The last glaciers finally retreated from this area about 8 500 years ago. As the 3-km thick ice sheet melted, it released a huge volume of soil and rock debris, which is now strung across the landscape in the form of corrugated piles of bouldery moraine, and etched by long eskers extending up to 100 km. Occurring less frequently are outwash aprons of crudely sorted sand and gravel, and raised beach ridges along the shores of phantom preglacial lakes. The resulting undulating terrain is studded with innumerable lakes and ponds. Some of these water bodies formed in "kettle" depressions created when ice blocks, abandoned by the main ice sheet, became engulfed by glacial drift and then melted away[]
Works Cited[]
"Southern Arctic Ecozone Landform and Climate." Ecological Framework of Canada. Web. 11/18/2013 http://ecozones.ca/english/zone/SouthernArctic/land.html