Wisconsinan Late‐glacial environmental change on the southeast Baffin shelf, southeast Baffin Island and northern Labrador

The importance of the Baffin‐Labrador region is explained in terms of the channelling through this area of the mass flux of meltwater from the Laurentide Ice Sheet and the probable effects of this on the thermohaline circulation of the North Atlantic. The chronology of glaciation and deglaciation in the region is summarised. Reference is made to recent marine records from the Baffin Shelf. Isotopic changes recorded in foraminiferal assemblages obtained from marine sediments in the Baffin Shelf‐Labrador Sea area indicate the timing and possible magnitude of meltwater fluxes during the period 14.0‐11.0 ka BP.