Deglaciation of the Central Nain-Okak Bay Section of Labrador

Abstract

A complete glaciation of the highest peaks in this region, indicated by erratics on the top, is tenatively correlated with the Torngat glaciation, and a subsequent advance from interior Labrador, during which the highest peaks were nunataks, to the Koroksoak glaciation. The last deglaciation was basically a recession accompanying thinning of the interior Labrador ice sheet. In the Nain-Okak Bay region it occurred in four steps. Low lying areas were still occupied by isolated masses of stagnant ice when the eustatic sea-level rise began. The events leading to complete deglaciation are reconstructed mainly from the distribution of moraines, kame terraces and other ice contact and fluvioglacial features. In the absence of accurate C-14 dating, the chronology suggested is relative rather than absolute.