Boulder barricades in an emerging hypertidal environment: the case of Ungava Bay, northern Quebec, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT Boulder barricades are poorly documented Holocene coastal landforms of Arctic and Subarctic regions. To understand the terrain factors and coastal processes explaining the occurrences of boulder barricades, we mapped and described these periglacial landforms along the emerging hypertidal coast of Ungava Bay, in Nunavik, northern Quebec, Canada. This study examines the spatial distribution as well as the different types and configurations of boulder barricades, and identifies and discusses the formation processes of these ridges, which are affected by the ongoing glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) process. We distinguish four types of ice-formed boulder ridges: low-tide-, intertidal-, high-tide- and raised boulder barricades. Our results highlight the importance of specific terrain factors (coastal configurations, intertidal and backshore slopes, widths of intertidal zones, susceptibility to coastal erosion) and related coastal processes (ice-pushing and ice-rafting intensified by strong tidal currents), forming these different types of barricades. Due to the GIA process, this coastal region is characterized by a large number of evolutionary sequences (i.e. flights) of boulder barricades, from the intertidal zone to the emerged landscape. These sea-ice-related landforms have significant effects on the coastal geomorphology of the Ungava Bay region by successively enclosing and isolating many ponds and lakes.