| Abstract | Huntec high resolution acoustic records and airgun records were studied to refine the acoustic mapping units for the southeastern Baffin Shelf. The distribution of these units was updated from Praeg and others' map (1986). A new surficial acoustic map was generated to join Praeg's (1986) and Josenhans' (1986) earlier maps. Seven sediment cores were studied for their sedimentologic and faunal properties. Sedimentologic analyses included: visual and X-ray description, texture analysis, carbonate analysis, organic matter content, and mass susceptibility. These analyses were used to define the sediments according to "lithotypes" for the Resolution and Hatton Basins. Six lithotypes were defined for the two basins. There is a higher range of variation in organic matter and carbonate content in the Resolution Basin then there is in the Hatton Basin. The Hatton Basin sediments all contain high carbonate and low organic matter. Faunal analyses included the identification of foraminiferal species in sixty samples from three cores. Three other cores, or fifty-four samples, were included in the study. Dominant taxa were used to define assemblage zones. Using this method, eight assemblage zones from the basins and the continental slope were defined, and used to infer paleoenvironmental and paleoceanographic conditions. Twenty radiocarbon dates were submitted and received from the National Science Foundation's Accelerator Mass Spectrometer facility at the University of Arizona. These dates were found to follow the same bimodal distribution as dates from the surrounding land mass. The acoustic evidence, along with the sedimentologic and faunal properties of the sediments, was used to delineate the extent of ice for the last two glacial events on the southeastern Baffin Shelf. Cover by an ice shelf or possibly, by year-round pack ice is documented for the Resolution Basin from between 11,100 BP and 10,800 BP; whereas another ice advance is recorded in the Hatton Basin at around 8,500 BP. The older of the two may be an event equivalent to the Younger Dryas in eastern Europe. |