Garth A. Prime

Two cores were obtained from the Baie Verte estuary of the Northumberland Strait to study relative sea level changes by examination of foraminiferal distributions.

The base of the cores contained a layer of salt marsh peat which can be accurately used to relocate former sea levels. Distinct vertical faunal assemblages observed in the cores indicate that there has been a change in the foraminiferal environments of the estuary during the last 5,000 years. The development of the estuary has resulted in the original, nontransitional estuary being transformed into the transitional system which exists today in the area. Evidence suggests that this change was due to alteration of circulation patterns in the estuary.

The implication for sea level changes indicates that a short period of emergence occurred at approximately 5,000 years B.P. This was followed by a continuous submergence to the present time. Thus, the evidence provides support for the models which have been developed to explain the migration of the peripheral bulge that followed deglaciation in the Maritimes.

A comparison of this study with one done in the same area by McRoberts (1968) indicates variations in the results obtained. In particular, large populations of arenaceous foraminifera found in the cores of the present study were not observed in McRoberts' (1968) core. The result has been different interpretations of events in the area related to relative sea level changes since the last glaciation.

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Pages: 54
Supervisors:  Franco Medioli / D. B. Scott