Evolution of lakes in the Huron basin: Deglaciation to present
Keywords:
Laurentian Great Lakes, Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, glacial and postglacial paleolimnology, glacial rebound, faunal migration routesAbstract
Water bodies, ancestral to the present lakes including Lake Huron, first appeared in the southern Great Lakes basin about 15,500 14C years (18,800 cal years) BP during the oscillatory northward retreat of the last (Laurentide) ice sheet from its maximum position south of the Great Lakes watershed. Glacial lakes, impounded by a retreating ice margin on their northern shores, were continuously present after 13,000 14C (15,340 cal) BP for 3000 14C (3900 cal) years. Drainage routings varied in time through the Erie and Michigan basins to the Mississippi River system, a probable source for colonizing aquatic organisms, then to the Ontario basin, and finally northeastward to the Ottawa River valley via the isostatically-depressed North Bay outlet by 10,000 14C (11,470 cal) BP. Water levels were generally low between 10,000 and 7500 14C (11,470 and 8300 cal) BP and may have risen several tens of metres for short periods due to overflow of meltwater from upstream subglacial reservoirs or from glacial lakes impounded by residual ice in the Hudson Bay watershed.
About 8000 14C (8890 cal) BP glacial runoff bypassed the Great Lakes, and Huron basin waters descended into hydrologic closure under the influence of the early Holocene dry climate. With increasing precipitation and water supply about 7500 14C (8300 cal) BP the Huron water body again overflowed its North Bay outlet. Differential isostatic uplift (fastest to the north-northeast) raised this outlet and lake level relative to the rest of the basin. The lake finally overflowed southern outlets at Chicago and Port Huron-Sarnia by 5000 14C (5760 cal) BP (during the Nipissing highstand). Enhanced erosion of the latter outlet and continued differential uplift of the basin led to the present configuration of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.
References
Alley, R. B. and Ágústsdóttir, A. M. 2005. The 8k event: cause and consequences of a major Holocene abrupt climate change. Quat. Sci. Rev., 24: 1123–1149.
Baedke, S. J. and Thompson, T. A. 2000. A 4700-year record of lake level and isostacy for Lake Michigan. J. Great Lakes Res., 26: 416–426.
Bartlein, P. J. and Webb, T. III. 1985. “Mean July temperature at 6000 yr B. P. in eastern North America: Regression equations for estimates from fossil-pollen data”. In Climatic Change in Canada 5: Critical Periods in the Quaternary Climatic History of Northern North America Edited by: Harington, C. R. 301–342. Syllogeus No. 55
Blasco, S. M. 2001. “Geological history of Fathom Five National Marine Park over the past 15,000 years”. In Ecology, Culture and Conservation of a Protected Area: Fathom Five National Marine Park, Canada,, Edited by: Parker, S. and Munawar, M. 45–62. Leiden, , the Netherlands: Backhuys Publishers. Ecovision World Monograph Series
Breckenridge, A. 2007. The Lake Superior varve stratigraphy and implications for eastern Lake Agassiz outflow from 10,700 to 8,900 cal ybp (9.5–8.0 14C ka). Palaeo. Palaeo. Palaeo., 246: 45–61.
Breckenridge, A. J., Johnson, T. C., Beske-Diehl, S. and Mothersill, J. S. 2004. The timing of regional late glacial events and post-glacial sedimentation rates from Lake Superior. Quat. Sci. Rev., 23: 2355–2367.
Bryson, R. A. and Hare, F. K. 1974. “The climates of North America, Chapter 1”. In Climates of North America, World Survey of Climatology, Edited by: Bryson, R. A. and Hare, F. K. Volume 11, 1–47. Amsterdam, , the Netherlands: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company.
Calkin, P. E. and Feenstra, B. 1985. “Evolution of the Erie-basin Great Lakes”. In Quaternary Evolution of the Great Lakes,, Edited by: Karrow, P. F. and Calkin, P. E. 149–170. St. John's.. Geol. Assoc. Can. Special Paper 30
Capps, D. K., Thompson, T. A. and Booth, R. K. 2007. A post-Calumet shoreline along southern Lake Mighigan. J. Paleolimnol., 37: 395–409. DOI 10.1007/s 10933-006-9046-y
Clayton, L. and Attig, J. W. 1989. Glacial Lake Wisconsin. Geol. Soc. Am. Memoir, : 173
COHMAP members. 1988. Climatic changes of the last 18,000 years: observations and model simulations. Science, 241: 1043–1052.
Dettman, D. L., Smith, A. J., Rea, D. K., Moore, T. C. Jr. and Lohman, K. C. 1995. Glacial meltwater in Lake Huron during early postglacial times as inferred from single-valve analysis of oxygen isotopes in ostracodes. Quat. Res., 43: 297–310.
Dobson, D. M., Moore, T. C. Jr. and Rea, D. K. 1995. The sedimentation history of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay: results from analysis of seismic reflection profiles. J. Paleolimnol., 13: 231–249.
Dyke, A. S., Moore, A. and Robertson, L. 2003. Deglaciation of North America, Geol. Surv. Can. Open File 1574, 2 map sheets, 1 CD-ROM
Edwards, T. W. D., Wolfe, B. B. and MacDonald, G. M. 1996. Influence of changing atmospheric circulation on precipitation δ18O – temperature relations in Canada during the Holocene. Quat. Res., 46: 211–218.
Eschman, D. F. and Karrow, P. F. 1985. “Huron basin glacial lakes: a review”. In Quaternary Evolution of the Great Lakes, Edited by: Karrow, P. F. and Calkin, P. E. 79–93. Geol. Assoc. Can. Special Paper 30
Fitzgerald, W. D. 1985. “Postglacial history of the Minesing basin, Ontario”. In Quaternary Evolution of the Great Lakes Edited by: Karrow, P. F. and Calkin, P. E. 133–146. Geol. Assoc. Can. Special Paper 30
Fraser, G. S., Larsen, C. E. and Hester, N. C. 1990. “Climatic control of lake levels in the Lake Michigan and Lake Huron basins”. In Late Quaternary history of the Lake Michigan basin Edited by: Schneider, A. F. and Fraser, G. S. 75–89. Geol. Soc. Amer. Special Paper 251
Hand, B. M. and Muller, E. H. 1972. “Syracuse channels: evidence of a catastrophic flood”. In New York State Geological Association Guidebook, Edited by: McLelland, J. I-1–J-12. New York: Hamilton. 44th Annual Meeting
Hansel, A. K., Mickelson, D. M., Schneider, A. F. and Larsen, C. E. 1985. “Late Wisconsinan and Holocene history of the Lake Michigan basin”. In Quaternary Evolution of the Great Lakes Edited by: Karrow, P. F. and Calkin, P. E. 39–53. Geol. Assoc. Can. Special Paper 30
Harrison, J. E. 1972. Quaternary geology of the North Bay – Mattawa region. Geol. Surv. Can. Paper, : 71–26.
Hough, J. L. 1958. Geology of the Great Lakes, Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
Hough, J. L. 1962. Lake Stanley, a low stage of Lake Huron indicated by bottom sediments. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 73: 613–620.
Kaiser, K. F. 1994. Two Creeks Interstade dated through dendrochronology and AMS. Quat. Res., 42: 288–298.
Karrow, P. F. 1986. Valley terraces and Huron basin water levels, southwestern Ontario. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 97: 1089–1097.
Karrow, P. F. 2006. Algonquin-Nipissing shorelines, North Bay, Ontario. Géographie physique et Quaternaire. (2004), 58: 297–304.
Karrow, P. F., Anderson, T. W., Clarke, A. H., Delorme, L. D. and Sreenivasa, M. R. 1975. Stratigraphy, paleontology, and age of Lake Algonquin sediments in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Quat. Res., 5: 49–87.
Karrow, P. F., Anderson, T. W., Delorme, L. D., Miller, B. B. and Chapman, L. J. 1995. Late-glacial paleoenvironment of Lake Algonquin sediments near Clarksburg, Ontario. J. Paleolimnol., 14: 297–309.
Karrow, P. F., Morris, T. F., McAndrews, J. H., Morgan, A. V., Smith, A. J. and Walker, I. R. 2007. A diverse late-glacial (Mackinaw Phase) biota from Leamington, Ontario. Can. J. Earth Sci., 44: 287–296.
Karrow, P. F., Appleyard, E. C. and Endres, A. L. 2007. Geological and geophysical evidence for pre-Nipissing (> 5000 years BP) transgression valleys in the Lake Huron basin, Ontario. J. Paleolimnol., 37: 419–434. DOI 10.1007/s 10933-006-9048-z
Krist, F. and Schaetzl, R. J. 2001. Paleowind (11,000 BP) directions derived from lake spits in northern Michigan. Geomorphology, 31: 1–18.
Larsen, C. E. 1985. “Lake level, uplift, and outlet incision, the Nipissing and Algoma Great Lakes”. In Quaternary Evolution of the Great Lakes Edited by: Karrow, P. F. and Calkin, P. E. 63–77. Geol. Assoc. Can. Special Paper 30
Larson, G. and Schaetzl, R. 2001. Origin and evolution of the Great Lakes. J. Great Lakes Res., 27: 518–546.
Lewis, C. F. M. and Anderson, T. W. 1989. Oscillations of levels and cool phases of the Laurentian Great Lakes caused by inflows from glacial Lakes Agassiz and Barlow-Ojibway. J. Paleolimnol., 2: 99–146.
Lewis, C. F. M., Moore, T. C. Jr., Rea, D. K., Dettman, D. L., Smith, A. J. and Mayer, L. A. 1994. Lakes of the Huron basin: their record of runoff from the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Quat. Sci. Rev., 13: 891–922.
Lewis, C. F. M., Blasco, S. M. and Gareau, P. L. 2007a. Glacial isostatic adjustment of the Laurentian Great Lakes basin: using the empirical record of strandline deformation for reconstruction of early Holocene paleo-lakes and discovery of a hydrologically closed phase. Géographie physique et Quaternaire (2005), 59: 187–210.
Lewis, C. F. M., Heil, C. W. Jr., Hubeny, J. B., King, J. W., Moore, T. C. Jr. and Rea, D. K. 2007b. The Stanley unconformity in Lake Huron basin, evidence for a climate-driven closed lowstand about 7900 14C BP, with similar implications for the Chippewa lowstand in Lake Michigan basin. J. Paleolimnol., 37: 435–452. DOI 10.1007/s10933-006-9049-y
Macdonald, R. A. and Longstaffe, F. J. 2008. The late Quaternary oxygen-isotope composition of Lake Huron. J. Aquat. Ecosystem Health Manag., 11(2): 137–143.
McAndrews, J. and Campbell, I. D. 1993. “6 ka mean July temperatures in eastern Canada from Bartlein and Webb's (1985) pollen transfer functions: Comments and illustrations”. In Proxy Climate Data and Models of the Six Thousand Years before Present Time Interval: the Canadian perspective Edited by: Telka (Compiler), A. 22–25. Ottawa The Royal Soc. Can., Can. Global Change Prog. Incidental Report Series No. IR93-3,
McCarthy, F. M. G., McAndrews, J. H., Blasco, S. M. and Tiffin, S H. 2007. Spatially discontinuous modern sedimentation in Georgian Bay, Huron Basin, Great Lakes. J. Paleolimnol., 37: 453–470. DOI 10.1007/s10933-006-9050-y
Miller, B. B., Karrow, P. F. and Mackie, G. L. 1985. “Late Quaternary molluscan faunal changes in the Huron basin”. In Quaternary Evolution of the Great Lakes, Edited by: Karrow, P. F. and Calkin, P. E. 95–105. Geol. Assoc. Can. Special Paper 30
Moore, T. C. Jr, Rea, D. K., Mayer, L. A., Lewis, C. F. M. and Dobson, D. M. 1994. Seismic stratigraphy of Lake Huron-Georgian Bay and post-glacial lake level history. Can. J. Earth Sci., 31: 1606–1617.
Odegaard, C., Rea, D. K. and Moore, T. C. Jr. 2003. Stratigraphy of the mid-Holocene black bands in Lakes Michigan and Huron: Evidence for possible basin-wide anoxia. J. Paleolimnol., 29: 221–234.
Pengelly, J. W., Tinkler, K. J., Parkins, W. G. and McCarthy, F. M. 1997. 12600 years of lake level changes, changing sills, ephemeral lakes and Niagara Gorge erosion in the Niagara Peninsula and Eastern Lake Erie basin. J. Paleolimnol., 17: 377–402.
Rea, D. K., Moore, T. C. Jr., Lewis, C. F. M., Mayer, L. A., Dettman, D. J., Smith, A. J. and Dobson, D. M. 1994a. Stratigraphy and paleolimnologic record of lower Holocene sediments in northern Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. Can. J. Earth Sci., 31: 1586–1605.
Rea, D. K., Moore, T. C. Jr., Anderson, T. W., Lewis, C. F. M., Dobson, D. M., Dettman, D. L., Smith, A. J. and Mayer, L. A. 1994b. Great Lakes paleohydrology: complex interplay of glacial meltwater, lake levels, and sill depths. Geology, 22: 1059–1062.
Shinker, J. J., Bartlein, P. and Shuman, B. 2006. Synoptic and dynamic climate controls of North American mid-continental aridity. Quat. Sci. Rev., 25: 1401–1417.
Shuman, B., Bartlein, P., Logar, N., Newby, P. and Webb, T. III. 2002. Parallel climate and vegetation responses to the early Holocene collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Quat. Sci. Rev., 21: 1793–1805.
Silis, A. B. 1999. A paleoenvironmental interpretation of glacial Lake Algonquin lagoonal sediments, southwestern Ontario, using ostracodes, M.Sc. thesis ON: University of Waterloo.
Storck, P. L. 2004. Journey to the Ice Age: discovering an ancient world, Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press.
Teller, J. T., Leverington, D. W. and Mann, J. D. 2002. Freshwater outbursts to the oceans from glacial Lake Agassiz and their role in climate change during the last deglaciation. Quat. Sci. Rev., 21: 879–887.
The Great Lakes Environmental Atlas. 1995. The Great Lakes, An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book, Third edition, Chicago, Illinois: Government of Canada, Toronto, Ontario and United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Thomas, R. L., Kemp, A. L. and Lewis, C. F. M. 1973. The surficial sediments of Lake Huron. Can. J. Earth Sci., 10: 226–271.
Thomas, R. L., Christensen, M. D., Szalinska, E. and Scarlat, M. 2006. Formation of the St. Clair River delta in the Laurentian Great Lakes system. J. Great Lakes Res., 32: 738–748.
Thompson, T. A. 1992. Beach-ridge development and lake-level variation in southern Lake Michigan. Sed. Geol., 80: 305–318.
Yu, Z. and Wright, H. E. Jr. 2001. Response of interior North America to abrupt climate oscillations in the North Atlantic regions during the last deglaciation. Earth-Sci. Rev., 52: 333–369.
Yu, Z., McAndrews, J. H. and Eicher, U. 1997. Middle Holocene dry climate caused by change in atmospheric circulation patterns: Evidence from lake levels and stable isotopes. Geology, 25: 251–254.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.
