Inventory of rock glaciers in the Torngat Mountains of northern Labrador

The Torngat Mountains of northern Labrador are an Arctic cordilleran mountain range located at the southern limit of the Canadian Arctic. Sparse observations of periglacial landforms including rock glaciers and ice-cored moraines imply that permafrost may be widespread, but limited in situ information is available for the region. In this study, we provide the first comprehensive feature inventory of intact rock glaciers in the Torngat Mountains of northeast Canada. Prospective features were identified by a team of eight independent mappers using high-resolution satellite imagery. The initial inventory was re-assessed via consensus-building and review stages, resulting in a final inventory of 608 rock glaciers. Rock glaciers were distributed from ~58°N to ~60°N and were primarily concentrated in the northern end of the Torngat Mountains National Park with southern clusters located in high relief coastal mountains near 59°N. The use of a large mapping team and the multistage consensus-based approach maximized feature inclusion and reduced misinterpretation of other features (e.g., debris-covered glaciers, ice-cored moraines, and talus couloirs) for rock glaciers. Our results show the efficacy of consensus-based landform identification for geomorphological mapping in the heterogeneous environment of the Torngat Mountains. Abstract from Way, R.G., Wang, Y., Bevington, A.R., Bonnaventure, P.P., Burton, J., Davis, E., Garibaldi, M.C., Lapalme, C.M., Tutton, R., Wehbe, M.A.E. (2021). Consensus-based rock glacier inventorying in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador. Proceedings of the 2021 Regional Conference on Permafrost & 19th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering. Boulder, Colorado, USA. American Society of Civil Engineers, 130-141. EarthArXiv: https://doi.org/10.31223/X5C60W Imagery from Esri. (2022). World Imagery, https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=10df2279f9684e4a9f6a7f08febac2a9. Accessed from May to September 2020.

Bevington, Alexandre (British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development)

Bonnaventure, Philip (Bonnaventure Lab for Permafrost Science, Department of Geography and Environment, University of Lethbridge)

Burton, Jake (Parks Canada)

Davis, Emma (School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability, Environment 2, University of Waterloo)

Garibaldi, Madeleine (Bonnaventure Lab for Permafrost Science, Department of Geography and Environment, University of Lethbridge)

Lapalme, Caitlin (Independent Researcher)

Tutton, Rosamond (Northern Environmental Geoscience Laboratory, Department of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University)

Wehbe, Mishélle (Bonnaventure Lab for Permafrost Science, Department of Geography and Environment, University of Lethbridge)

The authors would like to acknowledge the Inuit of Nunatsiavut and Nunavik and the Torngat Mountains Cooperative Management Board for supporting research conducted on Inuit lands. The authors would like to thank the Nunatsiavut Government and Parks Canada for direct logistical, financial, and personnel support for this study. We would like to acknowledge Gary Baikie, Dr. Darroch Whitaker, and Jacko Merkuratsuk for their support of glacier and permafrost research activities in the Torngat Mountains. Thank you to our bear guards (Andreas Tuglivina, Boonie Merkuratsuk, Eli Merkuratsuk, John Merkuratsuk) who kept us safe over five field seasons conducting research in Torngats. We would also like to thank Rodd Laing, Carla Pamak, Liz Pijogge, and Dr. Paul McCarney for their logistical and permitting support for activities undertaken in Nunatsiavut. Dr. Antoni Lewkowicz and Alexander Brooker aided with an earlier version of the inventory completed with SPOT5 imagery. The authors would like to acknowledge ArcticNet Inc., Queen’s University, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the W. Garfield Weston Foundation, the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, and the Canadian Polar Commission for supporting glacier and permafrost research activities of authors of this study in the Torngat Mountains. Acknowledgements from Way, R.G., Wang, Y., Bevington, A.R., Bonnaventure, P.P., Burton, J., Davis, E., Garibaldi, M.C., Lapalme, C.M., Tutton, R., Wehbe, M.A.E. (2021). Consensus-based rock glacier inventorying in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador. Proceedings of the 2021 Regional Conference on Permafrost & 19th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering. Boulder, Colorado, USA. American Society of Civil Engineers, 130-141. EarthArXiv: https://doi.org/10.31223/X5C60W

Published

Version 1.0 (2021-2021) - Updated April 21, 2022