An Inventory of the Present and Past Glacierization of Home Bay and Okoa Bay, East Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada, and some Climatic and Palaeoclimatic Considerations

Abstract

An air-photograph inventory of the present glacierization of areas of east Baffin Island adjoining Home Bay and Okoa Bay is described. Ice fields characterize the broad mountain summits of the former while the latter is an area of cirque glaciers. The extent of glacierization is statistically related to various topographic parameters. It is found that there is a 4: 1 ratio between Home Bay and Okoa Bay in the area of ice as a percent of the land area above 600 m a.s.l. Trend-surface analyses are made of the distribution of snow-banks and of cirques (empty and with ice bodies) in the two areas. The orientation of the cirques and of the ice-field glaciers in Home Bay is also examined. 39% of empty cirques in Okoa Bay face south, whereas those with existing glaciers are restricted to orientations with azimuths between 310°-145°. Neither glacier length nor the observable recession in the Home Bay area show any significant difference with regard to; aspect. Consideration of climatic parameters (snowfall and degree days) and synoptic-climatological results provide no reason for the strong contrast between the two areas. Cool, cloudy summer conditions are associated with easterly flow components that should affect both areas. A possible model for the inception of the mountain ice fields of Home Bay c. 2000-4000 years ago is outlined and it is suggested that differential lag effects between the ice bodies in the two areas may be responsible for some of the observed difference. The many paradoxical relationships between glacierization. topography and climate in these areas, and the rather negative results, emphasize the dangers of facile palaeoclimatic interpretations.