The Arctic Beach Environment, South-West Devon Island, N.W.T.

Abstract

<p>Investigations have been carried out in the southern Queen Elizabeth Islands, N.W.T., to determine some of the features and characteristics of the beach environment in that area of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Analysis of beach material from three locations, mapping, profiling, measurement of tidal cycles, and a study of ice conditions have provided some insight into the processes acting upon these beaches. The period when those wave processes which operate freely at lower latitudes are active in the study area is less than two months in the year. The role of ice in preventing wave generation and restricting wave action in the littoral zone greatly reduces the level of marine processes in this sheltered environment. Numerous ice-push ridges were recorded and mapped, but the characteristics of the beach result primarily from the action of infrequent storms. Comparisons with other arctic areas, Cape Thompson and Point Barrow, Alaska, and the Sverdrup Islands, indicate the variety of conditions which exist within the arctic region. These may be related to exposure, or fetch, and the distribution and movement of sea ice which determines the length of time for which waves processes can operate in the littoral zone.</p>