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Faculty of Graduate Studies

Lindsay Worden

  • BSc (University of Victoria, 2024)

Notice of the Final Oral Examination for the Degree of Master of Science

Topic

Reconstructing the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Department of Geography

Date & location

  • Monday, August 10, 2026

  • 9:00 A.M.

  • Clearihue Building

  • Room B007

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

  • Dr. Sophie Norris, Department of Geography, University of Victoria (Supervisor)

  • Dr. Duncan McLaren, Department of Geography, UVic (Member) 

External Examiner

  • Dr. Christopher Darvill, Department of Geography, University of Manchester 

Chair of Oral Examination

  • Dr. Dr. Brian Thom, Department of Anthropology, UVic

     

Abstract

During the regional Last Glacial Maximum, ice expanded from high elevation mountain ranges and coalesced to form the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS). It extended across parts of the continental shelf, overtopping Vancouver Island and coastal British Columbia, Canada; influencing the development of postglacial ecosystems. The timing of retreat of the western CIS margin is currently constrained using direct ages of ice-free conditions and radiocarbon ages of biota along the coast of southeastern Alaska, northern BC, and central BC. Minimum limiting radiocarbon ages are used to constrain the rest of the coast, leaving Vancouver Island without direct ages on deglaciation during the LGM. Large portions of Vancouver Island remain undescribed and without comprehensive glacial geomorphic feature mapping. To address this, in this thesis, 13,522 glacial geomorphic features are identified and mapped using high-resolution remotely sensed data. Field data was collected to support the spatial reconstruction of ice dynamics, including clast fabric data and field-mapping of features. Samples for Beryllium-10 surface exposure dating are combined with previously published radiocarbon ages in a Bayesian statistical model (OxCal v4.4) to support temporal reconstruction of deglaciation. Together, this thesis updates the temporal constraints and spatial margins of the CIS during the LGM and subsequent deglaciation of northern Vancouver Island. Results indicate that the CIS was undergoing complex multiphase ice retreat along its coastal margins, beginning offshore of the present-day coastline and retreating east-southeastward over the span of ~4 ka. Initial advance towards the continental shelf by 19 ka BP was short lived as western coastal areas underwent deglaciation and early repopulation of plants starting 18 ka BP. Subsequent ice thinning of uplands began by at least 16 ka BP and ice tongues rapidly retreated through valleys, with widespread ice-free conditions by at least 14 ka BP.

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