ABSTRACT: Quaternary geology of the northeastern part of the central Mackenzie Valley corridor, District of Mackenzie, Northwest Territories.

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Abstract

During its maximum extent, the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet buried the study area under approximately 600 m of ice. The Hyndman and Travaillant uplands were free of ice about 23 ka during Katherine Creek Phase. Series of glacial lakes were formed as the ice retreated southeastward. Glacial Lake Tenlen was the first glacial lake to form after deglaciation of uplands and was followed by glacial Lake Travaillant when ice retreated from the Tutsieta Lake Moraine about 13 ka (Tutsieta Lake Phase). The lake had a series of outlets that migrated from east to west. The last outlet of glacial Lake Travaillant was Mackenzie River. Further ice retreat resulted in the formation of glacial Lake Ontaratue which drained into a late stage of glacial Lake Travaillant and established a permanent channel for Mackenzie River (Ontaratue glacial Lake stage). Glacial Lake Mackenzie, with an outlet at Ramparts, was formed before final deglaciation of theregion about 11.5 ka. The surficial materials in the region are mainly deposits of the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide Ice Sheet. Most of the region is covered by morainic deposits of which a belt of hummocky moraines (Tutsieta Lake Moraine) is the most prominent feature. Moraine plains surfaces have flutings and drumlins indicating that the general direction of ice movement was southeast-northwest. Extensive glaciolacustrine sediments, deltaic deposits, and peat mark the location of former glacial lakes. The study area is located mainly within the zone of discontinuous permafrost, with the northernmost part lying within the zone of continuous permafrost. Development in this region particularly in the southern areas is constrained by permafrost conditions. Geomorphic processes take place naturally and continually in terrain affected by permafrost and may damage human-made structures, particularly where human activity exposes the permanently frozen soilto thawing.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology