Hudson Bay river sediments and regional glaciation: I. Iron and carbonate dispersal trains southwest of Hudson and James Bays

Abstract

Sands deposited from rivers draining the southwesterly trending watershed of the Cape Henrietta Maria area are enriched in calcite and are characterized by higher calcite/dolomite ratios than the sands from rivers north and south of the cape. This pattern suggests that a train of drift with distinctive carbonate composition extends southwest of Cape Henrietta Maria, indicating a dominant pattern of southwesterly ice flow in this region.Iron contents are highest for sands from rivers on Cape Henrietta Maria, suggesting iron enrichment in the sand fraction of tills in the cape area, and the existence of a broad dispersal train extending southwest of the cape. The dispersal train inferred from the calcite/dolomite ratios overprints part, but not all, of the dispersal train inferred from the iron content.