| Title | Coastal environments and drivers |
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| Author | Forbes, D L ;
Bell, T; Manson, G K; Couture, N J; Cowan, B; Deering, R L;
Hatcher, S V; Misiuk, B; St-Hilaire-Gravel, D |
| Source | From science to policy in the eastern Canadian Arctic: an integrated regional impact study (IRIS) of climate change and modernization; by Bell, T (ed.); Brown, T (ed.); 2018 p. 210-249  Open Access |
| Links | Online - En ligne (complete volume -
volume complet, pdf, 26.2 MB)
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| Image |  |
| Year | 2018 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20170244 |
| Publisher | ArcticNet (Québec, Canada) |
| Document | book |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Nunavut |
| NTS | 15; 16; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 35M; 35N; 35O; 35P; 36; 37; 38; 39; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 55; 56; 57; 58; 59; 65A; 65H; 65I; 65P; 66A; 66H; 67; 67E; 67H; 68; 69; 78; 79; 120; 340; 560 |
| Area | Eastern Arctic; Canadian Arctic |
| Lat/Long WENS | -110.0000 -52.0000 84.0000 60.0000 |
| Subjects | environmental geology; marine geology; surficial geology/geomorphology; Transport; Nature and Environment; coastal environment; coastal management; climate; bedrock geology; sediments; glacial deposits;
ice conditions; ecosystems; benthos; storms; sea ice; sea level changes; shoreline changes; floods; tides; currents; coastal erosion; glacial history; isostasy; crustal uplift; tsunami; seismicity; permafrost; ground ice; submergence; emergence;
fiords; landslides; Infrastructures; Food security; Navigation; Habitats; Climate change; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Quaternary |
| Illustrations | photographs; location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; time series; graphs; aerial photographs; profiles; satellite images |
| Program | Climate Change Geoscience Coastal Infrastructure |
| Released | 2018 01 01 |
| Abstract | This chapter reviews the physical state and drivers of change on the eastern Nunavut coast, including the effects of climate and sea-level change and related hazards. Ice shelves on the north coast of
Ellesmere Island have declined by 95% since 1900. Storm activity is greatest in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, also the region of maximum fetch. Much of the coast is fetch limited by nearby land and sea ice and some parts of the archipelago have almost
no wave action. While sea ice thus protects the coast, landward ice motion can severely scar the shore zone and damage coastal infrastructure. Thermal erosion of ice-rich sedimentary coasts is a lesser factor in this region than in the Western
Canadian Arctic. Sea-level projections for some communities, particularly in Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin, show continuing rapid uplift and falling sea levels over coming decades. Some parts of Devon, Bylot, and Baffin islands have recent or ongoing
sea-level rise, but proximity to diminishing Greenland and Canadian Arctic land ice will limit future local sea-level rise. In some cases such as Iqaluit, even the sign of sea-level change (rising or falling) is uncertain. Rising sea level can
increase the risk of flooding, wave runup, and ice ride-up, while falling sea level can strand port infrastructure and impede navigation. Landfast sea ice provides an important ecological service to northern residents as a travel and hunting platform
for access to country food. The declining duration and condition of landfast ice are stressing well-being and food security in northern communities. Tsunami risk is another unquantified coastal hazard in fiords of the seismically active Baffin Bay
region. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
This chapter in the eastern Arctic IRIS report describes the coastal features, drivers of change, climate-change effects, and coastal hazards of the
Qikiqtaaluk and Kivalliq regions, Nunavut. Coastal features range from fjords to boulder-strewn tidal flats, cliffs with or without talus, beaches, and low-energy shores on ice clogged coasts. Sea-level projections for communities range from
continued falling sea level to acceleration of sea-level rise. Communities issues include: (1) changes in landfast ice that provides access to country food, (2) higher coastal flooding or runup affecting waterfront infrastructure and culturally
important sites, (3) enhanced coastal erosion , but thermal erosion is less significant here than in the western Arctic, (4) local shore erosion on emergent coasts, (5) coastal ice dynamics, including more frequent ice ride-up and pile-up, (6)
rapidly falling sea levels affecting navigation, and port infrastructure, (7) tsunami risk in the Baffin Bay region. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 306109 |
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