Maximum Post-Glacial Marine Submergence in Northern Melville Peninsula

Abstract

Maps the shore line during the peninsula's maximum submergence, from 1957-1958 field observations north of approx. 68 N. The limit of the post-glacial sea was determined by the highest altitudes at which marine shells and strandlines were found in various localities, and the lowest altitudes of undisturbed ground moraines and perched boulders; locations and altitudes for each of these criteria are mapped and tabulated. The sea rose to an altitude of about 450 ft over most of the region; it covered the low headlands and islands along the west coast (which approximated its present shape), the islands and Proterozoic lowland along the north coast, and the east coast to the steep scarp west of Hall Lake. On the northeast coast, altitudes averaged 100 ft lower than elsewhere, possibly due to the presence of residual ice. The marine limit on the peninsula lower than that (approx. 600 ft.) on Southampton is explained by a lingering ice mass centered over Foxe Basin. The area studied was depressed at least 1,100 ft under this ice mass and should rise another 650 ft.