Map of the glacial geomorphology of north-central Québec-Labrador, Canada

Abstract

The "map of the glacial geomorphology of North-Central Québec-Labrador, Canada", based on aerial photograph interpretation, presents the distribution of glacial and glaciofluvial landforms, such as glacial lineations, eskers, ribbed moraine, and glacial lake shorelines. It covers an area of approximately 180,000 km2 between 53° and 56° 30' N and 64° and 74° E and shows that north-central Québec-Labrador exhibits a more complex pattern of landforms than previously recognized. This mapping project was initiated as a test of the hypothesis that north-central Québec-Labrador exhibited cold-based conditions at least during the latest deglaciation as was suggested in previous studies based on glacial geomorphology. Cold-based conditions inhibit basal sliding and formation of subglacial landforms, which requires that marginal meltwater traces are the main source of information when reconstructing the spatial retreat pattern during a cold-based deglaciation. Therefore this new map also includes results of detailed mapping of the regional distribution of meltwater features.