An appraisal of cryostratigraphy in north-west Arctic Canada

Cryostratigraphy involves the recognition of discontinuities in the ice contained within frozen ground. It is supplemented by analyses of the petrography and hydrochemistry of the ice. Direct cryostratigraphic evidence includes cryostructures, thaw unconformities and truncated ice bodies. Cryostratigraphy can be used to infer permafrost and terrain conditions, Quaternary histories and regional climate changes. In the western Canadian Arctic, the utility of the cryostratigraphic approach is illustrated with reference to the occurrence of (1) an early Holocene thaw unconformity and (2) massive ground ice bodies.