ABSTRACT: Morphology of the Canadian Beaufort Sea Coast. Special Section; The Beaufort Sea Coastal Zone.

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

A study of the Canadian Beaufort Sea coast (Alaskan-Yukon border to Baillie Island) was conducted to provide a regional summary of (a) coastal morphology, (b) coastal stability and (c) coastal processes. A total of 2077 km of coastline was mapped using aerial photographs, low-altitude and oblique aerial-video imagery and information from previous field studies.The coast can be adequately characterized by six repetitive coastal types, four of which are erosional landforms and comprise 60% of the coast (ice-rich cliffs, ice-poor cliffs, low-tundra cliffs and inundated tundra). Two repetitive coastal types are accretional landforms and comprise 40% of the coast (barrier islands and spits, and deltas). The deltas in the study area are retreating rapidly, and therefore over 80% of the coast is considered erosional and less than 20% accretional.Over 1000 measurements of coastal stability indicate wide-scale coastal retreat. Most sections of the coast show mean coastal retreat rates in excess of 1 m yr-1 despite very low annual wave exposure levels. Near active areas of the Mackenzie River delta, mean retreat rates are in excess of 2 m yr-1 and a maximum retreat rate of 18 m yr-1 was documented near Shallow Bay.The presence of significant quantities of ice in the coastal sediments, both in the form of pore ice and massive ice beds, appears to be the primary cause of the wide-scale regional retreat of the coast, although a relative sea level rise in the region may also be important.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology