The 13 papers in this collection examine the coastal regions, the Gulf of Maine, and the continental shelf off of Atlantic Canada in context with new radiocarbon age analyses, providing a detailed history of climate changes, marine transgression, emergence, and relative sea- level history. Specific topics include deglaciation of the Gulf of Maine, Late Quaternary morphogenesis of a marine-limit delta plain in southwest Maine, morainal banks and the deglaciation of coastal Maine, and glacial dynamics, deglaciation, and marine invasion in southern Quebec. Material originated at a March 1998 symposium held in Maine at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America. Weddle is affiliated with the Maine Geological Survey. Retelle teaches geology at Bates College. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.
The 13 papers in this collection examine the coastal regions, the Gulf of Maine, and the continental shelf off of Atlantic Canada in context with new radiocarbon age analyses, providing a detailed history of climate changes, marine transgression, emergence, and relative sea- level history. Specific topics include deglaciation of the Gulf of Maine, Late Quaternary morphogenesis of a marine-limit delta plain in southwest Maine, morainal banks and the deglaciation of coastal Maine, and glacial dynamics, deglaciation, and marine invasion in southern Quebec. Material originated at a March 1998 symposium held in Maine at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Section of the Geological Society of America. Weddle is affiliated with the Maine Geological Survey. Retelle teaches geology at Bates College. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.
This book is the second of three volumes in which the recent knowledge of the extent and chronology of Quaternary glaciations has been compiled on a global scale. This information is seen as a fundamental requirement, not only for the glacial community, but for the wider user-community of general Quaternary workers. In particular the need for accurate ice-front positions is a basic requirement for the rapidly growing field of palaeoclimate modelling. In order to provide the information for the widest-possible range of users in the most accessible form, a series of digital maps was prepared.The glacial limits were mapped in ArcView, the Geographical Information System (GIS) used by the work group. Included with the publication is a CD with digital maps, showing glacial limits, end moraines, ice-dammed lakes, glacier-induced drainage diversions and the locations of key sections through which the glacial limits are defined and dated. The last deglaciation is also shown in 500 year time-steps. The digital maps in this volume cover the USA and Canada and include Greenland and Hawaii. Both overview maps and more detailed maps at a scale 1: 1,000,000 are provided.Also available:Part I: Europe, ISBN 0-444-51462-7Part III: South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, ISBN 0-444-51593-3
We live in a world where the loss of sea ice and thawing of coastal grounds in the north, and renewed marine transgression and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events globally, are becoming commonplace. This volume presents a timely examination of coasts, the geological environment at particular risk, as global warming brings on this new reality. In 23 papers, low lying, mainly siliciclastic coasts are reviewed, described and analysed, under a variety of climates in quasi-stable tectonic settings along passive, trailing-continental edges from Polar Regions to the Tropics. Examples include coast of the Arctic seas, temperate to tropical eastern shores of the Americas, western Portugal, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, South Africa and Australia. The entire coastal zone (landscape) is considered ranging from geophysical processes and products to biological entities including the adaption of Native People in various climatic zones. Knowledge of the state of the coasts now, and how the coastal plain has evolved since Late Pleistocene, is crucial for any realistic planning for the future.
This book reviews advances in understanding of the past ca. two million years of Earth history - the Quaternary Period - in the United States. It begins with sections on ice and water - as glaciers, permafrost, oceans, rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Six chapters are devoted to the high-latitude Pleistocene ice sheets, to mountain glaciations of the western United States, and to permafrost studies. Other chapters discuss ice-age lakes, caves, sea-level fluctuations, and riverine landscapes. With a chapter on landscape evolution models, the book turns to essays on geologic processes. Two chapters discuss soils and their responses to climate, and wind-blown sediments. Two more describe volcanoes and earthquakes, and the use of Quaternary geology to understand the hazards they pose. The next part of the book is on plants and animals. Five chapters consider the Quaternary history of vegetation in the United States. Other chapters treat forcing functions and vegetation response at different spatial and temporal scales, the role of fire as a catalyst of vegetation change during rapid climate shifts, and the use of tree rings in inferring age and past hydroclimatic conditions. Three chapters address vertebrate paleontology and the extinctions of large mammals at the end of the last glaciation, beetle assemblages and the inferences they permit about past conditions, and the peopling of North America. A final chapter addresses the numerical modeling of Quaternary climates, and the role paleoclimatic studies and climatic modeling has in predicting future response of the Earth's climate system to the changes we have wrought.
This volume contains chapters spanning from the role of geochemistry in the environment in general to specific investigations on site characterization (sampling strategy, analytical procedures and problems). Specific articles deal with health problems related to environment pollution, waste disposal, data base management, and provide illustrations of specific case histories of site characterization and remediation of brownfield sites.* Comprehensive analysis providing background information ranging from geochemistry in general to specific investigations* Provides practical insight through case study material* Informs and updates students and practitioners on hot topics, latest trends and developments
This critical book focuses on the geomorphological landscapes of eastern Canada and provides a companion volume to “Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada” (2017). There are a number of unique characteristics of eastern Canada’s landscapes, notably its magnificent coastlines, the extraordinary variety and extent of wetlands, the huge Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, the high incidence of meteorite craters, the spectacular Niagara Falls, urban karst in Montreal and Ottawa, youthful, glaciated karst in Ontario, Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia, the ubiquitous permafrost terrain of Nunavut, Labrador and northern Quebec and the magnificent arctic fjords and glaciers. Looking at coastlines, the tidal extremes of the Bay of Fundy are world renowned; the structural complexity of the island of Newfoundland is less well known, but produces an astounding variety of coastlines in close succession; the arctic fjordlands of Baffin and Ellesmere islands and the extravagant raised beaches of Hudson Bay bear comparison with the classic fjords of Norway and the Baltic Sea raised beaches. As for wetlands, there are distinctive Arctic, Subarctic, Boreal, Eastern Temperate and Atlantic wetlands, and their extent is second only to those of Russia. In the Hudson and James Bay regions, between 75-100% of the terrestrial surface is comprised of wetlands. One of North America’s largest river basins, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence basin, has its source in Minnesota, straddles the USA-Canada border and debouches into Quebec as the St. Lawrence River and evolves through its estuary into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a journey of almost 5,000 km. As far as meteorite craters are concerned, 10% of the world’s total are located in eastern Canada, including some of the largest and most complex landforms. They are preserved preferentially in the ancient Shield terrain of Quebec. Finally, the three million km2 of permafrost controlled relief in eastern Canada serves as a reminder of the vulnerability of eastern Canada’s landscapes to climate change. Effects of warming are expressed through thawing of the permafrost, disruption of transportation corridors and urban construction problems, ever-present geomorphic hazards.
