View of the northwest-facing side of "Camp" Glacier (B7)

Location: Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada

View of the northwest-facing side of "Camp" Glacier (B7), 2 to 3 km up-ice from its snout. Note the debris band with the boudin-like structure consisting of a knot of debris deformed along a shear discontinuity on the left side of the image, about halfway up the face. The debris in the lateral moraine, which is poorly developed here, has mostly fallen off the surface of the glacier. Many boulders have shattered as a result, producing angular clasts and fine sediment. For more photos of the boudin and “Camp” Glacier’s lateral deposits, see images 0159 and 0165, respectively. Also note that “Camp” Glacier has not receded from its neoglacial position at all and generally has a poorly developed lateral moraine. These may be due to a lack of a cover of supraglacial debris that would absorb radiation and enhance ablation. In this respect, “Camp” glacier is quite different from the similarly sized and situated Aktineq Glacier, which is located less than 10 km away, has a significant supraglacial load, and has retreated significantly from its neoglacial position. (Based on the cosmogenic dating that Shirley McCuaig did as part of her M.Sc. research at Carleton University, glaciers in this region of Bylot Island were as far advanced in the twentieth century as they have been in the past 50,000 to 60,000 years (McCuaig, 1994).

Updated 03/30/2010 AW