Abstract
Glacial-age Lake Tight was first mapped by John F. Wolfe in 1942. Wolfe compiled his map from photographs of 50 USGS topographic maps, and used the 900-foot contour to delineate its shoreline. An estimate, as reported by Hansen in 1987, suggested an area of approximately 18,130 km2 (7,000 mi2) for the lake. Using a geographic information system (GIS) environment, an updated map of Lake Tight was developed employing the 275-meter (902-foot) elevation contour. Calculations now suggest the area of Lake Tight was 43 percent larger or approximately 26,000 km2 (10,040 mi2) and the volume approximately 1,120 km3 (268 mi3). The reconstruction of Lake Tight in a GIS creates a spatial analysis platform that can support research on the origin and development of the lake, the geologic processes that occurred as a consequence of the advance of the pre-Illinoian ice, and the origin of the Ohio River. The development of the upper Ohio Valley during the Quaternary Period remains one of the outstanding problems in North American geology. The details of the transition from the Teays River to Lake Tight, and from Lake Tight to the Ohio River, are poorly understood despite more than 100-years passing since the first significant study of those changes. A refined understanding of the area and depth of Lake Tight is essential but is complicated by fundamental unknowns—such as the location of the pre-Illinoian ice margin and the extent and consequence of isostatic flexure of the lithosphere due to ice-loading and lake-loading. Given the assumptions required for the model, the accuracy of both the raster data and the 1942 topographic maps, and the paucity of essential field data, mapping the lake shoreline at the widely cited 274.32-meter (900-foot) contour would not provide increased verifiable accuracy.
Highlights
The main goals of this study were to (1) map Lake Tight in a geographic information system (GIS) using U.S Geological Survey (USGS) National Elevation Dataset (NED) Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), (2) determine the area and water volume of the lake, (3) compare the results with the map created by Wolfe (1942), and (4) create a GIS model that can be used as a foundation for future research
The Lake Tight model is developed in ArcGIS® version 10.1, software developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. (Esri®)
Like Wolfe’s map of Proglacial Lake Tight (Wolfe 1942), the GIS reconstruction of the lake shows it covered an extensive area of Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky (Fig. 3)
Summary
The main goals of this study were to (1) map Lake Tight in a geographic information system (GIS) using U.S Geological Survey (USGS) National Elevation Dataset (NED) Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), (2) determine the area and water volume of the lake, (3) compare the results with the map created by Wolfe (1942), and (4) create a GIS model that can be used as a foundation for future research. Later studies (Tight 1903; Stout and Schaaf 1931; Stout and Lamb 1938; Stout et al 1943; Janssen and McCoy 1953; Norris and Spicer 1958) investigated geologically distinctive sediments in southern Ohio and West Virginia, which were considered lacustrine in origin. Later studies (Webb and Collins 1967; Hoyer 1976; Bigham et al 1991; Bonnett et al 1991) demonstrated they were composed of more clay than silt, and Hoyer (1976) recommended the deposits be referred to as the Minford Clay Member of the Teays Formation
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