Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:31:15.433Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet from 14,000 to 9000 Years Ago

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

H. E. Wright Jr.
H. E. Wright Jr.*
Affiliation:
Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The intricate pattern of moraines of the Laurentide ice sheet in the Great Lakes region reflects the marked lobation of the ice margin in late Wisconsin time, and this in turn reflects the distribution of steam-cut lowlands etched in preglacial times in the weak-rock belts of gentle Paleozoic fold structures. It is difficult to trace and correlate moraines from lobe to lobe and to evaluate the magnitude of recession before readvance, but three breaks stand out in the sequence, with readvances at about 14,500, 13,000, and 11,500 years ago. The first, corresponding to the Cary advance of the Lake Michigan lobe, is represented to the west by distant advance of the Des Moines lobe in Iowa, and to the east by the overriding of lake beds by the Erie lobe. The 13,000-year advance is best represented by the Port Huron moraine of the Lake Michigan and Huron lobes, but by relatively little action to west and east. The 11,500-year advance is based on the Valders till of the Lake Michigan lobe, but presumed correlations to east and west prove to be generally older, and the question is raised that these and some other ice advances in the Great Lakes region may represent surges of the ice rather than regional climatic change. Surging may involve the buildup of subglacial meltwater, which can provide the basal sliding necessary for rapid forward movement. It would be most favored by the conditions in the western Lake Superior basin, where the Superior lobe had a suitable form and thermal regime, as estimated from geomorphic and paleoclimatic criteria. The Valders advance of the Lake Michigan and Green Bay lobes may also have resulted from a surge: the eastern part of the Lake Superior basin, whence the ice advanced, has a pattern of deep gorges that resemble subglacial tunnel valleys, which imply great quantities of subglacial water that may have produced glacial surges before the water became channeled.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , September 1971 , pp. 316 - 330
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

Ambrose, J.W. (1969). Seminar on the causes and mechanics of glacier surges, and symposium on surging glaciers. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 6, 807–1018.Google Scholar
Black, R.F. (1969). Valderan glaciation in western upper Michigan. Proceedings of the 12th Conference of the International Association for Great Lakes Research, Ann Arbor 1969, pp. 116–123.Google Scholar
Broecker, W.S. Farrand, W.R. (1963). Radiocarbon age of the Two Creeks forest bed, Wisconsin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 74, 795–802.Google Scholar
Brown, R.J.E. (1967). Permafrost in Canada. Geological Survey of Canada Map 1246A.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
Cushing, E.J. (1967). Lake-Wisconsin pollen stratigraphy and the glacial sequence in Minnesota. In “Quaternary Paleoecology” (Cushing, E.J. Wright, H.E. Jr., eds.), pp. 59–88. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Dreimanis, Aleksis (1964). Lake Warren and the Two Creeks interval. Journal of Geology 72, 247–250.Google Scholar
Dreimanis, Aleksis (1967). Cary-Port Huron interstade in eastern North America and its correlatives. Geological Society of America, Northwestern Section, Second Annual Meetings (Boston, 1967), Abstract.Google Scholar
Dreimanis, Aleksis (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 1969 pp. 170–180.Google Scholar
Elson, J.A. (1967). Geology of glacial Lake Agassiz. In “Life, Land and Water.” Conference on Environmental Studies of the Glacial Lake Agassiz Region (Mayer-Oakes, W.J. ed.), Proceedings, pp. 37–96. University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg.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 1969, pp. 181–197.Google Scholar
Farrand, W.R., Zahner, R., and Benninghoff, W.S. (1969). Cary-Port Huron interstade: Evidence from a buried bryophyte bed, Cheboygan County, Michigan. Geological Society of America Special Paper 123, 249–258.Google Scholar
Flint, R.F., Colton, R.B., Goldthwait, R.P., and Willman, H.B. (1959). Glacial map of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Frye, J.C., and Willman, H.B. (1960). Classification of the Wisconsinan Stage in the Lake Michigan glacial lobe. Illinois State Geological Survery Circular 285.Google Scholar
Frye, J.C., Willman, H.B., and Black, R.F. (1965). Outline of glacial geology of Illinois and Wisconsin. In “The Quaternary of the United States” (Wright, H.E. and Frey, D.G. eds.), pp. 43–61. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Frye, J.C., Willman, H.B., Rubin, M., and Black, R.F. (1968). Definition of the Wisconsinan Stage. U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1274-E, E1–E22.Google Scholar
Goldthwait, R.P., Dreimanis, A., Forsyth, J.L., Karrow, P.F., and White, G.F. (1965). Pleistocene deposits of the Erie lobe. In “The Quaternary of the United States” (Wright, H.E. Jr. and Frey, D.G. eds.), pp. 85–97. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Hough, J.L. (1958). “Geology of the Great Lakes.” University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.Google Scholar
Hough, J.L. (1963). The prehistoric Great Lakes of North America. American Scientist 51, 84–109.Google Scholar
Hughes, O.L. (1965). Surficial geology of part of the Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. In International Studies on the Quaternary” (Wright, H.E. Jr. and Frey, D.G. eds.), pp. 535–565. Geological Society of American Special Paper 84.Google Scholar
McDonald, B.C. (1968). Deglaciation and differential postglacial rebound in the Appalachian region of southeastern Quebec. Journal of Geology 76, 664–677.Google Scholar
Prest, V.K. (1969). Retreat of Wisconsin and recent ice in North America. Geological Survey of Canada Map 1257A, scale 1:5,000,000.Google Scholar
Prest, V.K. (1970). Quaternary geology of Canada. In “Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada,” pp. 676–764. Canada, Department of Energy, Mines & Resources, Ottawa.Google Scholar
Rowe, J.C. (1959). Forest regions of Canada. Canada Department Northern Affairs Natural Resources, Forestry Branch, Bulletin 123.Google Scholar
Ruhe, R.V. (1969). “Quaternary Landscapes in Iowa.” Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa.Google Scholar
Schytt, Valter (1969). Some comments on glacier surges in eastern Svalbard. In “Seminar on the Causes and Mechanics of Glacier Surges, and Symposium on Surging Glaciers” (Ambrose, J.W. ed.), Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 5, 807–1018.Google Scholar
Terasmae, Jaan (1960). A palynological study of post-glacial deposits in the St. Lawrence lowlands. Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 56, 1–22.Google Scholar
Wall, R.E. (1968). A sub-bottom reflection survey in the central basin of Lake Erie. Geological Society of America Bulletin 79, 91–106.Google Scholar
Wasylikowa, Krystyna, and Wright, H.E. Jr. (1969). Late-glacial plant succession on an abandoned drainageway, northeastern Minnesota. Krakow, Acta Palaeobotanica 11, 23–43.Google Scholar
Wayne, W.J., and Zumberge, J.H. (1965). Pleistocene geology of Indiana and Michigan. In “The Quaternary of the United States” (Wright, H.E. Jr. and Frey, D.G. eds.), pp. 63–82. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Weertman, J. (1966). Effect of a basal water layer on the dimensions of ice sheets. Journal of Glaciology 6, 191–208.Google Scholar
Willman, H.B., and Frye, J.C. (1970). Pleistocene stratigraphy of Illinois. Illinois State Geological Survey Bulletin 94, 204 pp.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr. (1968). The roles of pine spruce in the forest history of Minnesota and adjacent areas. Ecology 49, 937–955.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 1969, pp. 397–405.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr. (1971). Tunnel valleys, glacial surges, and the subglacial hydrology of the Superior lobe, Minnesota. Geological Society of America Special Paper in press.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., Matsch, C.L., and Cushing, E.J. (1971). The Superior and Des Moines lobes. Geological Society of America Special Paper, in press.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., and Ruhe, R.V. (1965). Glaciation of Minnesota and Iowa. In “The Quaternary of the United States” (Wright, H.E. Jr. and Frey, D.G. eds.), pp. 29–41. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Wright, H.E. Jr., and Watts, W.A. (with contributions by Jelgersman, Saskia , Waddington, Jean C. B. Winter, T. C., and Ogawa, Junko) (1969). Glacial and vegetational history of northeastern Minnesota. Minnesota Geological Survey Special Publication 11, 59 pp.Google Scholar
Zoltai, S.C. (1965). Glacial features of the Quetico-Nipigon area. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 2, 247–269.Google Scholar
Zumberge, J.H. (1960). Correlation of Wisconsin drifts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Geological Society of American Bulletin 71, 1177–1188.Google Scholar