CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Engstrom, D.R.
Date : 1984
Title : Lake development in the boreal peatlands of southeastern Labrador
Publication : Arctic and Alpine Research
Issue : 16(4)
Page(s) : 447-452
Abstract
One of the most striking features of the boreal peatlands of southeastern Labrador is the pattern of depressions (pools, flarks) and raised areas (ridges, strings) that dissects the surface of many open mires. The shallow circular lakes apparently formed by the coalescence of fen pools and small lake basins through the degradation of intervening peat deposits. Geomorphic evidence suggests that lake development proceeds through three stages: (1) initial deepening and enlargement of pools through peat decomposition, (2) shoreline stabilization by ice-ramparts, and (3) formation of compound lakes through the fusion of adjacent basins. This process is not dependent on permafrost, which is absent from the region. The water chemistry of these peatland lakes is very similar to that found in nearby bedrock-controlled basins except that total phosphorus, iron, and apparent color are significantly higher in the former. This extreme version of paludification provides a striking contrast to classical concepts of hydrarch succession through which lakes are filled rather than formed by the growth of peat
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology