Deglaciation of the Cordillera of Western Canada at the end of the Pleistocene
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18172/cig.3232Keywords:
Deglaciation, Cordilleran Ice Sheet, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, GeochronologyAbstract
Nearly all of what is now British Columbia and adjacent areas were covered by an ice sheet at the maximum of the Last Glaciation (MIS 2) about 18,000 years ago. By 11,000 years ago, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet had disappeared, a victim of warming climate, eustatic sea-level rise along its western margin, and perhaps a reduction in precipitation. Deglaciation proceeded by frontal retreat at the periphery of the ice sheet and by downwasting, complex frontal retreat, and localized stagnation in its interior areas. The chronology of deglaciation is constrained, albeit with inherent dating errors, by AMS radiocarbon and 10Be surface exposure ages. High-elevation sites at the western margin of the British Columbia Interior Plateau, east of the Coast Mountains, became ice-free between about 15,000 and 12,000 years ago. Ice cover in the southern Coast Mountains was sufficiently extensive during the Younger Dryas Chronozone (12,900-11,700 years ago) that glaciers advanced into low-lying areas north and east of Vancouver. At the same time, however, a labyrinth of dead or dying tongues of glacier ice covered some interior valleys. By 11,000 years ago, ice cover in the Canadian Cordillera was no more extensive than it is today.Downloads
References
Alley, N.F., Chatwin, S.C. 1979. Late Pleistocene history and geomorphology, southwestern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 16, 1645-1657. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/e79-154.
Al-Suwaidi, M., Ward, B.C., Wilson, M.C., Hebda, R.J., Nagorsen, D.W., Marshall, D., et al. 2006. Late Wisconsinan Port Eliza cave deposits and their implications for human coastal migration, Vancouver Island, Canada. Geoarcheology 21, 307-332. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/gea.20106.
Armstrong, J.E. 1981. Post-Vashon Wisconsin Glaciation, Fraser Lowland, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 322.
Atkinson, N., Pawley, S., Utting, D.J. 2016. Flow‐pattern evolution of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets across west‐central Alberta, Canada: implications for ice sheet growth, retreat and dynamics during the last glacial cycle. Journal of Quaternary Science 31, 753-768. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2901.
Barrie, J.V., Conway, K.W. 1999. Late Quaternary glaciation and postglacial stratigraphy of the Northern Pacific margin of Canada. Quaternary Research 51, 113-123. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1998.2021.
Barrie, J.V., Conway, K.W. 2002. Rapid sea-level change and coastal evolution on the Pacific margin of Canada. Sedimentary Geology 150, 171-183. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(01)00274-3.
Bednarski, J.M., Smith, I.R. 2007. Laurentide and montane glaciation along the Rocky Mountain Foothills of northeastern British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 44, 445-457. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/e06-095.
Blais-Stevens, A., Clague, J.J. 2001. Paleoseismic signature in late Holocene sediment cores from Saanich Inlet, British Columbia. Marine Geology 175, 131-148. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(01)00132-3
Blaise, B., Clague, J.J., Mathewes, R.W. 1990. Time of maximum late Wisconsinan Glaciation, west coast of Canada. Quaternary Research 47, 140-146. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(90)90041-I.
Blake Jr., W. 1983. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XXIII. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 83-87.
Blake Jr., W. 1986. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XXV. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 85-87.
Bond, J.D., Ward, B.C., Gosse, J.C. 2014. Late Pleistocene deglaciation of the Cordilleran ice sheet from southwest Yukon; timing, recession rates, and implications. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program 46( 6), 797.
Booth, D.B. 1987. Timing and processes of deglaciation along the southern margin of the Cordilleran ice sheet. In: W.F. Ruddiman, H.E. Wright (eds.), North America and Adjacent Oceans During the Last Deglaciation, Geological Society of America, Geology of North America K-3, pp. 71-90.
Brennand, T.A., Perkins, A.J. 2017. The deglacial landscape of the southern Fraser Plateau. In: O. Slaymaker (Ed.), Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada, Springer International Publishing, Cham, Switzerland, pp. 277-290.
Burke, M.J., Brennand, T.A., Perkins, A.J. 2012a. Evolution of the subglacial hydrologic system beneath the rapidly decaying Cordilleran Ice Sheet caused by ice-dammed lake drainage: Implications for meltwater-induced ice acceleration. Quaternary Science Reviews 50, 125-140. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.07.005.
Burke, M.J., Brennand, T.A., Perkins, A.J. 2012b. Transient subglacial hydrology of a thin ice sheet: Insights from the Chasm esker, British Columbia, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 58: 30-55. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.09.004.
Catto, N.R., Liverman, D.G.E., Bobrowsky, P.T., Rutter, N., Mandryk, C.A.S. 1996. Laurentide, Cordilleran, and Montane glaciation in the western Peace River - Grand Prairie region, Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Quaternary International 32, 21-32. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/1040-6182(95)00061-5.
Clague, J.J. 1981. Late Quaternary Geology and Geochronology of British Columbia. Part 2: Summary and Discussion of Radiocarbon-Dated Quaternary History. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 80-35.
Clague, J.J. 1983. Glacio-isostatic effects of the Cordilleran ice sheet, British Columbia, Canada. In: D.E. Smith, A.G. Dawson (eds.), Shorelines and Isostasy, Academic Press, London, pp. 321-343.
Clague, J.J. 1984. Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology, Smithers-Terrace-Prince Rupert Area, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 413.
Clague, J.J. 1987. Quaternary stratigraphy and history, Williams Lake, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24, 147-4158.
Clague, J.J. 1989. Cordilleran ice sheet. In Quaternary Geology of Canada and Greenland, R.J. Fulton (ed.), Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, ON, pp. 40-43.
Clague, J.J., Mathewes, R.W., Warner, B.G. 1982. Late Quaternary geology of eastern Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 19, 1786-1795. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/e82-157.
Clague, J.J., Mathewes, R.W., Guilbault, J.P., Hutchinson, I., Ricketts, B.D. 1997. Pre-Younger Dryas resurgence of the southwestern margin of the Cordilleran ice sheet, British Columbia, Canada. Boreas 26, 261-278. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3885.1997.tb00855.x.
Clague, J.J., Menounos, B., Wheate, R. 2011. Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains of Canada. In: V. Singh, P. Singh, U.K. Haritashya (eds.), Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers, Springer Netherlands, pp. 106-110.
Cosma, T.N., Hendy, I.L., Chang, A.S. 2008. Chronological constraints on Cordilleran Ice Sheet glaciomarine sedimentation from core MD02-2496 off Vancouver Island (Western Canada). Quaternary Science Reviews 27, 941-955. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.01.013.
Dyke, A.S. 2004. An outline of North American deglaciation with emphasis on central and northern Canada. Developments in Quaternary Sciences 2, 373-424. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S1571-0866(04)80209-4.
Dyck, W., Fyles, J.G. 1962. Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates I. Radiocarbon 4, 13-26.
Dyck, W., Fyles, J.G. 1963. Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates II. Radiocarbon 5, 39-55.
Dyck, W., Lowdon, J.A., Fyles, J.G., Blake Jr., W. 1966. Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates V. Radiocarbon 8, 96-127.
Friele, P.A., Clague, J.J. 2002a. Readvance of glaciers in the British Columbia Coast Mountains at the end of the last glaciation. Quaternary International 87, 45-58. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(01)00061-1.
Friele, P.A., Clague, J.J. 2002b. Younger Dryas readvance in Squamish river valley, southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, 1925-1933. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(02)00081-1.
Fulton, R.J. 1967. Deglaciation Studies in Kamloops Region, An Area of Moderate Relief, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 154.
Fulton, R.J. 1969. Glacial Lake History, Southern Interior Plateau, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 69-37.
Fulton, R.J. 1971. Radiocarbon Geochronology of Southern British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 71-37.
Fulton, R.J. 1991. A conceptual model for growth and decay of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. In: L.E. Jackson, Jr., J.J. Clague (Eds.), The Cordilleran Ice Sheet, Géographie Physique et Quaternaire 45, 281-286.
Gosse, J.C, Phillips, F.M. 2001. Terrestrial in situ cosmogenic nuclides; theory and application. Quaternary Science Reviews 20, 1475-1560. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(00)00171-2.
Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R., Smith, D.J. 2004. Paleogeography, glacially induced crustal displacement, and late Quaternary coastlines on the continental shelf of British Columbia, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, 295-318. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2003.04.001.
Hickin, A.S., Lian, O.B., Levson, V.M., Cui, Y. 2015. Pattern and chronology of glacial Lake Peace shorelines and implications for isostacy and ice-sheet configuration in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Boreas 44, 288-304. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12110.
Hofmann, M.H., Hendrix, M.S. 2010. Depositional processes and the inferred history of ice-margin retreat associated with the deglaciation of the Cordilleran ice sheet: The sedimentary record from Flathead Lake, northwest Montana, USA. Sedimentary Geology 223, 61-74. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2009.10.004.
Huntley, D.H., Broster, B.E. 1997. The Late Wisconsinan deglacial history of the east-central Taseko Lakes area, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 34, 1510-1520. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/e17-123.
Huntley, D.H., Bobrowsky, P.T., Clague, J.J. 2001. Ocean Drilling Program Leg 169S: Surficial geology, stratigraphy and geomorphology of the Saanich Inlet area, southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Marine Geology 174, 27-41. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(00)00140-7
Huntley, D.H., Hickin, A.S., Lian, O.B. 2017. The pattern and style of deglaciation at the Late Wisconsinan Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheet limits in northeastern British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 54, 52-75. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2016-0066.
Jackson, L.E. Jr., Clague, J.J. (Eds.) 1991. The Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Géographie Physique et Quaternaire 45, 261-377.
Jackson, L.E. Jr., Ward, B.C., Duk-Rodkin, A., Hughes, O.H. 1991. The last Cordilleran Ice Sheet in Yukon Territory. In: L.E. Jackson, Jr., J.J. Clague (eds.), The Cordilleran Ice Sheet, Géographie Physique et Quaternaire 45, 341-354.
Jackson Jr., L.E., Phillips, F.M., Little, E.C. 1999. Cosmogenic 36Cl dating of the maximum limit of the Laurentide ice sheet in southwestern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 36, 1347-1356. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/e99-038.
Kovanen, D.J. 2002. Morphologic and stratigraphic evidence for Allerod and Younger Dyras age glacier fluctuations of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, British Columbia, Canada, and northwest Washington, USA. Boreas 31, 163-184. DOI: http://doi.org/10.111/j.1502-3885.2002.tb01064.x.
Lakeman, T.R., Clague, J.J., Menounos, B. 2008. Advance of alpine glaciers during final retreat of the Cordilleran ice sheet in the Finlay River area, northern British Columbia, Canada. Quaternary Research 69, 188-200. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2008.01.002.
Lian, O.B., Hicock, S.R. 2000. Thermal conditions beneath parts of the last Cordilleran Ice Sheet near its centre as inferred from subglacial till, associated sediments, and bedrock. Quaternary International 68-71, 147-162. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(00)00040-9.
Lowdon, J.A., Blake Jr., W. 1970. Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates IX. Radiocarbon 12, 46-86.
Lowdon, J.A., Blake Jr., W. 1973. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XIII. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 73-77.
Lowdon, J.A., Blake Jr., W. 1975. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XVI. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 75-77.
Lowdon, J.A., Blake Jr., W. 1976. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XVI. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 76-77.
Lowdon, J.A., Blake Jr., W. 1978. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XVIII. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 78-87.
Lowdon, J.A., Blake Jr., W. 1979. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XIX. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 79-87.
Lowdon, J.A., Blake Jr., W. 1980. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XX. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 80-87.
Lowdon, J.A., Fyles, J.G., Blake Jr., W. 1967. Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates VI. Radiocarbon 9, 156-197.
Lowdon, J.A., Robertson, I.M., Blake, Jr., W. 1971. Geological Survey of Canada radiocarbon dates XI. Radiocarbon 13, 255-324.
Lowdon, J.A., Robertson, I.M., Blake Jr., W. 1977. Geological Survey of Canada Radiocarbon Dates XVII. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 77-7.
Luckman, B.H., Osborn, G.D. 1979. Holocene glacier fluctuations in the middle Canadian Rockies. Quaternary Research 11, 52-77. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(79)90069-3.
Luternauer, J.L., Clague, J.J., Conway, K.W., Barrie, J. V., Blaise, B., Mathewes, R.W. 1989. Late Pleistocene terrestrial deposits on the continental shelf of western Canada: Evidence for rapid sea-level change at the end of the last glaciation. Geology 17, 357-360.
Margold, M., Jansson, K.N., Kleman, J., Stroeven, A., Clague, J.J. 2013. Retreat pattern of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in central British Columbia at the end of the last glaciation reconstructed from glacial meltwater landforms. Boreas 42, 830-847. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12007.
Margold, M., Stroeven, A.P, Clague, J.J., Heyman, J. 2014. Timing of terminal Pleistocene deglaciation at high elevations in southern and central British Columbia constrained by 10Be exposure dating. Quaternary Science Reviews 99, 193-202. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j. quascirev.2014.06.027.
Mathewes, R.W., Heusser, L.E., Patterson, R.T. 1993. Evidence for a Younger Dryas-like cooling event on the British Columbia coast. Geology 21, 101-104.
Mathews, W.H. 1978. Quaternary Stratigraphy and Geomorphology of Charlie Lake (94-A) Map-Area, British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 76-20.
Mathews, W.H. 1980. Retreat of the Last Ice Sheets in Northeastern British Columbia and Adjacent Alberta. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 331.
Menounos, B., Osborn, G., Clague, J.J., Luckman, B.H. 2009. Latest Pleistocene and Holocene glacier fluctuations in western Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, 2049-2074. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.10.018.
Menounos, B., Goehring, B.M., Osborn, G., Margold, M., Ward, B., Bond, J., Clarke, G.K.C., Clague, J.J., Lakeman, T., Koch, J., Schaefer, J., Caffee, M., Gosse, J., Stroeven, A.P., Seguinot, J., Heyman, J., Fulton, R. 2017. Widespread evidence for climate reversals in western Canada at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. In review.
Minkus, R.S. 2006. Evidence of Latest Pleistocene Glacier Advance in the Southern Coast Mountains, British Columbia, Canada. M.Sc. thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.
Osborn, G.D. 1985. Holocene tephrostratigraphy and glacial fluctuations in Waterton Lakes and Glacier national parks, Alberta and Montana. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 22, 1093-1101. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/e85-111.
Osborn, G.D., Gerloff, L. 1997. Latest Pleistocene and early Holocene fluctuations of glaciers in the Canadian and northern American Rockies. Quaternary International 38/39, 7-19. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(96)00026-2.
Perkins, A.J., Brennand, T.A. 2015. Refining the pattern and style of Cordilleran Ice Sheet retreat: Palaeogeography, evolution and implications of lateglacial ice‐dammed lake systems on the southern Fraser Plateau, British Columbia, Canada. Boreas 44, 319-342. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12100.
Perkins, A.J., Brennand, T.A., Burke, M.J. 201e. Genesis of an esker-like ridge over the southern Fraser Plateau, British Columbia: Implications for paleo-ice sheet reconstruction based on geomorphic inversion. Geomorphology 190, 27-39. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomprh.2013.02.005.
Plouffe, A. 2000. Quaternary Geology of the Fort Fraser and Manson River Map Areas, Central British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 554.
Porter, S.C. 1978. Glacier Peak tephra in the north Cascade Range, Washington: Stratigraphy, distribution, and relationship to Lateglacial events. Quaternary Research 10, 30-41. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(78)90011-X.
Porter, S.C., Swanson, T.W. 1998. Radiocarbon age constraints on rates of advance and retreat of the Puget Lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet during the last glaciation. Quaternary Research 50, 205-213. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1998.2004.
Reasoner, M.A., Osborn, G., Rutter, N.W. 1994. Age of the Crowfoot advance in the Canadian Rocky Mountains: A glacial event coeval with the Younger Dryas oscillation. Geology 22, 439-442.
Ryder, J.M. 1978. Geomorphology and late Quaternary history of the Lillooet area. In: A. Stryd, S.R. Lawhead (eds.), Report of the Lillooet Archaeological Project. Number 1. Introduction and Setting, National Museum of Man, Mercury Series, Archaeological Survey of Canada Paper 73, pp. 56-67.
Saunders, I.R., Clague, J.J., Roberts, M.C. 1987. Deglaciation of Chilliwack River valley, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 24, 915-923. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1139/e87-089.
Smith, L.N. 2004. Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and implications for deglaciation and subglacial processes of the Flathead Lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, Flathead Valley, Montana, USA. Sedimentary Geology 165, 295-332. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/sedgeo.2003.11.013.
Taylor, M.A., Hendy, I.L., Pak, D.K. 2014. Deglacial ocean warming and marine margin retreat of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in the North Pacific Ocean. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 403, 89-98. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/epsl.2014.06.026.
Thorson, R.M. 1980. Ice-sheet glaciation of the Puget lowland, Washington, during the Vashon Stade (Late Pleistocene). Quaternary Research 13, 303-321. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(80)90059-9.
Thorson, R.M. 1989. Glacio-isostatic response of the Puget Sound area, Washington. Geological Society of America Bulletin 101, 1163-1174.
Waitt Jr., R.B., Thorson, R.M. 1983. The Cordilleran ice sheet in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. In: S.C. Porter (Ed.), Late-Quaternary Environments of the United States, Vol. 1, The Late Pleistocene, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, pp. 53-70.
Walton, A., Trautman, M.A., Friend, J.P. 1961. Isotopes, Inc. radiocarbon measurements I. Radiocarbon 3, 47-59.
Ward, B.C., Wilson, M.C., Nagorsen, D.W., Nelson, D.E., Driver, J.C., Wigen, B. 2003. Port Eliza cave: North American west coast interstadial environment and implications for human migrations. Quaternary Science Reviews 22, 1383-1388. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00092-1.
Warner, B.G., Mathewes, R.W., Clague, J.J. 1982. Ice-free conditions on the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, at the height of late Wisconsin glaciation. Science 218, 675-677. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1126/science.218.4573.675.
Wilson, J.T., Falconer, G., Mathews, W.H., Prest, V.K. (Compilers) 1958. Glacial Map of Canada. Geological Association of Canada, Toronto, ON.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The authors retain copyright of articles and authorize Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica / Geographical Research Letters the first publication. They are free to share and redistribute the article without obtaining permission from the publisher as long as they give appropriate credit to the editor and the journal.
Self-archiving is allowed too. In fact, it is recommendable to deposit a PDF version of the paper in academic and/or institutional repositories.
It is recommended to include the DOI number.
This journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
