LiDAR-based geospatial analysis of glacial landforms in the aspiring Georgian Bay UNESCO Geo Park – Year Two

Canada has been glaciated many times in the last 2.5 million years and large ice sheets many kilometres thick have profoundly affected Canadian landscapes by eroding rocks and moving sediment. Using data from modern ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, glacial geologists have very recently recognized the imprint of fast flowing corridors of ice with ancient ice sheets called ice streams creating a new paradigm in understanding ancient continental-scale ice bodies. The key to recognizing and mapping ancient ice streams is newly developed high resolution laser techniques (Light Detection and Ranging) which now provide hitherto unavailable detail of the Earth’s surface and the typical landforms created under fast flowing ice streams. A systematic program of LIDAR mapping of glacial landforms around Georgian Bay will provide new data on the last ice sheet and its mode of flow and its effects on the landscape including the erosion of Georgian Bay and other Great Lake basins.

Faculty Supervisor:

Nick Eyles

Student:

Partner:

The Midland Cultural Centre

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Education; Tourism; Environmental Science and Technology

University:

University of Toronto

Program: