labsCAUs (Labrador Shelf Seismics at CAU)

The Labrador Shelf on Canada's east coast is a key area for palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic research. During the ice ages, the Canadian hinterland was covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. During the melting, in the transition of the glacial to interglacial ages, large amounts of fresh water drained into the Labrador Sea and the North Atlantic. This runoff occurred via fjords and adjacent valleys.

The aim of the project is to identify suitable sites for drilling, that will allow a detailed reconstruction of the Laurentide Ice Sheet before, during and after the last ice age. Understanding how a huge ice sheet behaves under the influence of (past) climate warming and how the melting processes occur is essential for developing future scenarios for current climate warming. All project activities are carried out in consultation with the local communities in Labrador and Nunavut.