ABSTRACT: Late Quaternary sea levels in the southern Beaufort Sea

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results

Author :

Date :

Title :

Publication :

Issue :

Page(s) :

Abstract

Data on late Quaternary sea levels in the Beaufort Sea are extremely limited, yet the sea level chronology in this area is of some importance for studies of continental ice loading, submarine permafrost and ice scour, and deltaic sedimentation. The evidence suggests that deviations from published eustatic curves have occurred in the region, and indeed the concept of local correspondence with a worldwide eustatic pattern appears to be outmoded. A hypothetical history for the Mackenzie Delta is proposed which includes limited isostatic depression due to late Wisconsin ice, minor uplift, and renewed subsidence due to forebulge collapse or sediment loading. A mid-Wisconsin transgression of the order of 10 m higher than present sea level is suggested by evidence in the Mackenzie Delta area and in north Alaska, but no evidence for sea levels higher than present since the late Wisconsin has been found west of Cape Bathurst. Coastal morphology,radiocarbon and archeological dates, and plausible mechanisms suggest a recent and perhaps continuing regional submergence. The tidal record at Tuktoyaktuk is insufficient to resolve the contemporary trend of sea level.(

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology