ABSTRACT: Quaternary geology of Somerset Island, District of Franklin

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

Somerset Island was formed during a Late Cretaceous-Tertiary rifting episode associated with separation of Canada and Greenland. The Barrow Surface and anomalous canyons near the northeast coast are relict, prerifting landforms. Surface materials are divided into eight genetic units. Rock and residuum cover 70 per cent of the island, till covers 20 per cent, and glaciofluvial, glaciolacustrine, fluvial, marine, and colluvial sediments cover the rest. Gravel resources are small. Sand is more plentiful but is concentrated in a few large deposits. Riprap is widespread but thin. ... Prior to the last glacial episode, the island was covered by a regional ice sheet that left widely scattered erratics, and a lengthy period of bedrock weathering produced extensive colluvial and residual soils; however, the relative ages of these events is not known. ... During the last glacial episode (late? Wisconsin), an eastward-flowing ice sheet inundated the southernand western parts of the island, while a local ice cap occupied the northeastern plateau; nunataks separated the ice masses in places. Recession from the north, east, and south coasts began about 9200 to 9300 radiocarbon years ago, and the west coast became ice free about 9100 to 9200 radiocarbon years ago. The pattern of coastal emergence during the Holocene reflects the isostatic dominance of the main eastward-flowing ice sheet; emergence continues today at rates of about 46 cm per century in the west and 28 cm per century in the east.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology