Analysis of a Marine Sediment Core from the Key M’Clintock Channel, an Important Deglacial Waterway

Abstract

This research project focuses on the analysis and description of the sedimentology and stratigraphy of marine sediment core 2016805-0041GC from M'Clintock Channel in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). M’Clintock Channel is a vital area in the deglacial history of the CAA, as it was home to repeated ice shelf re-advances, due to high velocity ice streams caused by the collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. This is the first marine sediment core that has been taken from this area, and as a result, will likely contain information about the deglacial history of M'Clintock Channel as well as its transition to a polar marine environment. Thus, it can offer important analogues to present day deglacial ice sheet and ice shelf conditions in the Antarctic and Greenland during the current period of rapid, human-induced, climate change. The goal of the project is to develop a detailed lithostratigraphic log as well as an accurate description of the sediment core. The core will undergo photography, x-ray imaging, x-ray fluorescence and diffraction imaging, the working half will be subsampled for a variety of analyses including carbon dating. The archive half will be described for CaCO3 content, consistency, disturbances, sedimentological structures, as well as cursory grain size analysis. This information will be compiled into a comprehensive lithostratigraphic log, which is a graphical representation of grain size, presence of laminations, color, and other factors present in the core. This log, the core description, and any interpretations gathered will be utilized in published academic articles.

Discipline: Physical Sciences

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mark Furze