Postglacial Recession of Niagara Falls in Relation to the Great Lakes

1994 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith J. Tinkler ◽  
James W. Pengelly ◽  
William G. Parkins ◽  
Gary Asselin
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Upper Great Lakes ◽  
Niagara River ◽  
Niagara Falls ◽  
Ottawa River ◽  
Valley Fill ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recession Rates ◽  
Late Wisconsinan

AbstractThe recessional history of Niagara Falls in the present Niagara Gorge during the postglacial period has been a focus of study throughout this century. Radiocarbon ages of clam shells suggest that Niagara Falls migrated very slowly around the narrowed gorge section at Niagara Glen from 10,500 to 5500 yr B.P., when upper Great Lakes water bypassed Lake Erie and flowed to the Ottawa River via the outlet at North Bay, Ontario. Prior to that interval, river discharge and recession rates were similar to those at present, and similar rates resumed after 5200 yr B.P. By about 4500 yr B.P., the present gorge had intersected a buried gorge of the pre-late Wisconsinan Niagara River (St. Davids Gorge). The sediment derived from the excavated buried valley fill may be present as a distinct marker horizon in the sediments in southwestern Lake Ontario.

Contamination Hazard from Waste Disposal Sites near Receding Great Lakes Shorelines

1989 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.P. Coakley
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Groundwater Contamination ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Waste Site ◽  
Shore Zone ◽  
Upper Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Waters ◽  
Hydrogeological Information

Abstract Of the approximately 4000 waste disposal sites in Ontario, more than 230 are located within 5 km of the shoreline of the lower Great Lakes. Sixty sites are within 1 km of the shore. Unlike the more resistant bedrock shores of the Upper Great Lakes, the shoreline between Midland (Georgian Bay) and Kingston (Lake Ontario) is composed primarily of unlithified glacial deposits, and thus is prone to significant erosion. This report presents an examination of the potential for contamination of nearshore lake waters either directly through shoreline recession at the waste site, or indirectly through the transport to the lake of leachates from the nearby sites via groundwater discharges. Recession-related hazards were identified at three sites (two on Lake Ontario and one on Lake Erie). Groundwater contamination hazards were harder to identify due to insufficient subsurface and hydrogeological information. However, 31 sites, less than 0.2 km from the shore, were identified as potentially hazardous; 19 of these were located in the northern Lake Ontario shore zone.

The construction and operation of the First, Second, and Third Welland canals

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-483
Author(s):  
John N. Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Water System ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
The West ◽  
Niagara River ◽  
Niagara Falls ◽  
Water Power ◽  
Niagara Escarpment ◽  
Grand River

The Welland canals are features of great Canadian renown in terms of engineering, as transportation arteries, and through their contributions to industrial development and urban achievement. Their instigator was William Hamilton Merritt, a St. Catharines businessman. Functionally, they must be perceived as an inland extension of the St. Lawrence system of waterways. These contributions began when the First Welland Canal opened in 1829, and extend continuously up to the present. The First Welland Canal, fed from the Grand River, was constructed through the canalization of rivers north of the Niagara Escarpment, by locks across this relief barrier, and a man-made cut to the south. The canal then took advantage of the Welland and Niagara rivers to reach Lake Erie. Hardly a feature of this achievement was as anticipated and, in 1833, the route was changed by a cut direct to Lake Erie at Port Colborne. The Second Canal, opened in 1845, followed essentially the same route, but with stone locks and a new channel constructed slightly to the west of its predecessor. The Third Canal was wider and deeper. It offered fewer locks and, though retaining Port Dalhousie as its northern outlet on Lake Ontario, its alignment was now a cut east of St. Catharines and Thorold across the Ontario Plain. The Second Canal remained in use at the two ends for the smaller-sized vessels to serve St. Catharines and Thorold, and its water supply continued to power industry until hydroelectricity was obtained from the power projects on the Niagara River at Niagara Falls. Key words: Welland Canal, St. Lawrence–Great Lakes water system, William Hamilton Merritt, transportation, Grand River, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, water power, industrial location, urban growth.

Distribution and Dispersal of the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in the Great Lakes Region

1991 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 1381-1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald W. Griffiths ◽  
Donald W. Schloesser ◽  
Joseph H. Leach ◽  
William P. Kovalak
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
Western Basin ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Detroit River ◽  
Niagara River ◽  
Nuisance Species ◽  
Small Mussel

Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas), a small mussel common throughout most of Europe, was discovered in June of 1988 in the southern part of Lake St. Clair. Length–frequency analyses of populations from the Great Lakes and review of historical benthic studies suggest that the mussel was introduced into Lake St. Clair in late 1986, probably as a result of the discharge of ballast water from an ocean-crossing vessel. Following the 1990 reproductive season, Dreissena populations ranged from the head of the St. Clair River, through Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, the Welland Canal, and the Niagara River to the western basin and southern shoreline of Lake Ontario. Isolated populations were found in the St. Lawrence River and in harbours in Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. The rapid dispersal of this organism has resulted from its high fecundity, pelagic larval stage, bysso-pelagic drifting ability of juveniles, and human activities associated with commercial shipping, fishing, and boating (research and pleasure). Virtually any waterbody that can be reached by boaters and fisherman within a few days travel of the lower Great Lakes, particularly Lake Erie, seems to be at risk of being invaded by this nuisance species.

Interpretation of lithofacies of the Ashtabula Till along the south shore of Lake Erie, northeastern Ohio

1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Szabo ◽  
Pierre W. Bruno
Keyword(s):  
Lake Erie ◽  
Carbonate Content ◽  
Mass Wasting ◽  
The South ◽  
Depositional History ◽  
Waves And Currents ◽  
History Of ◽  
South Shore ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Wave Erosion

The final advance of the Erie lobe into Ohio during the Port Bruce Stade of the Late Wisconsinan deposited the Ashtabula Till. Wave erosion and mass wasting along the south shore of Lake Erie show that the Ashtabula Till consists of laterally traceable lithofacies, which are used to determine the depositional history of the Ashtabula Till. At each section, lithofacies sequences are divided into two sub-sequences, each consisting of massive, matrix-supported diamicton (Dmm) overlain by stratified, matrix-supported diamicton (Dms). Some Dmm are sheared (Dmm(s)) and are interpreted as lodgement till, whereas other Dmm and Dms were deposited as melt-out till. Some sections contain lenses of fines (Fm and Fl), current-reworked diamictons (Dmm(c) and Dms(c)), and resedimented diamictons (Dmm(r) and Dms(r)). The two sub-sequences represent two advances of Ashtabula ice that deposited the Euclid and Painesville moraines about a kilometre apart. During and after recession of the Ashtabula ice, waves and currents in Lake Maumee and its successors reworked outwash and diamictons to form the lake plain. The texture of Dmm(s) is significantly different from that of most other diamictons, and Dmm has the smallest carbonate content of all diamictons. Analysis of the variations in texture and composition among lithofacies provides additional evidence of the effectiveness of lithofacies logging in interpretation of glacial processes.

scholarly journals Subspecific identification of the Great Lakes' first Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) using DNA

2015 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Jeffrey H. Skevington ◽  
James Pawlicki ◽  
Scott Kelso ◽  
Kevin C.R. Kerr ◽  
Marcie Jacklin
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Control Region ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Genomic Dna ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Niagara River ◽  
Sula Leucogaster ◽  
First Time

The first Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) recorded in the Great Lakes basin was discovered on Lake Erie near the source of the Niagara River on 7 October 2013 by J. P. Morphologic evidence suggested that this bird was an adult female of the nominate Atlantic subspecies. We obtained genomic DNA from feces left by the bird. Mitochondrial DNA from the control region (CR2) was sequenced and compared with extensive CR2 data for Brown Booby available in GenBank; this corroborated the morphologic hypothesis. This is the first time that a vagrant bird in Canada has been identified using DNA extracted from feces.

Quaternary stratigraphy and history, Williams Lake, British Columbia

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Clague
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Stream Channels ◽  
Valley Fill ◽  
Braided Streams ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet ◽  
Sand And Gravel

Thick valley-fill sediments in the vicinity of Williams Lake, British Columbia, provide a detailed record of the late Quaternary history of an area near the centre of the former Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Stratigraphic units assigned to the late Wisconsinan Fraser Glaciation, the preceding (penultimate) glaciation, and the present interglaciation are described. Especially noteworthy are (1) thick units of sand and gravel deposited by braided streams, perhaps during periods of ice-sheet growth; and (2) complex glaciolacustrine sediments that accumulated in ice-dammed lakes during periods of deglaciation.Glaciers from the Coast and Cariboo mountains coalesced and flowed north over central British Columbia during late Wisconsinan time. Fraser Glaciation advance sediments and older Pleistocene deposits were partially removed by this ice sheet, and the eroded remnants were mantled with till. At the end of the Fraser Glaciation, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet downwasted and retreated southward along an irregular front across the study area. Parts of the ice sheet stagnated and disintegrated into tongues confined to valleys. Sediment carried by melt streams flowing from decaying ice masses was deposited in glacial lakes, in stream channels, and on floodplains.

Isotopic Composition of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in the Great Lakes

1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Weiler ◽  
J. O. Nriagu
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Total Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Upper Great Lakes ◽  
Industrial Sewage ◽  
Carbon Concentrations ◽  
Isotopic Effects

Values for the δ13C of the dissolved total inorganic carbon in the Great Lakes are presented. The surface values are about two parts per thousand more negative than the values to be expected assuming equilibrium with the atmospheric CO2 reservoir. In the hypolimnion of Lake Erie, the values become more negative as the summer progresses due to the increasing amounts of CO2 from decaying organic matter. Although Lakes Erie and Ontario receive considerably larger amounts of organic carbon as domestic and industrial sewage effluents than the upper Great Lakes, their higher inorganic carbon concentrations evidently mask any isotopic effects from the decay of the organic pollutants. Models to explain the variation in the δ13C in the hypolimnion and epilimnion of a lake are presented. The agreement between predicted and observed δ13C trends for the hypolimnion model is reasonable, suggesting that the flux rates assumed in the model are reasonable for the processes occurring in the lakes. Key words: carbon isotopes, Great Lakes, inorganic carbon, models

Pollen-bearing sediments of the St. Davids buried valley fill at the Whirlpool, Niagara River gorge, Ontario

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. F. Karrow ◽  
J. Terasmae
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Niagara River ◽  
Valley Fill ◽  
Lacustrine Deposits ◽  
Late Wisconsinan

Continued studies of the buried St. Davids gorge, an ancient valley of the Niagara River, have indicated that the upper part of this gorge was filled in mid-Wisconsinan time and later. Lacustrine sediments dated at 23 000 years B.P. were deposited in the gorge when the late Wisconsinan ice caused the water level to rise in the Lake Ontario basin by blocking the eastern outlet, prior to over riding the Niagara area. Palynological studies support the correlation of the dated lacustrine deposits in the gorge with the Plum Point Interstade of southern Ontario.

The Late Wisconsinan deglacial history of the east-central Taseko Lakes area, British Columbia

1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1509-1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Huntley ◽  
Bruce E. Broster
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Fraser River ◽  
Glacial Lakes ◽  
East Central ◽  
Valley Fill ◽  
Drainage Patterns ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Cordilleran Ice Sheet

Late Wisconsinan Fraser Glaciation retreat-phase deposits and landforms in the east-central Taseko Lakes area, British Columbia, are used to demonstrate a four-phase model of deglaciation. During phase I, at the onset of ice retreat, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet occupied much of the study area, blocking southward drainage of Fraser River. Phase II was marked by the deglaciation of uplands and plateaux. Meltwater drainage patterns were controlled by stagnating glaciers confined to valleys. Phase III commenced as remnant ice in the Fraser Valley downwasted to between 850 and 760 m elevation. At this time, interlobate glacial lakes formed in hanging valleys east of Fraser River. Drainage of glacial lakes occurred subglacially, and was accompanied by disintegration of remnant ice and an increase in mass movements in valleys. These events were followed by decreased sedimentation rates, reflecting lower meltwater volumes and exhaustion of unstable glacial debris during phase IV. Postglaciation valley fill was subject to fluvial degradation and terracing as modern drainage patterns became established.

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