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The Fraser Glaciation in the Cascade Mountains, southwestern British Columbia Waddington, Betsy Anne
Abstract
The objective of this study is to reconstruct the history of glaciation from the start of Fraser (Late Wisconsinan) Glaciation to the end of deglaciation, for three areas in the Cascade Mountains. The Cascade Mountains are located between the Coast Mountains and the Interior Plateau in southwestern British Columbia. The Coast Mountains were glaciated by mountain glaciation followed by frontal retreat, whereas the Interior Plateau underwent ice sheet glaciation followed by downwasting and stagnation. The Cascades were supposed to have undergone a style of glaciation transitional between these two. Terrain mapping on air photographs followed by field checking was used to locate surficial materials and landforms indicative of glaciation style and pattern. All three study areas were glaciated by mixed mountain and ice sheet glaciation. At the start of Fraser Glaciation, alpine and valley glaciers formed around higher summits as occurred in the Coast Mountains. At the glacial maximum the entire area was covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Deglaciation was largely by continuous downvalley retreat of active glaciers, contrasting with downwasting and stagnation in the Interior Plateau, and frontal retreat in the Coast Mountains. The scarcity of fresh moraines in the cirques suggests that, unlike in the Coast Mountains, most cirque glaciers were not active at the end of glaciation. Only the highest north facing cirques remained above the local snowline throughout deglaciation and, as a result, glaciers in these valleys remained active and retreated up valley. The pattern of glaciation in the Cascade Mountains was similar to that of other areas which underwent mixed mountain and ice sheet glaciation, such as the Presidential Range in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, mountain ranges in west central Maine and the Insular Mountains on Vancouver Island. However, deglaciation in al l areas was complex and depended strongly on local conditions. For this reason local patterns cannot be predicted easily on the basis of glaciation style. The value of an understanding of glaciation style to improve the accuracy of terrain mapping was also investigated. It was found that the model developed for the Cascade Mountains was of some use in predicting the presence of fine-textured material in valley bottoms and for the prediction of glaciofluvial material overlying till . However fine-textured sediments were not found in al l valleys which were predicted to contain them. The model appears to be most useful as an indicator of where to concentrate field checking in order to locate fine-textured sediments.
Item Metadata
Title |
The Fraser Glaciation in the Cascade Mountains, southwestern British Columbia
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1995
|
Description |
The objective of this study is to reconstruct the history of
glaciation from the start of Fraser (Late Wisconsinan)
Glaciation to the end of deglaciation, for three areas in the
Cascade Mountains. The Cascade Mountains are located between
the Coast Mountains and the Interior Plateau in southwestern
British Columbia. The Coast Mountains were glaciated by
mountain glaciation followed by frontal retreat, whereas the
Interior Plateau underwent ice sheet glaciation followed by
downwasting and stagnation. The Cascades were supposed to have
undergone a style of glaciation transitional between these
two.
Terrain mapping on air photographs followed by field checking
was used to locate surficial materials and landforms
indicative of glaciation style and pattern. All three study
areas were glaciated by mixed mountain and ice sheet
glaciation. At the start of Fraser Glaciation, alpine and
valley glaciers formed around higher summits as occurred in
the Coast Mountains. At the glacial maximum the entire area
was covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Deglaciation was
largely by continuous downvalley retreat of active glaciers,
contrasting with downwasting and stagnation in the Interior
Plateau, and frontal retreat in the Coast Mountains. The
scarcity of fresh moraines in the cirques suggests that,
unlike in the Coast Mountains, most cirque glaciers were not
active at the end of glaciation. Only the highest north facing
cirques remained above the local snowline throughout
deglaciation and, as a result, glaciers in these valleys
remained active and retreated up valley.
The pattern of glaciation in the Cascade Mountains was similar
to that of other areas which underwent mixed mountain and ice
sheet glaciation, such as the Presidential Range in New
Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, mountain ranges in
west central Maine and the Insular Mountains on Vancouver
Island. However, deglaciation in al l areas was complex and
depended strongly on local conditions. For this reason local
patterns cannot be predicted easily on the basis of glaciation
style.
The value of an understanding of glaciation style to improve
the accuracy of terrain mapping was also investigated. It was
found that the model developed for the Cascade Mountains was
of some use in predicting the presence of fine-textured
material in valley bottoms and for the prediction of
glaciofluvial material overlying till . However fine-textured
sediments were not found in al l valleys which were predicted
to contain them. The model appears to be most useful as an
indicator of where to concentrate field checking in order to
locate fine-textured sediments.
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Extent |
14143027 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-01-15
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0086815
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2005-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
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Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.