The objective of this study is to reconstruct the history of glaciation from the start of Fraser (Late Wisconsinan) Glaciation to the end of deglaciation, for three areas in the Cascade Mountains. The Cascade Mountains are located between the Coast Mountains and the Interior Plateau in southwestern British Columbia. The Coast Mountains were glaciated by mountain glaciation followed by frontal retreat, whereas the Interior Plateau underwent ice sheet glaciation followed by downwasting and stagnation. The Cascades were supposed to have undergone a style of glaciation transitional between these two. Terrain mapping on air photographs followed by field checking was used to locate surficial materials and landforms indicative of glaciation style and pattern. All three study areas were glaciated by mixed mountain and ice sheet glaciation. At the start of Fraser Glaciation, alpine and valley glaciers formed around higher summits as occurred in the Coast Mountains. At the glacial maximum the entire area was covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Deglaciation was largely by continuous downvalley retreat of active glaciers, contrasting with downwasting and stagnation in the Interior Plateau, and frontal retreat in the Coast Mountains. The scarcity of fresh moraines in the cirques suggests that, unlike in the Coast Mountains, most cirque glaciers were not active at the end of glaciation. Only the highest north facing cirques remained above the local snowline throughout deglaciation and, as a result, glaciers in these valleys remained active and retreated up valley. The pattern of glaciation in the Cascade Mountains was similar to that of other areas which underwent mixed mountain and ice sheet glaciation, such as the Presidential Range in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, mountain ranges in west central Maine and the Insular Mountains on Vancouver Island. However, deglaciation in al l areas was complex and depended strongly on local conditions. For this reason local patterns cannot be predicted easily on the basis of glaciation style. The value of an understanding of glaciation style to improve the accuracy of terrain mapping was also investigated. It was found that the model developed for the Cascade Mountains was of some use in predicting the presence of fine-textured material in valley bottoms and for the prediction of glaciofluvial material overlying till . However fine-textured sediments were not found in al l valleys which were predicted to contain them. The model appears to be most useful as an indicator of where to concentrate field checking in order to locate fine-textured sediments.

The objective of this study is to reconstruct the history of glaciation from the start of Fraser (Late Wisconsinan) Glaciation to the end of deglaciation, for three areas in the Cascade Mountains. The Cascade Mountains are located between the Coast Mountains and the Interior Plateau in southwestern British Columbia. The Coast Mountains were glaciated by mountain glaciation followed by frontal retreat, whereas the Interior Plateau underwent ice sheet glaciation followed by downwasting and stagnation. The Cascades were supposed to have undergone a style of glaciation transitional between these two. Terrain mapping on air photographs followed by field checking was used to locate surficial materials and landforms indicative of glaciation style and pattern. All three study areas were glaciated by mixed mountain and ice sheet glaciation. At the start of Fraser Glaciation, alpine and valley glaciers formed around higher summits as occurred in the Coast Mountains. At the glacial maximum the entire area was covered by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Deglaciation was largely by continuous downvalley retreat of active glaciers, contrasting with downwasting and stagnation in the Interior Plateau, and frontal retreat in the Coast Mountains. The scarcity of fresh moraines in the cirques suggests that, unlike in the Coast Mountains, most cirque glaciers were not active at the end of glaciation. Only the highest north facing cirques remained above the local snowline throughout deglaciation and, as a result, glaciers in these valleys remained active and retreated up valley. The pattern of glaciation in the Cascade Mountains was similar to that of other areas which underwent mixed mountain and ice sheet glaciation, such as the Presidential Range in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, mountain ranges in west central Maine and the Insular Mountains on Vancouver Island. However, deglaciation in al l areas was complex and depended strongly on local conditions. For this reason local patterns cannot be predicted easily on the basis of glaciation style. The value of an understanding of glaciation style to improve the accuracy of terrain mapping was also investigated. It was found that the model developed for the Cascade Mountains was of some use in predicting the presence of fine-textured material in valley bottoms and for the prediction of glaciofluvial material overlying till . However fine-textured sediments were not found in al l valleys which were predicted to contain them. The model appears to be most useful as an indicator of where to concentrate field checking in order to locate fine-textured sediments. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Trends in soil chemistry are studied on a 300 meter long hillslope in the Cascade Mountain Range of southwestern British Columbia. Although trends are not wholly consistent from horizon to horizon, the following general statements can be made: pH tends to increase downslope; exchangeable calcium, exchangeable magnesium and cation exchange capacity decrease noticeably downslope; carbon may decrease slightly downslope; nitrogen, carbon/nitrogen ratio, percent base saturation, exchangeable sodium and exchangeable potassium remain effectively constant downslope. Soil chemistry is shown to be related to horizon, slope position and parent material. Variability among chemical species increases in the sequence: pH, percent base saturation, carbon/nitrogen ratio, cation exchange capacity, nitrogen, exchangeable calcium, percent carbon, exchangeable potassium, exchangeable sodium, exchangeable magnesium. Variability fluctuates among soil horizons but not so noticeably with slope position. A slight increase in variability with the size of the area sampled is evident. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate