Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T03:47:59.510Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Deglaciation History of the Lake Superior Region and its Climatic Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Matti Saarnisto
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A zone of synchronous end moraines has been recognized in the Lake Superior region across northern Ontario and Michigan. The moraines were formed between 11,000 and 10,100 y.a. as cold climate resulted in successive halts in the general ice retreat. The cold climate is also indicated by the presence of tundra near Lake Superior until about 10,000 y.a. This episode is here referred to as the Algonquin Stadial. It was preceded and followed by rapid deglaciation. The Algonquin Stadial is comparable in age with the Younger Dryas Stadial of Europe, and indicates a reversal in the continuous trend toward a warmer climate during Late-Wisconsin (an) time. The apparent conflict between the present result (based on geologic evidence) and earlier pollen stratigraphical studies with no reversal is discussed.

Glacial Lake Duluth formed in the western Lake Superior basin before 11,000 BP, followed by a series of Post-Duluth lakes between approximately 11,000 and over 10,100 BP. The Main Lake Algonquin stage in the Huron and Michigan basins terminated approximately 11,000 BP. The subsequent high-level post-Main Algonquin lakes, which were contemporaneous with the Post-Duluth lakes, existed in the southeastern Lake Superior basin. When the ice margin was along the north shore 9500 BP Lake Minong occupied the whole Lake Superior basin. By 9000 BP the ice had retreated north of Lake Superior-Hudson Bay divide.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , September 1974 , pp. 316 - 339
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature(1961). Code of stratigraphic nomenclature. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 45, 645–665.Google Scholar
Anderson, S.Th., (1954). A late-glacial pollen diagram from southern Michigan U.S.A. Danmarks Geologiske Undersøgelse. II Raekke 80, 140–155.Google Scholar
Antevs, E., (1925). Retreat of the last ice sheet in eastern Canada. Geological Survey of Canada Memoir 146, 142.Google Scholar
Antevs, E., (1928). The Last Glaciation, with Special Reference to the Ice Retreat in Northeastern North America. American Geographical Society Research Series 17, 292.Google Scholar
Boissonneau, A.N., (1965a). Surficial geology, Algoma-Cochrane. Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, Map S365 scale 1:506,880.Google Scholar
Boissonneau, A.N., (1965b). Surficial geology, Algoma, Sudbury, Timiskaming and Nipissing. Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, Map S465 scale 1:506,880.Google Scholar
Boissonneau, A.N., (1966). Glacial history of Northeastern Ontario I. The Cochrane-Hearst area. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 3, 559–578.Google Scholar
Boissonneau, A.N., (1967). Glacial history of Northeastern Ontario II. The Timiskaming-Algoma area. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 5, 97–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broecker, W.S., Farrand, W.R., (1963). Radiocarbon age of the Two Creeks Forest Bed, Wisconsin. Geological Society of American Bulletin 74, 795–802.Google Scholar
Calkin, P.E., (1970). Strand lines and chronology of the glacial Great Lakes in northwestern New York. Ohio Journal of Science 70, 78–96.Google Scholar
Chapman, L.J., (1954). An outlet of Lake Algonquin at Fossmill, Ontario. Proceedings of the Geological Association of Canada 6, 61–68pt. 2.Google Scholar
Craig, A.J., (1972). Pollen influx to laminated sediments: a pollen diagram from northeastern Minnesota. Ecology 53, 46–57.Google Scholar
Cushing, E.J., (1967). Late-Wisconsin pollen stratigraphy and the glacial sequence in Minnesota. Cushing, E.J., Wright, H.E. Jr., Quaternary Paleoecology Yale University Press, New Haven 59–88.Google Scholar
Davis, M.B., (1965). Phytogeography and palynology of Northeastern United States. Wright, H.E. Jr., Frey, D.G., The Quaternary of the United States Princeton University Press, Princeton 377–401.Google Scholar
Davis, M.B., (1967). Late-glacial climate in northern United States: a comparison of New England and the Great Lakes region. Cushing, E.J., Wright, H.E. Jr., Quaternary Paleoecology Yale University Press, New Haven 11–43.Google Scholar
Davis, M.B., (1969). Climatic changes in Connecticut recorded by pollen deposition at Rogers Lake. Ecology 50, 409–422.Google Scholar
Donner, J.J., (1971). Towards a stratigraphical division of the Finnish Quaternary. Societas Scientiarum Fennica, Commentationes Physico-Mathematicae 41, 281–305.Google Scholar
Dreimanis, A., (1969). Late-Pleistocene lakes in the Ontario and Erie basins. Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research. Ann Arbor 1969170–180.Google Scholar
Dreimanis, A., Karrow, P.F., (1972). Glacial History of the Groat Lakes-St. Lawrence region, the classification of the Wisconsin (an) Stage, and its correlatives. 24 International Geological Congress. MontrealQuaternary Geology 5–15Section 12.Google Scholar
Elson, J.A., (1967). Geology of glacial Lake Agassiz. Mayer-Oakes, W.J., Life, Land and Water, Conference on Environmental Studies of the Glacial Lake Agassiz region, Proceedings University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg 37–96.Google Scholar
Farrand, W.R., (1960). Former Shorelines in Western and Northern Lake Superior Basin. Ph.D. dissentation University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 226.Google Scholar
Farrand, W.R., (1962). Postglacial uplift in North America. American Journal of Science 260, 181–199.Google Scholar
Farrand, W.R., (1969). The Quaternary history of Lake Superior. Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the International Association for Great Lakes research. Ann Arbor 1969181–197.Google Scholar
Florin, M.-B., Wright, H.E. Jr., (1969). Diatom evidence for persistence of stagnant glacial ice in Minnesota. Geological Society of America Bulletin 80, 695–704.Google Scholar
Fries, M., (1962). Pollen profiles and recent sediments at Weber Lake, northeastern Minnesota. Ecology 43, 295–308.Google Scholar
Gadd, N.R., (1963). Surficial geology, Chalk River, Ontario and Quebec. Geological Survey of Canada Map 1132 A.Google Scholar
Harrison, J.E., (1972). Quaternary geology of the North Bay-Mattawa region. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 71-26, 37.Google Scholar
Hough, J.L., (1958). Geology of the Great Lakes. University of Illinois Press, Urbana 313.Google Scholar
Huber, N.K., (1973). Glacial and Postglacial Geologic History of Isle Royale National Park, Michigan. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 754-A, 14.Google Scholar
Hughes, O.L., (1965). Surficial geology of part of the Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. Geological Society of America Special Paper 84, 535–565.Google Scholar
Hyvarinen, H., (1973). The deglaciation history of eastern Fennoscandia—recent data from Finland. Boreas 2, 85–102.Google Scholar
Jelgersma, S., (1962). A late-glacial pollen diagram from Madelia, southcentral Minnesota. American Journal of Science 260, 522–529.Google Scholar
Lasalle, P., (1966). Late Quaternary vegetation and glacial history in the St. Lawrence Lowlands, Canada. Leidse Geologische Mededelingen 38, 91–128.Google Scholar
Leverett, F., (1929). Moraines and shore lines of the Lake Superior region. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 154-A, 72.Google Scholar
Lewis, C.F.M., (1969). Late Quaternary history of lake levels in the Huron and Erie basins. Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research. Ann Arbor 1969250–270.Google Scholar
Livingstone, D.A., Livingstone, B.G.R., (1958). Late-glacial and post-glacial vegetation from Gillis Lake in Richmond County, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. American Journal of Science 256, 341–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirynech, E., (1963). Pleistocene Geology of the Trenton-Campbellford Map-Area, Ontario. Ph.D. dissertation University of Toronto 160.Google Scholar
Mott, R.J., (1968). A radiocarbon-dated marine algal bed of the Champlain Sea episode near Ottawa, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 5, 319–324.Google Scholar
Niemelä, J., (1971). Die quartäre Stratigraphie von Tonablagerungen und der Rückzug der Inlandseises zwischen Helsinki und Hämeenlinna in Südfinnland. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 253, 79.Google Scholar
Prest, V.K., (1970). Quaternary Geology of Canada. Department of Energy, Mines and Resources 676–764Chapter 12, Geology and Economic minerals of Canada, Economic Geology Report. No. 1.Google Scholar
Ritchie, J.C., de Vries, B., (1964). Contributions to the Holocene paleoecology of west central Canada. A late-glacial deposit from the Missouri Coteau. Canadian Journal of Botany 42, 677–692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saarnisto, M., (in press). Stratigraphical studies on the shoreline displacement of Lake Superior. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences .Google Scholar
Sauramo, M., (1918). Geochronologische Studien über die spätglaziale Zeit in Süd-Finnland. Fennia 41, 44.Google Scholar
Sauramo, M., (1923). Studies on the Quaternary varve sediments in southern Finland. Fennia 44, 164.Google Scholar
Schweger, C.E., (1969). Pollen analysis of Iola Bog and Paleoecology of the Two Creeks Forest Bed, Wisconsin. Ecology 50, 859–868.Google Scholar
Stanley, G.M., (1932). Abandoned Strands of Isle Royale and Northeastern Lake Superior. Ph.D. dissertation University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 158.Google Scholar
Tauber, H., (1970). The Scandinavian varve chronology and C 14 dating. Olsson, I.U., Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology. Nobel Symposium 12, Almqvist and Wicksell, Stockholm 173–196.Google Scholar
Terasmae, J., (1967). Postglacial chronology and forest history in the northern Lake Huron and Lake Superior regions. Cushing, E.J., Wright, H.E. Jr., Quaternary Paleoecology Yale University Press, New Haven 45–58.Google Scholar
Terasmae, J., (1968). A discussion of deglaciation and the boreal forest history in the northern Great Lakes region. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Ontario 99, 31–43.Google Scholar
Terasmae, J., (1972). The Pleistocene-Holocene boundary in the Canadian context. 24 International Geological Congress Montreal. Quaternary Geology 120–125Section 12.Google Scholar
Terasmae, J., (1973). Notes on Late Wisconsin and early Holocene history of vegetation in Canada. Arctic and Alpine Research 5, 201–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terasmae, J., Hughes, O.L., (1960). Glacial retreat in the North Bay area, Ontario. Science 131, 1444–1446.Google Scholar
Terasmae, J., Lasalle, P., (1968). Notes on late-glacial palynology and geochronology at St. Hilaire, Quebec. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 5, 249–257.Google Scholar
Wasylikowa, K., Wright, H.E. Jr., (1970). Late-glacial plant succession on an abandoned drainageway, northeastern Minnesota. Acta Palaeobotanica 11, 23–43(Krakow).Google Scholar
Watts, W.A., (1967). Late-glacial Plant Macrofossils from Minnesota. Cushing, E.J., Wright, H.E. Jr., Quaternary Paleoecology Yale University Press, New Haven 89–97.Google Scholar
West, R.G., (1961). Late- and postglacial vegetational history in Wisconsin, particularly changes associated with the Valders readvance. American Journal of Science 259, 766–783.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., (1969). Glacial fluctuations and the forest succession in the Lake Superior region. Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research. Ann Arbor 1969379–405.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., (1971a). Retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from 14,000 to 9000 years ago. Quaternary Research 1, 316–330.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., (1971b). Late Quaternary vegetational history of North America. Turekian, K.K., The Late Cenozoic Glacial Ages Yale University Press, New Haven 425–464.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., Watts, W.A., (1969). Glacial and vegetational history of northeastern Minnesota. Minnesota Geological Survey Special Publication 11, 59(with contributions by S. Jelgersma, J. C. B. Waddington, T. C. Winter, and J. Ogawa).Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., (1961). Glacial history of part of northwestern Ontario. Proceedings of the Geological Association of Canada 13, 61–83.Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., (1963). Glacial features of the Canadian Lakeheard area. Canadian Geographer 7, 101–115.Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., (1965a). Surficial geology, Thunder Bay. Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, Map S265 scale 1:506,880.Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., (1965b). Surficial geology, Kenora-Rainy River. Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, Map S165 scale 1:506,880.Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., (1965c). Glacial features of the Quetico-Nipigon area, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 2, 247–269.Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C., (1967). Glacial features of the northcentral Lake Superior region, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 4, 515–528.Google Scholar