Glacial history and holocene sea-level regression in the Foxe/Baffin sector of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, northwest Baffin Island, Arctic Canada

A local ice cap, a westward flowing partly marine-based ice stream, and a land-based sector of the Foxe Dome were the main features of the Foxe (last) Glaciation on northwestern Baffin Island. The Bernier Bay Ice Stream was a major outlet for ice draining west from the Foxe Dome, and evolved into a large outlet lobe during retreat. The ice stream and peripheral areas of the Brodeur Peninsula Ice Cap and Foxe Dome were warm-based but had cold-based accumulation areas. Moraines along Bernier Bay and Berlinguet Inlet are correlatives of the Cockburn Moraines and formed between 8800 and 6500 BP during a period of protracted retreat.; Ninety-four new radiocarbon dates on shells, whalebone, walrus tusks, and driftwood were used to construct twelve emergence curves for the area. The Holocene marine limit varies from 92 m above sea level in the north to 138 m asl in the south. The relative sea level data is best accommodated by emergence curve forms having a smooth, exponential decline in the rate of emergence from its postglacial maximum. Emergence occurred at 3.5 m/century in the first 1000 years after deglaciation and dropped to 35 cm/century over the last 1000 years. Gradients of raised shorelines steepen toward the former centre of loading in the southeast, and are nearly level in the northwest. The pattern of isobases agrees with the arrangement of ice loads during the last glacial maximum and supports the interpretation that the Brodeur Peninsula Ice Cap on was a last glacial maximum, rather than a residual feature.; Marine fossils at different elevations provide a record of paleoenvironmental conditions. Between 9000 and 7000 BP, the area was colonized by molluscs but whales, walrus, and driftwood were excluded by severe sea ice. Between 7000 and 5000 BP, some bone and wood washed ashore during an interval of reduced summer sea ice. Between 5000 and 3000 BP, the number of whales peaked, recording an interval when summer sea ice was greatly reduced. After 3000 BP the number of whales declined in response to more severe ice conditions that accompanied Neoglacial cooling.