Deglaciation and land emergence in northeastern Foxe Basin, N.W.T.

Abstract
Between Longstaff Bluff and Steensby inlet, western Baffin Island, late-glacial marine submergence does not exceed 345 feet and decreases northward to 315 feet in Steensby inlet. Five collections of marine molluscs between 290 and 30 feet above sea level yielded radiocarbon ages ranging from 6,725 ± 250 years to 2,050 ± 170 years. These ages allow construction of an uplift curve similar to others from different parts of Canada and Greenland. The 290-foot sample occurred close to the marine limit; its age (6,725 ± 250 years) is a good approximation for that of maximum marine submergence, which is recent compared with that found in other parts of Canada. Geomorphological investigations revealed glacial outwash associated with morainic arcs, which are graded to various levels below the marine limit. That the evidence of submergence in coastal valleys and inlets is often restricted to levels below 200 feet implies the presence of late-glacial, and possibly "postglacial," glacier ice. Baffin Island inland ice, therefore, penetrated a high-level Foxe Basin more recently, perhaps much more so, than 6,725 years ago. At least 30 feet of land uplift has occurred in the last 2,000 years, and it seems probable that uplift is taking place today.

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