Keynote Presentation: Dr. Sophie Norris

Deglacial Ice Sheet Dynamics Associated with Abrupt Climatic Change

Accurate reconstructions of the timing, rate, and dynamics of past ice sheet evolution are critical for predicting their response to ongoing and future climatic changes. Within Canada, the deglacial timing of the last North American Ice Sheet complex influenced the evolution of some of the world's largest glacial lakes and controlled the timing of early flora and faunal migration into the Americas. Drawing on a multi-method approach that combines high-resolution geomorphological mapping using newly available LiDAR, radiocarbon and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide geochronology techniques and numerical modelling methods, this talk will discuss the rapid deglacial evolution of western Canada. Examples that draw on recently published work, as well as several preliminary datasets, will be used to highlight the sensitivity of these past ice sheets to abrupt climate change at the transition from the last glacial to interglacial.