The Growth and Demise of the Keewatin Dome: New Insights From and Beyond an Inner Core Region of the LIS

The Keewatin Dome was a major ice-dispersal centre of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) during the last glacial cycle(s) in north-central Canada. Its sheer size and foremost effects on glacio-isostatic adjustments and sea levels are important incentives to provide accurate paleo-ice sheet reconstructions. From the early field observations of Tyrrell suggesting a "Keewatin Glacier" to the remote mapping of glacial landform assemblages, subglacial meltwater routes and glacial lake/marine shorelines, the history of this inner core region of the LIS continues to generate important discussions amongst field geologists, glacial geomorphologists and ice-sheet modellers. Recently, modern techniques and approaches for dating glaciated terrains, and for exploring compositional datasets, combined with new high-resolution digital elevation models (i.e., ArcticDEM, LIDAR), have provided new constraints for interpreting glacial landscapes. Important new parameters are available for identifying basal ice thermal regimes, refining the glacial history, and modelling the paleotopography of the LIS over time. Here we seek to bring together contributions from regions influenced by the Keewatin Dome or from other core regions of the LIS with similar or contrasting glacial dynamics, hoping this venue will stimulate new ideas for future Quaternary research in northern Canada.