First recognition of a Laurentide Ice Stream : Robert Bell on Hudson Strait

Abstract

In papers published in 1895 and 1901, and in undated notes for a 1907 paper he did not deliver or publish, Robert Bell of the Geological Survey of Canada interpreted the pattern of glacial striae, stossing of rock knobs, and surficial sediment composition along the margins of Hudson Strait, between Labrador, Ungava Bay and Baffin Island, as evidence of what he called an ice-stream, a long river-like glacier, fed from Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin, that had moved eastward along the Strait during the Late Glacial period. This was the earliest mention of such a glaciological feature within the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). It was not until ice-streams were recognized in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the 1970’s that Bell’s concept was revived in the next decade and subsequently, in recognition of several ice-streams within the Late Wisconsinan LIS.Dans des articles publiés en 1895 et 1901, et des notes inédites pour lesquelles il n’a pas donné suite ou publié, Robert Bell de la Commission géologique du Canada a interprété le patron des stries glaciaires, le profilage des collines rocheuses et la composition des dépôts superficiels le long des marges du détroit d’Hudson, entre la péninsule du Labrador, la baie d’Ungava et l’île de Baffin, comme étant les indices d’un fleuve de glace, un glacier s’apparentant à une rivière, comme il l’a nommé, alimenté par la baie d’Hudson et le bassin de Foxe, et s’est écoulé vers l’est à travers le détroit pendant la période glaciaire. Il s’agit alors de la première mention d’un tel phénomène pour l’inlandsis laurentidien. Il faudra attendre que les courants de glace de la calotte antarctique-ouest soient reconnus dans les années soixante-dix pour que le concept de Bell soit repris dans les années quatre-vingt et par la suite, par l’identification des nombreux courants de glace de la calotte laurentidienne au Wisconsinien supérieur

Ice streams in the Laurentide Ice Sheet: Identification, characteristics and comparison to modern ice sheets

“…352-353;Brookes, 2007). The term did not appear again in connection with the LIS until Løken and Hodgson (1971) concluded that ice streams were responsible for eroding deep troughs on the continental shelf off the northeast coast of Baffin Island (Fig.…”

Geomorphology under ice streams: Moving from form to process

“…‘ice stream’ or ‘ice current’) in relation to the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) to describe ‘those outer parts of the inland ice which are moving with greater rapidity towards the ice‐fjords than the rest of its outer margin’ (p. 369). Almost two decades on, Bell () used ‘ice stream’ to describe flow in the vicinity of Hudson Strait, which is the first use of the term in relation to a palaeo‐ice sheet (Brookes, ). In a paper entitled ‘Antarctica and Some of its Problems’, Edgeworth () appears to be the first to use the term in relation to that region, noting that ice stream ‘differ from ordinary glaciers in that they are not bounded by rock walls, but are simply slight depressions in the general surface of the inland ice, marking areas where the ice is in more rapid movement than in adjacent areas’ (p. 611).…”

Deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from the Last Glacial Maximum

“…It has been recognised for some time, therefore, that accurate reconstructions of the LIS require a detailed knowledge of the location of ice streams. The first use of the term 'ice stream' in relation to the LIS was by Bell (1895: p. 352-353), who inferred the presence of a "great ice stream" passing through Hudson Strait (see Brookes, 2007). However, it was not until 1981 that Denton and Hughes (1981) attempted to incorporate ice streams into a reconstruction of the entire LIS.…”