol 334. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3374-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3374-6_8

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