A paleolimnological constraint to the extent of the Last Glaciation on northern Devon Island, Canadian High Arctic

Pre-Holocene lacustrine sediments from a small coastal lake on the Truelove Lowland, northeastern Devon Island, Nunavut Territory, Canada, indicate that a viable terrestrial ecosystem existed prior to postglacial marine inundation and subsequent isostatic emergence of the basin. An AMS C-14 age of 38 ka BP on the basal lacustrine unit provides a preliminary geochronological framework. This find has direct implications for regional glacial history, because it argues against both the Late Wisconsinan glaciation of certain coastal lowlands on northern Devon Island, as well as the occupation of Jones Sound by an outlet of the Innuitian Ice Sheet between Devon and Ellesmere islands. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.