Deglaciation environments and evidence for glaciers of Younger Dryas age in Nova Scotia, Canada

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Abstract
The start of deglaciation is recorded in the Minas Basin region of Nova Scotia by the deltaic, glaciofluvial and glaciomarine sediments of the Five Islands Formation. Shell dates on bottomset beds of a delta at Spencers Island range from 14,300 to 12,600, 14C yearsB.P. The time of complete deglaciation of Nova Scotia is still unknown; the uncertainty is at least partially due to evidence for a climatic oscillation at the end of the Late Wisconsinan. Peat beds were deposited during the interval between 12,700 and 10,500 B.P. They overlie previous glacial and fluvial deposits and are overlain by deposits of various origins. Pollen in these peat beds records the migration of spruce into the region indicating climatic warming, and a subsequent deterioration of climate is recorded by the return of tundra‐like flora. The peat beds are truncated by a variety of deposits, including fluvial gravel and sand, lacustrine sand, silt and clay, and diamictons. Periglacial landforms and structures have been observed in some of these deposits. At Collins Pond, on the shore of Chedabucto Bay, a diamicton overlying a peat bed is characterized by strong fabrics parallel to the trend of other ice‐flow landforms in the region. The evidence suggests that at least some of these deposits are glacigenic, indicating that glaciers were active in Nova Scotia until about 10,000 B.P.