Landscape evolution in the Arctic

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The proposed research makes use of two new technologies in geosciences: an improved method for determining the history of how rapidly a deeply buried rock (several km) was exhumed and is now at the Earth's surface; and a new method for dating how long a surface has been exposed to cosmic radiation. Together, these new technologies will be employed to provide answers to long-standing questions in the Arctic. These questions include: Why is there such high mountains and deep valleys along a mountain range that extends from the Torngat Mountains in northern Quebec and Labrador, along northeastern Baffin Island and Devon Island, to Ellesmere Island. Other research addresses questions related to the history of erosion of Arctic landscapes over different time periods. The research is useful to reduce risk in mineral and petroleum exploration by contributing to mapping rocks of economic potential in the Arctic, providing information needed to improve basin and thermal models employed in the petroleum industry, and helping refine the way the mineral exploration is done in areas where glaciers may or may not erode the ore bearing rocks.