CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Bornhold, B.D.; and Barrie, J.V.
Date : 1991
Title : Surficial Sediments on the Western Canadian Continental Shelf
Publication : Continental Shelf Research
Issue : 11(8-10):
Page(s) : 685-699
Abstract
The continental shelf off western Canada, with the exception of the Strait of Georgia and northern Graham Island, receives almost no terrigenous sediment. Elongate basins in central Strait of Georgia can attain depths of more than 300 m in which muds derived principally from the Fraser River presently accumulate. Virtually all of the sediment load of the Fraser River remains trapped within the strait. Nearshore sediments consist mainly of gravels and boulders and become finer offshore such that muds are slowly accumulating in depths greater than 100 m. High wave and current energies and efficient sediment trapping in coastal fjords have resulted in low rates of accumulation. Whereas most of the western Canadian shelf bears unmistakable evidence of erosion and deposition related to Pleistocene glaciers emanating from the Coast and Insular Mountains, the northern two-thirds of the continental shelf off western Vancouver Island show no morphological or sedimentological indications of Wisconsonian glaciation. Except for the inshore area (less than 100 m) off northern Graham Island little is known of the sediment distribution in Dixon Entrance. Detailed studies of the surficial geology of the western Canadian continental margin will be focused over the next several years on the relatively poorly known areas of Hecate Strait, Dixon Entrance and the shelf area to the west of the Queen Charlotte Islands. These regions are considerably more complex in terms of the roles played by active tectonics, wave and tidal regimes and coastal erosion and sediment transport.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology