Northeastern Ellesmere Island Research Articles

Rapid wastage of the Hazen Plateau ice caps, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

Abstract. Two pairs of small stagnant ice bodies on the Hazen Plateau of northeastern Ellesmere Island, the St. Patrick Bay ice caps and the Murray and Simmons ice caps, are rapidly shrinking, and the remnants of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps are likely to disappear entirely within the next 5 years. Vertical aerial photographs of these Little Ice Age relics taken during August of 1959 show that the larger of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had an area of 7.48 km2 and the smaller one 2.93 km2; the Murray and Simmons ice caps covered 4.37 and 7.45 km2 respectively. Outlines determined from ASTER satellite data for July 2016 show that, compared to 1959, the larger and the smaller of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps had both been reduced to only 5 % of their former area, with the Murray and Simmons ice caps faring better at 39 and 25 %, likely reflecting their higher elevation. Consistent with findings from other glaciological studies in the Queen Elizabeth Islands, ASTER imagery in conjunction with past GPS surveys documents a strikingly rapid wastage of the St. Patrick Bay ice caps over the last 15 years. These two ice caps shrank noticeably even between 2014 and 2015, apparently in direct response to the especially warm summer of 2015 over northeastern Ellesmere Island. The well-documented recession patterns of the Hazen Plateau ice caps over the last 55+ years offer an opportunity to examine the processes of plant recolonization of polar landscapes.

From Science to Survival: Using Virtual Exhibits to Communicate the Significance of Polar Heritage Sites in the Canadian Arctic

AbstractMany of Canada’s non-Indigenous polar heritage sites exist as memorials to the Heroic Age of arctic and Antarctic Exploration which is associated with such events as the First International Polar Year, the search for the Northwest Passage, and the race to the Poles. However, these and other key messages of significance are often challenging to communicate because the remote locations of such sites severely limit opportunities for visitor experience. This lack of awareness can make it difficult to rally support for costly heritage preservation projects in arctic and Antarctic regions. Given that many polar heritage sites are being severely impacted by human activity and a variety of climate change processes, this raises concerns. In this paper, we discuss how virtual heritage exhibits can provide a solution to this problem. Specifically, we discuss a recent project completed for the Virtual Museum of Canada at Fort Conger, a polar heritage site located in Quttinirpaaq National Park on northeastern Ellesmere Island (http://fortconger.org).

Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of Coastal Lacustrine Basins, Northeastern Ellesmere Island, N. W. T.

Sediment cores recovered from three high arctic coastal lake basins contain a sequence of glaciomarine sediments overlain by laminated to massive-bedded lacustrine sediments. Glaciomarine sediments were deposited while the basins were isostatically depressed below sea level. Subsequent to emergence of the basin from the sea, lacustrine sediments accumulated in each basin. A transitional fades between the marine and lacustrine units represents an isolation interval during which trapped sea water lay beneath a freshwater lens. Sedimentological and faunal evidence from sediment cores demonstrates that embayments were closed and fluvial sedimentation was minimal during the glacial maximum (ca. 8000-8200 BP) Subsequent increases in sand content and macrofaunal abundance reflects increases in mobility of sea ice and fluvial input during the middle Holocene. Late HoIocene cooling trends are demonstrated by decreases in ice rafted material and an increase in diffuse bedding in lake surface sediments.

A probable late Neoproterozoic age for the Kennedy Channel and Ella Bay formations, northeastern Ellesmere Island and its implications for passive margin history of the Canadian Arctic

The Kennedy Channel and Ella Bay formations are the two oldest stratigraphic units exposed in the Franklinian margin sedimentary sequence in the Canadian Arctic Islands. An Early Cambrian age had previously been accepted by the occurrence of trilobites and small shelly fossils in the type section of the Kennedy Channel Formation. Reinvestigation of the area around the type section shows that several large strike-slip faults cut the succession and that the olenelloid trilobites are from an infaulted slice of a younger unit, the Lower Cambrian Kane Basin Formation. Thus, there is no unambiguous paleontological evidence for the age of either the Kennedy Channel or Ella Bay formations. However, the abundance of stromatolites, absence of trace fossils, and separation from overlying Lower Cambrian clastics by a regional angular unconformity indicate a probable late Neoproterozoic age for these two formations. The Ella Bay Formation likely correlates with the Portfjeld Formation in North Greenland, the Spiral Creek Formation in East Greenland, and the Risky Formation of the Mackenzie Mountains in northwestern Canada. The passive margin that existed in northern Laurentia during the early Paleozoic was, therefore, established in the late Neoproterozoic, and the onset of rifting must have preceded this, rather than occurring in the Early Cambrian as some authors have suggested.

ABSTRACT: The Early Cenozoic Tectonostratigraphic Evolution and Sedimentology of the Judge Daly Basin, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic

The early Cenozoic evolution of the Canadian High Arctic was governed by a compressional stress regime related to the opening of Baffin Bay-Labrador Sea. On northeastern Ellesmere Island, the Eureka Sound Group sediments (late Paleocene in age) record the paleogeographic reorganisation of this event. This group is divisible into three formations and are preserved within six outliers in this area. The oldest of these units, the Mokka Fiord Formation is characterised by a brown weathering medium - to coarse grained lithic sandstone occuring as decimeter scale trough cross bedded units. These sediments are to 740 metres thick and are interpreted to be a predominantly fluvial deposit. The overlying and younger Cape Back Formation is interpreted to be fluviolacustrine in origin consisting of interbedded fine grained litho- to calcarenite, siltstone, and mudrock. Current ripples, climbing ripples, ripple and parallel laminations are common throughout this formation which reaches a total thickness of 1100 metres. Polymictic boulder orthoconglomerates of the Cape Lawrence Formation varies in thickness from 700 to 1000 metres. Clast composition consists of a variety of siliciclastics and carbonates. These conglomerate units are interpreted to be proximal gravely rivers which were alluvial fans. These data provide us with a valuable contribution towards advancing our understanding of the dynamics of this syntectonic siliciclastic depositional system.

Diatom-based Holocene paleoenvironmental records from continental sites on northeastern Ellesmere Island, high Arctic, Canada

Stratigraphic changes in diatom assemblages from four small lakes on northeastern Ellesmere Island, high Arctic, Canada, provide a proxy lake-ice cover and paleoenvironmental record. Low absolute diatom abundances and a benthic Fragilaria (sensu lata) dominated assemblage during the postglacial (< 7.6 ka B.P.) to mid-Holocene record the moderating effects of locally retreating glaciers. Around 5.5 ka B.P. diatom concentrations begin to rise, reaching their highest levels (109 valves per g dry sediment) between 4.2 and 3 ka B.P., interpreted to be the warmest period in this region. Topoclimatic differences between lakes on Hazen Plateau and those lower in Lake Hazen Basin account for the initial decline in diatom abundances in the upper lakes after 3 ka B.P. This change is thought to reflect a lowering of the regional snowline, accordant with widely recognized Neoglacial advances on Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Lakes in lower Lake Hazen Basin maintained extensive summer ice free conditions until ~ 1.9 ka B.P., after which diatom abundances declined, suggesting prolonged summer lake-ice cover through the remainder of the recovered Holocene record. Differences between the records presented here and those from coastal areas of the Canadian high Arctic highlight the unique topoclimatic characteristics and continentality of the Lake Hazen region, and possible effects that local marine environments may have had on coastal records. Such differences serve to demonstrate the inherent geographic variability of paleoenvironmental records from the high Arctic.

Lichens collected at Cape Belknap near Alert, northeastern Ellesmere Island

Lichens collected at Cape Belknap near Alert, northeastern Ellesmere Island

Late Quaternary glacial history of Lake Hazen Basin and eastern Hazen Plateau, northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

The glacial history of the broad interior of northeastern Ellesmere Island is first documented here. Studies of glacial geomorphology and marine and lacustrine sedimentology indicate that the region was inundated by cold-based ice emanating from the Grant Land Mountains sector of the Innuitian Ice Sheet during the last glacial maximum. Retreat of coalescent, marine-based Ellesmere and Greenland ice from Robeson Channel had started by 10.1 ka BP and reached the mouths of many fiords along southeast Hazen Plateau by 8 ka BP. Proglacial meltwater channels emanating from plateau ice caps, crosscut lateral meltwater channels marking the retreat of Grant Land Mountain ice. The crosscutting is interpreted to reflect an early Holocene growth of plateau ice caps concurrent with the retreat of marine-based margins. This suggests that initial regional ice retreat was eustatically controlled. Stabilization of glacier margins at the heads of fiords occurred by 7.5-7 ka BP, after which land-based margins retreated as little as 10 km by 6 ka BP. Across much of northeastern Hazen Plateau, however, Grant Land Mountain ice retreated more rapidly. This more rapid retreat was accentuated by the impoundment of proglacial lakes against the plateau to the south and the subsequent breakup of ice by calving. Glaciers continued to occupy much of Lake Hazen Basin at 5.3 ka BP, after which they broke up rapidly in a proto-Lake Hazen, retreating to margins at, or behind, those of the present by 5 ka BP.

Late Quaternary glacial history of Lake Hazen Basin and eastern Hazen Plateau, northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada

The glacial history of the broad interior of northeastern Ellesmere Island is first documented here. Studies of glacial geomorphology and marine and lacustrine sedimentology indicate that the region was inundated by cold-based ice emanating from the Grant Land Mountains sector of the Innuitian Ice Sheet during the last glacial maximum. Retreat of coalescent, marine-based Ellesmere and Greenland ice from Robeson Channel had started by 10.1 ka BP and reached the mouths of many fiords along southeast Hazen Plateau by 8 ka BP. Proglacial meltwater channels emanating from plateau ice caps, crosscut lateral meltwater channels marking the retreat of Grant Land Mountain ice. The crosscutting is interpreted to reflect an early Holocene growth of plateau ice caps concurrent with the retreat of marine-based margins. This suggests that initial regional ice retreat was eustatically controlled. Stabilization of glacier margins at the heads of fiords occurred by 7.5-7 ka BP, after which land-based margins retreated as little as 10 km by 6 ka BP. Across much of northeastern Hazen Plateau, however, Grant Land Mountain ice retreated more rapidly. This more rapid retreat was accentuated by the impoundment of proglacial lakes against the plateau to the south and the subsequent breakup of ice by calving. Glaciers continued to occupy much of Lake Hazen Basin at 5.3 ka BP, after which they broke up rapidly in a proto-Lake Hazen, retreating to margins at, or behind, those of the present by 5 ka BP.

Thermal Maturity of Lower Paleozoic Sedimentary Successions in Arctic Canada

Mean maximum graptolite reflectance values from numerous sections in Arctic Canada range from 0.6% in Cornwallis Island and northwestern Devon Island to 4.7% in Ellesmere Island. We attribute this great lateral reflectance variation to differing burial depths of the graptolite-bearing strata beneath thick synorogenic siliciclastic covers. We attribute the low maturity of rocks in northern Cornwallis and eastern Bathurst islands to a maximum burial of about 2 km. Elsewhere, we used the paleogeographic location and proximity to the Ellesmerian overthrust wedge to interpret the measured reflectance values. In northern Ellesmere Island, where the highest graptolite reflectance values (4.7%) occur, as much as 9.6 km of synorogenic siliciclastics accumulated on a tectonically loaded carbonate shelf. Initial synorogenic siliciclastics encountered substantial submarine-to-basin relief, and thus about 2 km of sediment were deposited prior to the initiation of deposition on the adjacent drowned shelf. Also, the deep-water sequence probably was underlain by attenuated continental crust adjacent to the southeastward-advancing Ellesmerian overthrust wedge. Together, these factors caused deposition of as much as 7.6 km of sediment in western Melville Island and, as much as 9.6 km in northeastern Ellesmere Island. On the drowned shelf, synorogenic stratal thicknesses were less, a feature we attribu e to a thicker, more rigid crustal sequence and greater distance from the Ellesmerian tectonic loading. We expect liquid hydrocarbons to be generated from the organic matter in the shales in areas with a graptolite R0 maximum (GR0 max) of less than 1.7%. The presence of two types of solid bitumens having different reflectances, morphologies, and optical textures suggests that hydrocarbons were generated and migrated through the graptolite-bearing strata. We expect only gaseous hydrocarbons in areas where GR0 max exceeds 2.0% R0.

Relative Sea Level Chronology Determined from Raised Marine Sediments and Coastal Isolation Basins, Northeastern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada

Relative Sea Level Chronology Determined from Raised Marine Sediments and Coastal Isolation Basins, Northeastern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada

Relative Sea Level Chronology Determined from Raised Marine Sediments and Coastal Isolation Basins, Northeastern Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada

A new relative sea level curve for the Robeson Channel area contrasts with previously published curves for the area by inferring that rapid emergence may have commenced at ca. 7400 BP, as much as 1200 yr earlier than previously predicted. Subsequently, uplift may have occurred at much lower rates from ca. 6000 BP to present. A comparison of shell dates used for the relative sea level curve and dates on disseminated total organic carbon (TOC) fraction from lacustrine and marine sediments from sediment cores from emerged coastal lakes shows wide discrepancies. Furthermore, several inifinite TOC dates (> 27,750 to > 40,600 BP) from glaciomarine sediments may imply that the region was ice-free during the last glacial maximum, but the validity of the TOC dates from the sediment cores is questionable due to variable contamination with redeposited detrital organic matter.

Radiation and Cloud Observations on a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap

AbstractHourly measurements of incoming short-wave and long-wave radiation, surface albedo, and net radiation were made on and around a plateau ice cap on north-eastern Ellesmere Island during the summers of 1982 and 1983. These data were stratified by cloud type and amount. All cloud types increased incoming long-wave radiation, especially low dense clouds, fog, and clouds associated with snowfall. Relative transmission of incoming short-wave radiation, expressed as a percentage of clear-sky radiation receipts, was high for all cloud types compared to clouds at lower latitudes. With high surface albedo (≥0.75), net radiation was strongly and positively correlated with net long-wave radiation but showed little relationship to net short-wave radiation. By contrast, with low surface albedo (≤0.20) net radiation was negatively correlated with net long-wave radiation but positively correlated with net short-wave radiation. Under high-albedo conditions, an increase in cloudiness led to higher values of net radiation but under low-albedo conditions net radiation decreased as cloud cover increased. Survival of a snow cover would seem to be favoured if the seasonal decline in albedo is accompanied by a corresponding increase in cloudiness.

Mass Balance of Two High Arctic Plateau Ice Caps

AbstractMass-balance measurements have been renewed on two small ice caps on north-eastern Ellesmere Island. Original stake networks were established in 1972 and 1976. Since then, both ice caps have experienced significant mass losses averaging –70 to –140 kg m−2a−1. They have also decreased in area. The equilibrium line in this area has averaged around 1150 m for the last decade or so. The ice caps are remnants of former climatic conditions and are out of equilibrium with contemporary climate.

Mass Balance of Two High Arctic Plateau Ice Caps

AbstractMass-balance measurements have been renewed on two small ice caps on north-eastern Ellesmere Island. Original stake networks were established in 1972 and 1976. Since then, both ice caps have experienced significant mass losses averaging –70 to –140 kg m−2 a−1. They have also decreased in area. The equilibrium line in this area has averaged around 1150 m for the last decade or so. The ice caps are remnants of former climatic conditions and are out of equilibrium with contemporary climate.

Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap

AbstractMeteorological observations on and around a small, exposed plateau ice cap on north-eastern Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada, were carried out in the northern summers of 1982 and 1983. The objective was to assess the effect of the ice cap on local climate as the melt season progressed. In 1982, seasonal net radiation totals were lowest on the ice cap and greatest at the site farthest from the ice cap. The ice-cap site received only 35% of net radiation totals on the surrounding tundra. This reflects a gradient in albedo; albedo changed most markedly away from the ice cap as the summer progressed. A thermal gradient was observed along a transect perpendicular to the ice-cap edge; this gradient was greatest at low levels (15 cm) and was maximized under cloud-free conditions. The “cooling effect” of the ice cap was less at the start of the ablation season than later. Low-level inversions occurred more frequently over the ice cap than over the snow-free tundra. Overall, melting degree days on the ice cap were only 40–65% of those on the adjacent tundra. A model of interactions between the atmosphere and a snow and ice cover, or a snow-free tundra/felsenmeer surface is proposed. Observations indicate that the ice cap has a cooling effect on the lower atmosphere relative to the adjacent snow-free tundra; this effect is absent when snow cover is extensive (as in 1983).

Topoclimatic Studies of a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap

AbstractMeteorological observations on and around a small, exposed plateau ice cap on north-eastern Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada, were carried out in the northern summers of 1982 and 1983. The objective was to assess the effect of the ice cap on local climate as the melt season progressed. In 1982, seasonal net radiation totals were lowest on the ice cap and greatest at the site farthest from the ice cap. The ice-cap site received only 35% of net radiation totals on the surrounding tundra. This reflects a gradient in albedo; albedo changed most markedly away from the ice cap as the summer progressed. A thermal gradient was observed along a transect perpendicular to the ice-cap edge; this gradient was greatest at low levels (15 cm) and was maximized under cloud-free conditions. The “cooling effect” of the ice cap was less at the start of the ablation season than later. Low-level inversions occurred more frequently over the ice cap than over the snow-free tundra. Overall, melting degree days on the ice cap were only 40–65% of those on the adjacent tundra. A model of interactions between the atmosphere and a snow and ice cover, or a snow-free tundra/felsenmeer surface is proposed. Observations indicate that the ice cap has a cooling effect on the lower atmosphere relative to the adjacent snow-free tundra; this effect is absent when snow cover is extensive (as in 1983).

Radiation and Cloud Observations on a High Arctic Plateau Ice Cap

AbstractHourly measurements of incoming short-wave and long-wave radiation, surface albedo, and net radiation were made on and around a plateau ice cap on north-eastern Ellesmere Island during the summers of 1982 and 1983. These data were stratified by cloud type and amount. All cloud types increased incoming long-wave radiation, especially low dense clouds, fog, and clouds associated with snowfall. Relative transmission of incoming short-wave radiation, expressed as a percentage of clear-sky radiation receipts, was high for all cloud types compared to clouds at lower latitudes. With high surface albedo (≥0.75), net radiation was strongly and positively correlated with net long-wave radiation but showed little relationship to net short-wave radiation. By contrast, with low surface albedo (≤0.20) net radiation was negatively correlated with net long-wave radiation but positively correlated with net short-wave radiation. Under high-albedo conditions, an increase in cloudiness led to higher values of net radiation but under low-albedo conditions net radiation decreased as cloud cover increased. Survival of a snow cover would seem to be favoured if the seasonal decline in albedo is accompanied by a corresponding increase in cloudiness.

Glacial geology and Quaternary marine stratigraphy of the Robeson Channel area, northeastern Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories

Glacial and marine deposits associated with two phases of glaciation are exposed along a 60 km corridor on Ellesmere Island that borders Robeson Channel. The oldest sediments, tentatively dated at ≥ 70 000 BP, were deposited during a major advance of the northwest Greenland ice sheet across Robeson Channel. During subsequent retreat of this ice mass, glaciomarine sediments containing a High Arctic macro- and microfauna were deposited in the isostatic downwarp on Ellesmere Island. This marine unit was radiocarbon dated at 31 300 ± 900 and &gt; 32 000 BP; mean aIle/Ile ratios are 0.218 ± 0.03 for the free fraction and 0.063 ± 0.011 for the total acid hydrolysate.The last ice advance (late Wisconsin – early Holocene) did not extend into the field area from either interior Ellesmere Island or northwest Greenland. The ice-marginal sea transgressed to the marine limit (~116 m) and overlapped the deposits of the previous maximum Greenland advance. Local plateau ice caps did, however, spill over into one major valley and delayed the establishment of the marine limit in this location. Radiocarbon dates on the Holocene marine limit shorelines indicate initial emergence between 8000 and 8600 BP. A mean aIle/Ile ratio of 0.037 was found for the total acid hydrolysate; aIle was undetectable in the free fraction of the Holocene shells.The Holocene and pre-Holocene glacial and marine chronologies in the Robeson Channel area are similar to chronologies demonstrated from other locations in Arctic regions. Tentative correlations based upon aminostratigraphy suggest that the field area has remained, for the most part, ice free since at least 70 000 BP.

A Taxonomic Study of Tayloria hornschuchii and T. froelichiana in North America

Tayloria hornschuchii (Grev. et Arnott) Broth. is described for the first time as having either axillary or rhizoidal propagula or both and is reported for the first time from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago on Northeastern Ellesmere Island, N. W.T. A gametophytic comparison is made between T. hornschuchii and T. froelichiana (Hedw.) Mitt. to distinguish specimens without spo- rophytes. Leaf cell lengths prove to be a dependable character, with T. hornschuchii having signif- icantly shorter basal and apical cell lengths. Propagula have never been found on T. froelichiana. North American distribution maps show T. froelichiana as low arctic-alpine and T. hornschuchii as high arctic-alpine. In 1792, Hedwig first described Splachnumfroe- lichianum in commemoration of the German phy- sician Joseph Alois Fr6hlich (1766-1841). In 1801, Hedwig published S. froelichianum, based on spec- imens collected in rock fissures from the Carinthian and Tyrolian Alps. In the same year, Dickson col- lected similar material in the Scottish Highlands, and Withering (1801) described it as Bryum reti- culatum Dicks. ex With. As well, in 1801 Swartz (based on Swartz 1799) described Splachnum reti- culatum, having included Bryum reticulatum as a synonym. In 1806, Bridel described Splachnum