Holocene glacier fluctuations in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador.

Abstract

Lichen measurements and other relative-age data were collected from deposits of several cirque glaciers in the Torngat Mountains of northern Labrador. Moraines can be correlated between valleys on the basis of the largest diameter thallus of Rhizocarpon geographicum sensu lato combined with other relative-age data. If the R. geographicum s.l. growth curve established for the northern Cumberland Peninsula of Baffin Island is valid for similar environments in the Torngat Mountains, then glacier recession occurred c.150, 400, 550-750, 950, 1850, 2800, 4000, and over 4000 yr BP. The later three periods of glacier recession may correlate with periods of glacier recession on the Cumberland Peninsula of Baffin Island.-from Author