| Title | Surficial geology, coastal waters, Island of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Download | Downloads |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Shaw, J; Potter, D P |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin 605, 2015, 130 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/293728  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2015 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Eastern offshore region; Newfoundland and Labrador |
| NTS | 1K; 1L; 1M; 1N; 2C; 2D; 2E; 2F; 11O; 11P; 12A; 12B; 12G; 12H; 12I; 12P |
| Area | Placentia Bay; St. George's Bay; Cape Angille; Cape Ray; Bay de Loup; Hermitage Bay; Fortune Bay; Avalon; Seal Cove; Motion Bay; St. John's Harbour; Bay d'Espoir; Connaigre Bay; Northeast Arm; Conception
Bay; Trinity Bay; Bonavista Bay; Newman Sound; Clode Sound; Chandler Reach; Swale Tickle; Cape Freels; Dog Bay; Fogo Island; Notre Dame Channel; Hamilton Sound; Gander Bay; Notre Dame Bay; New Bay; Seal Bay; Badger Bay; Bay of Exploits; Long Island;
Sunday Cove Island; Halls Bay; Little Bay; Green Bay; Bay Verte Peninsula; White Bay; Strait of Belle Isle; Great Northern Peninsula; Coney Head; Conche Harbour; Bonne Bay; Port au Port Bay; Bay of Islands |
| Lat/Long WENS | -60.0000 -52.5000 51.7500 46.5000 |
| Subjects | geophysics; marine geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; bathymetry; seafloor topography; marine sediments; geophysical surveys; acoustic surveys, marine; sonar surveys; side-scan sonar; marine
environments; glacial deposits; glacial landforms; glacial features; moraines; drumlins; megaflutes; seabottom topography; biota; ecosystems; lithostratigraphy; submarine features; submarine fans; erosion; coastal studies; coastal erosion; coastal
environment; sediment transport; submarine transport; deglaciation; ice movement directions; glaciation; LiDAR; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | location maps; aerial photographs; images; seismic reflection profiles; seismic profiles |
| Program | Offshore Geoscience |
| Released | 2015 12 01 |
| Abstract | This bulletin is a synthesis of several decades of Geological Survey of Canada research into the surficial geology of the inner continental shelf around the Island of Newfoundland, and the geomorphology
of adjacent coastlines. Based on analyses of data from multibeam-sonar surveys, other marine surveys, and from coastal mapping, the island is divided into fourteen regions, each with distinctive surficial geology and coastal geomorphology. The
evidence of glaciation is dominant in all regions, and includes: 1) streamlined landforms formed in the onset areas of ice streams; 2) arcuate submarine moraines formed by glacial standstills at the mouths of west and south coast fiords; 3)
transverse moraines formed by standstills within fiords; and 4) swarms of De Geer moraines formed during ice retreat. The seafloor of the inner shelf is imprinted by relict iceberg furrows and pits in all fourteen regions, but a modern population is
recognized only off the east and northeast coasts. Evidence of lowered postglacial sea levels is found in submerged deltas and wave-cut platforms at various depths off the southwest and south coasts. The zone of modern sediment mobility is relatively
wide on the shallow inner shelves off southwest and northeast Island of Newfoundland, and relatively narrow elsewhere. The multibeam-sonar imagery reveals a wide range of submarine landforms and processes, including active submarine fans in west
coast fiords, an inner-shelf submarine canyon off the southwest coast, and large-scale erosion of the seafloor in Placentia Bay and off Bay of Islands. Anthropogenic modification of the seafloor is most intense near Corner Brook (Bay of Islands) and
in parts of Placentia Bay, and includes submarine landslides triggered by port construction. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
This document describes the marine geology of the continental shelf in Newfoundland coastal waters. It is a comprehensive synthesis of GSC marine
geological research in the region from the 1980s onwards. For purposes of description, the inner shelf is divided into 14 regions, each with distinctive characteristics. The seafloor character is interpreted using multibeam sonar data, which
provides a wealth of information unavailable when relying solely on geophysical surveys. The 14 regions display a wide spectrum of seafloor terrains: complex bedrock structures; glacial landforms; submerged deltas and shorelines; areas of
deposition, erosion, and sediment mobility; areas of modern and relict iceberg impact; methane escape structures; submarine landslides; and areas of industrial seafloor modification. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 293728 |
|
|