Genesis of hummocks in glaciofluvial corridors near the Keewatin Ice Divide, Canada

Abstract

Glaciofluvial corridor hummocks (GCHs) within the Walker Lake map area, Canada, were examined in order to determine the character and genesis of these geomorphic features and their associated deposits. Located south of the Chantrey Moraine and north of the Keewatin Ice Divide, these corridors occur within a belt extending approximately 120 km east–west and approximately 60 km north–south. They are spaced 5–10 km apart and are hundreds of metres to several kilometres in width. They have undulating longitudinal profiles, abrupt material boundaries with the surrounding till and occur in valleys and over interfluves. Hummocks were investigated using longitudinal and perpendicular ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) surveys in conjunction with pit excavations. From these analyses, the hummocks comprise a single lithofacies consisting of coarsely stratified, matrix‐supported gravely sand to a depth of approximately 10 m. This sediment is similar to that of a ‘sliding bed facies’ observed in esker sediments and hyperconcentrated flow deposits, both of which are attributed to high meltwater discharges. Therefore, we hypothesize that the Walker Lake GCHs formed from sedimentation in cavities at the base of the ice sheet by a rapid influx of meltwater.