GEOLOGY 235 



sea. At Douglas harbour on the same side and near the middle 

 of the strait the highest terraces noted were little over 400 feet. 

 Along the eastern shores of Baffin island terraces were con- 

 stantly seen, which were estimated to rise from 500 to 700 feet 

 above the sea. Schei found terraces with Post-Pliocene fossils 

 at an elevation of 650 feet along the shores of Ellesmere. 



The foregoing evidence shows that at the close of the period 

 of maximum glaciation an uplift occurred to the land through- 

 out the northeastern Arctic region. This uplift is marked by 

 the terraces existing on all the shores, but they fail to agree 

 with the theory that the uplift was greatest where the accumu- 

 lation of ice was greatest. There appears to be no great 

 difference in the height of the terraces in Ellesmere, where the 

 glaciation, never excessive, remains in nearly the same state as 

 when it was at its maximum thickness and of those about the 

 shores of Hudson bay, where an enormous thickness of ice once 

 covered the land and has now entirely disappeared. 



The uplift, which took place in comparatively recent times, 

 geologically speaking, does not appear to be going on at present, 

 as all the historical evidence relating to the Hudson bay region 

 points to a remarkable stability in the coastal regions from the 

 time of the first records dating back to the voyage of Munck in 

 1619. 



The present glacial conditions of the Arctic islands has been 

 noted in another part of this report, and it need only be here 

 stated that the lands fronting upon Hudson bay and Hudson 

 strait are now free from glaciers, the nearest approach being 

 the occurrence of detached snow banks in protected positions, 

 which remain throughout the year. The most southern glacier 

 is the Grinnell glacier situated on the north side of the high 

 land separating Hudson strait from Frobisher bay, and plainly 

 seen crowning the summit of the north shore of Hudson strait 

 for a distance of more than fifty miles. This glacier is not very 

 21* 



