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Late Deglaciation of the Central Labrador Coast and Its Implications for the Age of Glacial Lakes Naskaupi and McLean and for Prehistory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Peter U. Clark  and
William W. Fitzhugh
Peter U. Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-5506 USA
William W. Fitzhugh
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560 USA
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Abstract

The age of the marine limit and associated deglaciation has been estimated from relative sea-level curves for the Hopedale and Nain areas of the central Labrador coast as approximately 7600 ± 200 and 8500 ± 200 yr ago, respectively. These ages indicate that the ice margin remained on the coast for up to 3000 yr longer than previously estimated. Because the central coast is due east of glacial lakes Naskaupi and McLean, the earliest the lakes could have formed was <8500 ± 200 yr ago, with their largest phases being fully established only after 7600 ± 200 yr ago. This suggests that the age of the lakes, and associated deglaciation of the central Labrador-Ungava region, is younger by at least 1500 yr than previously estimated. A late-glacial marine-based ice mass in Ungava Bay that dammed the lakes collapsed ca. 7000 yr ago. Within this time frame, therefore, the glacial lakes only existed for <500 yr. The persistence of the Laurentide Ice Sheet margin on the central Labrador coast until 7600 yr ago probably restricted the northward movement of early prehistoric people into northern Labrador.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , November 1990 , pp. 296 - 305
Copyright
University of Washington

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