Preglacial and interglacial environments of Banks Island: pollen and macrofossils from Duck Hawk Bluffs and related sites.

Abstract

At the time of deposition of the Miocene-Pliocene Beaufort Formation, southern Banks Island supported a rich coniferous forest, containing several species of conifers and various hardwoods. The late Tertiary/early Quaternary Worth Point Formation was deposited when larch-dominated forest-tundra characterized southern Banks Island. Larch may have grown on the island during the following Morgan Bluffs interglaciation (before 730 ka), but in other respects the flora and fauna of that time seem to have been low Arctic in character. Similar conditions existed during the Cape Collison Interglaciation (= Sangamon), though by that time, coniferous trees had definitely disappeared from the island. -from Authors