Matt Ferguson

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) was used to examine meso-scale (dam - km) glacial landforms on North Mountain and the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. Meso-scale glacial landforms are difficult to identify under forest cover using traditional methods, but record important glacial dynamics information. High resolution, "bald Earth", digital elevation models (DEM's) produced from LiDAR data were used to identify surficial and glacial landforms that were not detected with previous mapping methods. An esker system north of Annapolis Royal and drumlinoids in the Annapolis Valley support previously controversial interpretations of northwestward ice flow across North Mountain towards the Bay of Fundy. Numerous wave-cut terraces which have truncated the lower elevations of the esker system north of Annapolis Royal during late glacial sea-level transgression (12-14 ka) are mappable from the high resolution DEM's. The morphosequence concept has been formally applied for the first time in Nova Scotia, based on the meso-scale glacial landforms in the project area. A previously unidentified esker system was discovered south of Annapolis Royal. These esker systems are a source of aggregate for the construction industry (the new system contains >750 x 10 3 T of potentially economically viable aggregate).

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Pages: 51
Supervisors: Tim Webster, Applied Geomatics Research Group, Centre of Geographic Sciences, Nova Scotia Community College / John Gosse