Relict Shorelines and Ice Flow Patterns of the Northern Puget Lowland From Lidar Data and Digital Terrain Modelling

Authors: Dori J. Kovanen; Olav Slaymaker

Source: Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography, Volume 86, Number 4, December 2004 , pp. 385-400(16)

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Abstract:

Airborne lidar data from the northern Puget Lowland provide information on the spatial variability and amplitude of raised postglacial shorelines, marine deltaic features and glaciomarine sediments deposited between approximately c. 12 920 and 11 050 ¹⁴C yr BP (15 960-12 364 cal yr BP). Relict shorelines preserved in embayments on Whidbey and Camano islands (between 47°54 prime

N and 48°24 prime

N) are found up to an altitude of c. 90 m and record glacio-isostatic movements attributed to postglacial rebound. The tilt of the regional minimum highstand sea level surface to the north of 0.80 m km^-1, with local variability from 0.25 m km^-1 to 0.77 m km^-1, is consistent with previous studies (Thorson 1989; Dethier et al. 1995). The local variability is related to the uncertainty in the depth of the water column above these features at the time of deposition and probable tectonic deformation. The information generated by these lidar data is most valuable in posing new research questions, generating alternative research hypotheses to those already formulated in the northern Puget Lowland.

Keywords: sea level change; relict shorelines; lidar data; digital terrain modelling; postglacial uplift; Puget Lowland

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0435-3676.2004.00239.x

Affiliations: 1: 1Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

Publication date: 2004-12-01