The glacial geomorphology of the Mackenzie Mountains region, Canada

During the Last Glacial Maximum, the Mackenzie Mountains region was glaciated by three distinct ice sources; the Laurentide Ice Sheet, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, and independent montane glaciers. Rapid ice sheet thinning of the Laurentide-Cordilleran ice saddle in the south of this region contributed to rapid sea level rise events and influenced the style of deglaciation to the north. The current understanding of the glacial history of the broader region has been established through mapping from aerial imagery and early surveys between the early 1970s to the 2010s. The central portions of the Mackenzie Mountains have not yet been mapped. We present a new glacial geomorphological map for the Mackenzie Mountains region covering over 220,000 km2. This updated geomorphological map will form the basis of future work to reconstruct the former maximum ice extents, flow dynamics, and retreat pattern.

末次冰盛期（Last Glacial Maximum）期间，麦肯齐山脉区域曾受到三类不同冰源的冰川覆盖：劳伦泰德冰盖（Laurentide Ice Sheet）、科迪勒拉冰盖（Cordilleran Ice Sheet）以及独立山地冰川。该区域南部的劳伦泰德-科迪勒拉冰鞍快速发生冰盖变薄，这一过程引发了快速海平面上升事件，并对北部的冰退模式产生了影响。当前学界对该更广区域冰川历史的认知，是基于1970年代初至2010年代的航空影像测绘与早期勘测工作建立的，但麦肯齐山脉的中部区域尚未完成测绘。本研究绘制了覆盖面积超22万平方千米的麦肯齐山脉区域全新冰川地貌图（glacial geomorphological map）。这份更新后的地貌图将作为后续研究的基础，用于重建该区域古冰盖的最大分布范围、流动动力学特征与退缩模式。