Meltwater Drainage through the Mackenzie Mountains

All three members of this expedition are researchers with a focus on the ice sheets of North America – their extent, their deglaciation and the associated effects on the landscape. The central aim of this fieldwork was to better understand the drainage network created as glacial meltwater passed through the Mackenzie Mountains during the last deglaciation and how this freshwater flux to the Arctic Ocean may have impacted ocean circulation. On 22 June, following a short delay caused by bad weather, the team flew into the Mackenzie Mountains from Norman Wells, setting up basecamp next to their landing site. Over the following days, they conducted short forays into the field of 3-5km, observing the landscape and taking a sample from a boulder deposited by an historic outflow. With their research completed in good time, they flew out on 27 June. It is hoped that their observations, combined with the dating provided by the rock sample, will allow them to reconstruct the region’s drainage network.