Abstract
Wollaston Peninsula in southwest Victoria Island comprises Paleozoic carbonate lowlands, scarps, and tableland situated between rises and arches of underlying Precambrian sedimentary and igneous rocks. Quaternary sediments overlie these rocks and form a thick cover near escarpments where resistance to ice flow concentrated glacial drift; thinner drift occurs in lowlands. Quaternary sediments are mainly Late Wisconsinan in age. Glacial sediments predominate but raised marine and periglacial sediments are noticeable among surficial deposits. Fluvial modification is minor. Of the glacial landforms so spectacularly displayed on Wollaston Pensinsula, many are streamlined, which indicates that they formed under thick, warm-based (free subglacial water) glacial conditions. A set of distinctive landforms, ground moraine (with marginal channels), hummocky moraine, lateral-shear moraines, and streamlined forms relates to varying flow conditions within one major glacial advance. Stratified drift within many of these moraine forms identifies the importance of glaciofluvial processes in addition to ice action. These landforms record ice marginal retreat, marginal stagnation following compressional flow, surging, possible floods and regional stagnation during deglaciation. Ice stagnation trapped extensive ice in drift-rich hummocky moraine. Late glacial events are dated in relation to the incursion of the sea during deglaciation of northwest areas of Wollaston Peninsula by about 12 000 BP. Active ice marginal conditions existed just before JO 000 BP during formation of the large Colville moraine system. Ice melted down in the area following glacial thinning. Prominent periglacial landforms and ground-ice features include patterned ground, pingos, solifluction forms, thermokarst scars and lakes, and debris-flow lobes. Ground ice occurs as massive ice, wedge ice, and buried pingo ice. Based on its setting in hummocky moraine, and its stratigraphy, debris content, and isotopic composition, massive ice is likely buried glacial ice. Landscape modification by thermokarst erosion produces ubiqitous diamictons similar to till. Former thermokarst erosion was related to sea level such that present thick ground ice occurs above marine limit. Terrain sensitivity in future development will mainly relate to occurrence of massive ground ice.
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