This report presents the first comprehensive summaries of Quaternary geology and landscape evolution for the Melville Peninsula, glaciated by the Wisconsin Laurentide Ice. After an introduction on the bedrock geology and physiography of the study area, sections of the report describe the area's surficial materials and landforms, including till, glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine deposits and landforms, marine deposits and landforms; dispersal trains and ice dynamics; glaciation and ice flow in the study area; deglaciation of the various parts of the peninsula; glacial and postglacial sea-level changes, and their interpretation; the regional context of glaciation and sea-level change; the economic and environmental geology of Quaternary materials such as permafrost and patterned ground forms; postglacial faulting and neotectonics; and till geochemistry, with reference to drift prospecting models.

"This report describes the surficial geology of 64,000 km2 of Canada's most northern mainland and complements of a similar report on Somerset Island which lies immediately north of Boothia Peninsula being separated from it by the very narrow waters of Bellot Strait. The report discusses the potential use of geological information to future land use projects and to mineral exploration and presents new interpretations regarding the structure and dynamics of the northern part of the last ice sheet to cover Canada." --

First published in 1985, Quaternary Environments represents the culmination of Quaternary research in the region of Baffin Island, Baffin Bay and West Greenland over a period of twenty years and it will serve as a timely and complementary balance to the paleo- oceanographic studies in the NE North Atlantic. The region of Baffin Island, Baffin Bay and West Greenland is probably the best place in the world to examine the interactions between ice, land and oceans on timescales of a few hundred to many thousands of years. Two introductory chapters outline the history of research and the physical background. In Part II the evidence for glacial erosion and deposition over the eastern Canadian Arctic is examined and the history of the Baffin Island continental shelf is described. Part III deals with the paleo- oceanography of Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea through an examination of deep-sea cores dated by several different methods. In Part IV there is a comprehensive account of the stratigraphy of Baffin Island, Bylot Island, and West Greenland, from the Pliocene to the late Wisconsin. Part V examines the climatic effects of the past 10,000 years, considering evidence from pollen analysis, glacier fluctuations, changes of sea level and the response of early (Eskimo) man. This important volume will interest all quaternary scientists, especially those in glaciology, glacial geology, marine geology, and geomorphology.

Over 460 references arranged by subject category, with an author index.