SCHROEDER, Catherine Treena - 1993

A Morphological Analysis of the Lunenburg Drumlin Field, Nova Scotia, Canada

Of all landscape features, drumlins are perhaps one of the most suitable for morphometric analysis. The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate the variance of drumlin morphologies within the Lunenburg drumlin field and relate it to local glacial flow.

Data were collected from 685 drumlins using twenty-three 1:10 000 orthophoto map sheets. The variables which were looked at specifically were shape (length, width, and height), orientation, and density. Variances in shape were tested statistically using the Mann-Whitney U-test.

It was discovered that there are significant differences within the field, which can only be explained by variances in glacial conditions, such as ice velocity, thickness and stress. The findings of this study, such as elongated drumlins through the centre of the field, and higher densities of drumlins at the margins, are similar to those of researchers studying other drumlin fields.

Although it has not been the purpose of this thesis to address the problem of drumlin origin, observations of the geomorphology and structure of these features may provide some indications of formative processes.