History of sedimentation in the northwestern Lake Superior basin and its relation to Lake Agassiz overflow

1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1660-1673 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Teller ◽  
Paul Mahnic
Keyword(s):  
Lake Superior ◽  
Proximal Part ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Nearshore Processes ◽  
Postglacial History ◽  
Thunder Bay ◽  
Clayey Silt ◽  
History Of ◽  
Glacial Advance

Following the Marquette glacial advance, which blocked the eastern outlets of Lake Agassiz and reached northern Michigan about 10 000 years BP, the ice margin wasted back toward the northeast, eventually allowing Lake Agassiz to overflow into the Lake Superior basin through a series of channels. Sediments deposited east of Thunder Bay near the mouth of the Wolf, Wolfpup, Shillabeer, and Black Sturgeon channels reflect three phases in the history of Lake Superior and provide the basis for reconstructing the early postglacial history of the region.The lower part of the sedimentary sequence in the northwestern Superior Basin consists of a distinctive red, stoney, sandy till deposited during the Marquette glacial advance and is overlain by pink rhythmites deposited in Lake Superior when it was a deep proglacial lake at the Minong level. The nearly 300 rhythmites deposited at this time typically consist of 4 cm thick silt + clay couplets, which are punctuated by silt laminae and sandy turbidites that probably represent major thaw periods or storms. These are seasonal rhythmites, deposited prior to the reopening of the Lake Agassiz outlets into the Superior Basin, and they display a decrease in dropstones, grain size, and thickness upsection that reflects a receding ice margin.The first eastern outlets of Lake Agassiz were uncovered around 9500 years BP, and water began overflowing into the Superior Basin in a series of catastrophic floods. Subaqueous fans developed at the Wolf, Wolfpup, and Shillabeer confluence and at the mouth of the Black Sturgeon channel. Large sandy turbidites, 45–65 cm thick, were deposited in the proximal part of these fans, with scouring and large (1 m) trough cross-beds resulting from the largest Lake Agassiz floods. These sediments are transitional to distal, clayey silt rhythmites, 10–22 cm thick. A gradual decrease in flooding from Lake Agassiz is reflected in the upward decrease in rhythmite thickness to 1–3 cm by about 8200 years BP. The final sequence of sediments shows a transition to sandy units as water levels dropped in the Superior Basin and the influence of nearshore processes increased.

Late Quaternary History of Lake Manitoba, Canada

1981 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Teller ◽  
William M. Last
Keyword(s):  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
The South ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Barrier Beach ◽  
South Basin ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
History Of

AbstractThe postglacial history of Lake Manitoba has been deduced from a study of the changes in physical, mineralogical, and chemical variables in sediment cores collected from the lake. Six lithostratigraphic units are recognized in the South Basin of the lake. Weakly developed pedogenic zones, reflecting dry or extremely low water conditions in the basin, separate five of these six units. The initial phase of lacustrine sedimentation in the Lake Manitoba basin began shortly after 12,000 yr B.P. as water was impounded in front of the receding glacier to form Lake Agassiz. By 11,000 yr ago, continued retreat of the ice sheet opened lower outlets to the east and much of Lake Agassiz drained, including the Lake Manitoba basin. Water levels again rose at 9900 yr B.P., but by about 9200 yr B.P. the South Basin was again dry. For the next 4700 yr there was an alternation of wet and dry conditions in the basin in response to the interaction of a warmer and drier climate and differential crustal rebound of the basin. About 4500 yr ago a new phase of Lake Manitoba sedimentation was initiated when the Assiniboine River began to discharge into the South Basin. The Assiniboine River was diverted out of the Lake Manitoba watershed about 2200 yr ago. Erosion and redistribution of the sandy deltaic sediments deposited by the Assiniboine River has created the barrier beach that now separates the extensive marsh to the south of the lake from the main lake.

Ecosystem development in the Girdwood area, south-central Alaska, following late Wisconsin glaciation

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 971-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Ager ◽  
P. E. Carrara ◽  
J. P. McGeehin
Keyword(s):  
Picea Sitchensis ◽  
Coastal Forest ◽  
Postglacial History ◽  
South Central ◽  
Tundra Vegetation ◽  
History Of Vegetation ◽  
Clayey Silt ◽  
Birch Trees ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tsuga Mertensiana

Pollen analysis of two cores with discontinuous records from a peat bog near Girdwood, in south-central Alaska, provides the basis for reconstructing the first radiocarbon-dated outline of postglacial history of vegetation in the upper Turnagain Arm area of Cook Inlet. Pollen data from clayey silt underlying peat at one site indicate that the earliest known vegetation in the Girdwood area was shrub–herb tundra. Tundra vegetation developed by ∼13 800 cal years BP, soon after local retreat of glacial ice from the maximum position of the Elmendorf glacial advance (∼15 000 – 11 000 cal years BP). By ∼10 900 cal years BP, the tundra vegetation became shrubbier as Betula nana , Salix , and Ericales increased, and scattered Alnus shrubs began to colonize Turnagain Arm. By ∼9600 cal years BP, Alnus thickets with Polypodiaceae ferns became the dominant vegetation. By ∼6600 cal years BP, birch trees ( Betula neoalaskana , B. kenaica ) from the Anchorage and Kenai lowlands began to spread eastward into eastern Turnagain Arm. Mountain hemlock ( Tsuga mertensiana ) began to colonize the Girdwood area by ∼3400 cal years BP, followed soon after by Sitka spruce ( Picea sitchensis ), both Pacific coastal forest species that spread westward from Prince William Sound after a long migration from southeastern Alaska. For at least the past 2700 cal years, Pacific coastal forest composed mostly of Tsuga mertensiana , Picea sitchensis , and Alnus has been the dominant vegetation of eastern Turnagain Arm.

Chronology and significance of a Holocene sedimentary profile from Clear Creek, Lake Erie shoreline, Ontario

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1133-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Barnett ◽  
J. P. Coakley ◽  
J. Terasmae ◽  
C. E. Winn
Keyword(s):  
Lake Erie ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Oxbow Lake ◽  
Main Stream ◽  
Present Level ◽  
Pollen Diagram ◽  
Postglacial History ◽  
Abandoned Channel ◽  
Stream System ◽  
History Of

An abandoned channel of Clear Creek, cut approximately 5 m below the present level of Lake Erie, was cored and the infilling sediments were examined. The postglacial history of this channel was reconstructed based on sedimentological, palynological, and chronological studies.The channel was cut initially some 15 m into Wentworth Till during the low-water Early Lake Erie stage. The infilling or aggradation of the channel began about 9500–9000 years BP, probably in response to rising water levels in the Lake Erie basin.This channel was cut off from the main channel shortly afterwards and an oxbow lake formed. By 7000 years BP, complete cutoff of the channel from the main stream system had occurred, allowing peat to accumulate. Eventually trees grew on this site, 4000 years BP.The diversion of glacial Lake Nipissing drainage into the Lake Erie basin may be reflected in the greater abundance of silt laminations in the peat of the upper part of the channel fill between 5975 ± 150 (BGS-899) and 3900 ± 100 (BGS-898) years BP.A rise in water level in the Lake Erie basin possibly over the Clear Creek site is recorded by the "drowning" of the forest shortly after 3900 ± 100 (BGS-898) years BP and the truncation of the Clear Creek site pollen diagram.

The Future City on the Inland Sea: A History of Imaginative Geographies of Lake Superior by Eric D. Olmanson

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-152
Author(s):  
Terrianne K. Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Lake Superior ◽  
Imaginative Geographies ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of

Late Wisconsinan glacial stratigraphy and history of southeastern Manitoba

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Teller ◽  
Mark M. Fenton
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Rocks ◽  
Lacustrine Sediment ◽  
Precambrian Rock ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Boundary ◽  
Late Wisconsinan

The history of Late Wisconsinan glaciation in southwestern Manitoba has been established by identifying and correlating ice-laid lithostratigraphic units in the subsurface. Five Late Wisconsinan tills are defined on the basis of their texture, mineralogic composition, and stratigraphic position. These new formations are, from youngest to oldest, Marchand, Whitemouth Lake, Roseau, Senkiw, and Whiteshell Formations.Late Wisconsinan ice first invaded southeastern Manitoba 22 000 to 24 000 years ago. This Laurentide glacier advanced from the northeast across the Precambrian Shield and deposited the sandy Whiteshell and Senkiw tills, which contain abundant Precambrian rock fragments and minerals and few Paleozoic carbonate grains. Shortly after this, Keewatin ice advanced from the northwest over Paleozoic carbonate rocks, depositing the loamy carbonate-rich Roseau Formation throughout most of the area. This ice remained over southeastern Manitoba until after 13 500 years ago, when it rapidly retreated northward with Lake Agassiz on its heels. Two brief glacial readvances occurred. The first overrode Lake Agassiz lacustrine sediment as far south as central North Dakota shortly after about 13 000 years ago. The clayey Whitemouth Lake till was deposited in southern Manitoba at this time. After a rapid retreat, the ice briefly pushed southward over southeastern Manitoba about 12 000 years ago to just south of the International Boundary. The sandy carbonate-rich Marchand Formation was deposited at this time as the ice overrode its own sandy outwash. By 11 000 years ago, ice had disappeared from southeastern Manitoba.

Holocene glacier history of northeastern Cordillera Darwin, southernmost South America (55°S)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Scott A. Reynhout ◽  
Michael R. Kaplan ◽  
Esteban A. Sagredo ◽  
Juan Carlos Aravena ◽  
Rodrigo L. Soteres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Glacial History ◽  
Dry Period ◽  
The North ◽  
Southward Shift ◽  
History Of ◽  
Glacial Expansion ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Glacial Advance

Abstract In the Cordillera Darwin, southernmost South America, we used 10Be and 14C dating, dendrochronology, and historical observations to reconstruct the glacial history of the Dalla Vedova valley from deglacial time to the present. After deglacial recession into northeastern Darwin and Dalla Vedova, by ~16 ka, evidence indicates a glacial advance at ~13 ka coeval with the Antarctic Cold Reversal. The next robustly dated glacial expansion occurred at 870 ± 60 calendar yr ago (approximately AD 1150), followed by less-extensive dendrochronologically constrained advances from shortly before AD 1836 to the mid-twentieth century. Our record is consistent with most studies within the Cordillera Darwin that show that the Holocene glacial maximum occurred during the last millennium. This pattern contrasts with the extensive early- and mid-Holocene glacier expansions farther north in Patagonia; furthermore, an advance at 870 ± 60 yr ago may suggest out-of-phase glacial advances occurred within the Cordillera Darwin relative to Patagonia. We speculate that a southward shift of westerlies and associated climate regimes toward the southernmost tip of the continent, about 900–800 yr ago, provides a mechanism by which some glaciers advanced in the Cordillera Darwin during what is generally considered a warm and dry period to the north in Patagonia.

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