| An investigation of tabular massive ground ice was conducted to ascertain if ground ice has distinctive characteristics that could be measured and used to determine the origin of the ice.; Initial studies were conducted on Bylot Island in the eastern Canadian Arctic, where some glaciers are rapidly retreating, resulting in buried massive ground ice. The environments with the greatest potential for the burial and preservation of massive ice were first examined and the processes of burial identified. It was determined that glacier end and lateral moraines have the greatest potential for preserving massive ice.; Ground penetrating radar (GPR) methodology was developed for imaging the subsurface geometry and structure of glaciers, icing, and ground ice bodies. GPR was shown to be effective for mapping icing and glacier geometry, hydrology and subbottom structure, and possibly thermal conditions. GPR also proved effective at delineating the size and thickness of massive ground ice bodies. This revealed that the ice core in lateral and end moraines around Stagnation Glacier are continuous and extensive.; Physical property analyses indicated that some ice types could not be differentiated on their physical properties alone. A methodology was thus developed for extracting and analyzing the gaseous component of ice which would provide a differentiating technique. This method enabled the measurement of the chemical and isotopic composition of the ice and gases, and direct age determination of the ice by radiocarbon dating of the CO{dollar}sb2{dollar} in the bubbles. In testing the technique in the proglacial environment on Bylot Island, the environmental history of the site was linked to the more extensive ice core records from Greenland and Devon Island.; Along with the other ice property analysis techniques, the gas analysis techniques were applied to three sites across the western Canadian Arctic (Peninsula Point, North Point, and Herschel Island). It was discovered that ground ice bodies in the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula and on Herschel Island were considerably younger than had been reported previously.; In a detailed study of the massive ground ice at Peninsula Point it was determined that the ice mass developed from the segregation of ice formed from a ground water source. The ground water probably originated as glacial meltwater, with several different sources, each with different isotopic signatures. |
