A review of government survey mapping and research literature, supplemented by new analysis of remote sensing data was used to produce a glacial map and accompanying geographic information system (GIS) database of landforms associated with the advance and retreat of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets across Alberta during the last glaciation.
Emphasis is placed on landforms that can be associated with specific glaciodynamic conditions and provide insights into the configuration and flow geometry of these ice sheets. Landforms presented in this synthesis include streamlined subglacial bedforms, moraines, ice-thrust moraines, glacially overridden moraines, meltwater channels, eskers, crevasse-fill ridges and erratic dispersal trains.
Most surficial geology mapping in Alberta has been conducted by government surveys over the last 40 years. However, to date, line features from these surficial geology maps have not been synthesized into a single compilation. Moreover, due to the recent availability of the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) bare-earth digital elevation model (DEM) across 303,752 km2 of Alberta (46% of the province), it is now possible to verify, and where possible, augment previous mapping, particularly in regions of dense forest cover that are difficult to map using traditional airphoto-based interpretative methods.
Atkinson, N., Utting, D.J. and Pawley, S.M. (2014): Glacial landforms of Alberta; Alberta Energy Regulator, AER/AGS Map 604