The Holocene sedimentary record of Mittie Glacier dynamics in Smith Bay, Ellesmere Island (eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago)

Abstract

The physical, sedimentological, mineralogical, and elemental geochemical properties of sediment cores collected in Smith Bay (22BC and 01PC), and near the front of Mittie Glacier (23BC and 01GC), were used to reconstruct glacial sediment discharge and trace the long‐term composition and provenance of detrital sediments for the northeastern part of Manson Icefield, southeast Ellesmere Island, over the last 9.2 cal ka BP. The mineralogical and geochemical signatures of core 01GC support the hypothesis of the gradual opening of Nares Strait between 8.8 and 8.2 cal ka BP and suggest a progressive retreat of glaciers surrounding Smith Bay. Lower sedimentation rates ( −1 ) recorded in core 01GC during the Middle Holocene, combined with the presence of coarse‐grained sediments, indicate a landward retreat of Mittie Glacier and sea‐ice free conditions during summer in Smith Bay from 5.4 to 3 cal ka BP. During the Late Holocene, the deposition of six coarse‐grained layers close to Mittie Glacier seems to have been triggered by subglacial lake discharges upstream of its western arm. The only known surge of Mittie Glacier, recorded between 1992 and 2007, is identified in the core 23BC by a marked increase in coarse‐grained sediment input.

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