Lake Minong Research Articles

Lake-level fluctuations and paleovegetation during the Houghton phase of glacial Lake Minong

Lake-level fluctuations and paleovegetation during the Houghton phase of glacial Lake Minong

The post-Duluth Interval revisited

Abstract Recent work has identified two post-Duluth Interval events not previously reported: a minor glacial readvance, with its newly recognized end moraine, and a possible jokulhlaup associated with catastrophic flooding. In addition progress has been made refining isobase trends for the post-Duluth Interval. Also, the position of the earliest Lake Minong shoreline along the northern rim of the central Upper Peninsula has been identified and its relationship to the highest Minong shorelines in eastern and western Superior basin clarified. Green-spectrum LiDAR data were used to map the shallow water bottom topography of Lake Superior between Munising and Marquette, Michigan. These maps reveal three newly-discovered ice-marginal channels graded to Lake Minong. Together with previously reported sub-aerial channels, these channels have been instrumental in refining our understanding of early Lake Minong in the south central Superior basin.

The sedimentary and palynological records of Serpent River Bog, and revised early Holocene lake-level changes in the Lake Huron and Georgian Bay region

Serpent River Bog lies north of North Channel, 10 m above Lake Huron and 15 m below the Nipissing Great Lake level. A 2.3 m Holocene sequence contains distinct alternating beds of inorganic clastic clay and organic peat that are interpreted as evidence of successive inundation and isolation by highstands and lowstands of the large Huron-Basin lake. Lowstand phases are confirmed by the presence of shallow-water pollen and plant macrofossil remains in peat units. Twelve 14C dates on peat, wood and plant macrofossils combined with previously published 14C ages of lake-level indicators confirm much of the known early Holocene lake-level history with one notable exception. A new Late Mattawa highstand (8,390 [9,400 cal]–8,220 [9,200 cal] BP) evidenced by a sticky blue-grey clay bed is tied to outburst floods of glacial Lake Minong during erosion of the Nadoway drift barrier in the eastern Lake Superior basin. A subsequent Late Mattawa highstand (8,110 [9,040 cal]–8,060 [8,970 cal] BP) is attributed to enhanced meltwater inflows that first had deposited thick varves throughout Superior Basin. Inundation by the Nadoway floods and possibly the last Mattawa flood were likely responsible for termination of the Olson Forest (southern Lake Michigan). A pollen diagram supports the recognized progression of Holocene vegetation, and defines a subzone implying a very dry, cool climate about 7.8–7.5 (8.6–8.3 cal) ka BP based on the Alnus crispa profile during the Late Stanley lowstand. A new date of 9,470 ± 25 (10,680–10,750 cal) BP on basal peat over lacustrine clay at Espanola West Bog supports the previous interpretation of the Early Mattawa highstand at ca. 9,500 (10,740 cal) BP. The organic and clastic sediment units at these two bogs are correlated with other records showing coherent evidence of Holocene repeated inundation and isolation around northern Lake Huron. Taken together the previous and new lake-level data suggest that the Huron and Georgian basin lakes were mainly closed lowstands throughout early Holocene time except for short-lived highstands. Three of the lowstands were exceptionally low, and likely caused three episodes of offshore sediment erosion which had been previously identified as seismo-stratigraphic sequence boundaries.

Variations in the oxygen-isotope composition of ancient Lake Superior between 10,600 and 8,800 cal BP

Variations in the oxygen-isotope composition of paleo-water bodies in the Lake Superior Basin provide information about the timing and pathways of glacial meltwater inflow into and within the Lake Superior Basin. Here, the oxygen-isotope compositions of Lake Superior have been determined using ostracodes from four sediment cores from across the Basin (Duluth, Caribou and Ile Parisienne sub-basins, Thunder Bay trough). The δ18O values indicate that lake water (Lake Minong) at ~10,600–10,400 cal [~9,400–9,250] BP was dominated by glacial meltwater derived from Lake Agassiz and the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). From that time to ~9,000 cal [~8,100] BP, a period associated with formation of thick varves across the Lake Superior Basin, the δ18O values of Lake Minong decreased even further (−24 to −28‰), symptomatic of an increasing influx of glacial meltwater. Its supply was reduced between ~9,000 and ~8,900 cal [~8,100–8,000] BP, and lake water δ18O values grew higher by several per mil during this period. Between ~8,900 and ~8,800 cal [~8,000–7,950] BP, there was a return to δ18O values as low as −29‰ in some parts of the Lake Superior Basin, indicating a renewed influx of glacial meltwater before its final termination at ~8,800–8,700 cal [~7,950–7,900] BP. The sub-basins in the Lake Superior Basin generally displayed very similar patterns of lake water δ18O values, typical of a well-mixed system. The final stage of glacial meltwater input, however, was largely expressed near its input (Thunder Bay trough) and recognizable in dampened form mainly in the Duluth sub-basin to the west. Water in the easternmost Ile Parisienne sub-basin was enriched in 18O relative to the rest of the lake, particularly after ~10,000 cal [~8,900] BP, probably because of a strong influence of local precipitation/runoff, and perhaps also enhanced evaporation. By ~9,200 cal [~8,250] BP, lake water δ18O values in the Ile Parisienne sub-basin were similar to the adjacent Lake Huron Basin, suggesting a strong hydraulic connection between the two water bodies, and common responses to southern Ontario’s shift to warmer and dry climatic conditions after ~9,000 cal [~8,100] BP.

A late Lake Minong transgression in the Lake Superior basin as documented by sediments from Fenton Lake, Ontario

The evolution of the early Great Lakes was driven by changing ice sheet geometry, meltwater influx, variable climate, and isostatic rebound. Unfortunately none of these factors are fully understood. Sediment cores from Fenton Lake and other sites in the Lake Superior basin have been used to document constantly falling water levels in glacial Lake Minong between 9,000 and 10,600 cal (8.1–9.5 ka) BP. Over three meters of previously unrecovered sediment from Fenton Lake detail a more complex lake level history than formerly realized, and consists of an early regression, transgression, and final regression. The initial regression is documented by a transition from gray, clayey silt to black sapropelic silt. The transgression is recorded by an abrupt return to gray sand and silt, and dates between 9,000 and 9,500 cal (8.1–8.6 ka) BP. The transgression could be the result of increased discharge from Lake Agassiz overflow or the Laurentide Ice Sheet, and hydraulic damming at the Lake Minong outlet. Alternatively ice advance in northern Ontario may have blocked an unrecognized low level northern outlet to glacial Lake Ojibway, which switched Lake Minong overflow back to the Lake Huron basin and raised lake levels. Multiple sites in the Lake Huron and Michigan basins suggest increased meltwater discharges occurred around the time of the transgression in Lake Minong, suggesting a possible linkage. The final regression in Fenton Lake is documented by a return to black sapropelic silt, which coincides with varve cessation in the Superior basin when Lake Agassiz overflow and glacial meltwater was diverted to glacial Lake Ojibway in northern Ontario.

Early Holocene dune activity linked with final destruction of Glacial Lake Minong, eastern Upper Michigan, USA

The early Holocene final drainage of glacial Lake Minong is documented by 21 OSL ages on quartz sand from parabolic dunes and littoral terraces and one radiocarbon age from a lake sediment core adjacent to mapped paleoshorelines in interior eastern Upper Michigan. We employ a simple model wherein lake-level decline exposes unvegetated littoral sediment to deflation, resulting in dune building. Dunes formed subsequent to lake-level decline prior to stabilization by vegetation and provide minimum ages for lake-level decline. Optical ages range from 10.3 to 7.7 ka; 15 ages on dunes adjacent to the lowest Lake Minong shoreline suggest final water-level decline ∼ 9.1 ka. The clustering of optical ages from vertically separated dunes on both sides of the Nadoway–Gros Cap Barrier around 8.8 ka and a basal radiocarbon date behind the barrier (8120 ± 40 14C yr BP [9.1 cal ka BP]) support the hypothesis that the barrier was breached and the final lake-level drop to the Houghton Low occurred coincident with (1) high meltwater flux into the Superior basin and (2) an abrupt, negative shift in oxygen isotope values in Lake Huron.

Climatic Influences of Deglacial Drainage Changes in Southern Canada at 10 to 8 ka Suggested by Pollen Evidence

Enhanced meltwater discharge from proglacial lakes Agassiz and Barlow-Ojibway at about 9.6 to 8.3 ka BP. created cold localized climates over downstream water bodies, specifically Lake Minong and Mattawa phase lakes in the Great Lakes and Goldthwait Sea in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The cooling effect of the meltwater drainage suppressed summer warming of the surface lake waters, reduced the growing season and thus altered the vegetation composition in the surrounding land areas. The vegetation responded in different ways as evidenced by five variants from the normal pollen succession.The pollen anomalies are most pronounced where the effect of increased meltwater discharge had a strong influence, such as within or along the margins of Lake Agassiz, Mattawa phase lakes, and the Goldthwait Sea, or in their lee areas, especially where these water bodies intersected ecotonal boundaries. Climatic effects were minimal or non-existent where the water surface areas were restricted such as the channelized drainage routes of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. Diversion of Lakes Agassiz and Barlow-Ojibway drainage to Hudson Bay after about 8.4 ka BP reinstated summer warming of the surface water in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system bringing the 9.6-8.3 ka cool period to a close.

Constraints on paleolake levels, spillways and glacial lake history, north-central Ontario, Canada

The recognition of ice-marginal deltas constructed during the formation of the Nakina II moraine and a previously unrecognized spillway, in the vicinity of Longlac, northern Ontario, indicates that existing concepts of ancestral lake level history and drainage systems in the Lake Superior–Lake Nipigon region is inadequate. Based on isostatically corrected digital elevation maps, ice-marginal deltas of the Nakina II moraine probably formed at the level of glacial Lake Minong, most likely Minong III, and not glacial Lake Nakina as has been commonly suggested. In addition, the presence of a spillway near Longlac indicates that lake water drained southward through the Mullet Outlet–Pic River system immediately following ice-marginal retreat from the Nakina II moraine and not eastward as previously proposed. Architectural-element analysis of exposures within the spillway indicates hyperconcentrated outbursts of meltwater produced thick channel-fill elements during flood conditions with peak-velocities exceeding 3 m/s. Subsequent retreat of ice from the Pic River valley to the east, may have allowed waters of Lake Agassiz, Lake Barlow–Ojibway, or both, to drain into post-Minong lake levels in the Lake Superior basin. These findings place major constraints on previously proposed concepts of northeastern or eastern outlets of Lake Agassiz.

Great Lakes response to catastrophic inflows from Lake Agassiz: some simulations of a hydraulic geometry for chained lake systems

Simulations (216) were undertaken to evaluate the impact of typical Lake Agassiz outbursts on the upper Great Lakes under plausible variations in lake surface areas and sill widths. Flows over sills out of lakes are modelled using the equation for a broad-crested weir, with the model time increment set to one day. The model was evaluated for Lake Agassiz outlet sill widths of 1, 4, and 10 km and with outbursts ranging from 100 000 m3 s−1 to 600 000 m3 s−1. The surface area of Lake Agassiz was evaluated for 182 000 km2 ±20%. The surface area of the upper Great Lakes were modelled as either Lake Algonquin (Superior, Huron and Michigan basins =200 000 km2) or Lake Minong (Superior basin 87 000 km2) with sill widths of 0.5, 1.5, and 3 km. Downstream peak discharge modelled at the outlet sill of the upper Great Lakes, was normally between 20 and 60% of the initial outburst, with a lagtime to peak usually between 80 and 280 days. Upper Great Lakes water level rises of between 2 and 20 m are calculated with rises to 36 m for some configurations. Rise magnitude is inversely related to the width of the outlet sills at both lake systems and to the surface area of the receiving lake. The modeling implies that measuring outflow from the upper Great Lakes, or water level rises, does not in itself determine peak or total outflow from Lake Agassiz unless the dimensions of the Lake Agassiz and upper Great Lakes outflow sills are also known. Lake level rises probably coincided on the upper Great Lakes with meltout from the winter freeze-up. Lake levels re-attain equilibrium values with respect to through flow within three years of an outburst. Substantial episodic lake level rises in the upper Great Lakes may have had severe impacts on the lake biota, for example via the affect on spawning grounds.

A post-Lake Minong transgressive event on the north shore of Lake Superior, Ontario: possible evidence of Lake Agassiz inflow

Modification of an ice-contact delta built on the margin of Lake Minong (9500 BP) is ascribed to a transgressive event. Reworking of fluvial sediments by wave action and the infilling of the lower end of a distributary valley demonstrate a post-Minong transgression and reoccupation of the lower portion of the delta. Estimated to be in the order of 18 m, this water-level oscillation may represent evidence of one of several catastrophic discharges of Lake Agassiz into the Superior basin, proposed to have occurred between 9.5 and 8.0 ka BP.

Paleogeographic reconstruction of shoreline archaeological sites around Thunder Bay, Ontario

AbstractPaleoindian peoples migrated into the cul‐de‐sac between Lake Agassiz, the Superior basin, and the receding ice margin about 9500 years ago. Around Thunder Bay there is a close but not exclusive association of habitation sites with Lake Minong and its subsequent declining stages. Reconstruction of shorelines by detailed morphological mapping provides explanation of known sites, reasonable longshore correlation, and a predictive tool for focusing new investigations. Sites near taconite sources, in sheltered embayments, at river mouths, and near lookout points are preferred, but some occupance continued after water level decline. the full sequence of Paleoindian to Shield Archaic periods is uniquely destroyed by the Nipissing transgression (8000‐5500 years BP), which buried and truncated earlier shorelines. This sequence is potentially preserved on the north shore of Superior, but limited archaeological resources exist in the region, despite healthy, interdisciplinary cooperation.

Stratigraphical Studies on the Shoreline Displacement of Lake Superior

Shoreline displacement in the Lake Superior basin was followed, independently of morphological data, by studying sediments of small lake basins at different elevations in the vicinity of Sault Ste. Marie, Wawa, and Marathon, Ontario. Emergence of small lakes, resulting from water level changes in the main basin, is documented in bottom sediments, and can be dated by radiocarbon and pollen analyses. The new stratigraphical findings were correlated with the earlier established morphological shorelines, and thus the Late Wisconsinan and Holocene history of lake levels was worked out.High post-Main Algonquin glacial lakes formed the highest shorelines along the east shore from Sault Ste. Marie up to Alona Bay between approximately 11 000 and over 10 100 B.P. Contemporaneously a series of Post-Duluth glacial lakes occupied the western Superior basin, subsequent to Glacial Lake Duluth. As the ice retreated to the north shore at 9500 B.P., Lake Minong came into existence. Its level was apparently controlled by a threshold higher than the present at Sault Ste. Marie. The water level of Lake Superior fell to the low water Houghton stage by 8000 B.P. The transgression which resulted in the Nipissing Great Lakes reached the Superior basin about 7000 B.P. and culminated 5500 B.P. Land uplift on the east shore of Lake Superior was very rapid immediately after the deglaciation, followed by decreasing rates up to the present, and there are all indications that the process has been continuous.

The deglaciation history of the Lake Superior region and its climatic implications

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.

GLACIAL FEATURES OF THE QUETICO-NIPIGON AREA, ONTARIO

The surficial deposits, ice movements, and glacial lakes are described within an area of 25 000 square miles in northwestern Ontario. Field studies and subsequent interpretation of aerial photographs suggest the existence of two major and one minor ice mass during late Wisconsin glaciation. Movements by the various ice masses are shown and correlated. The extent of several glacial lakes and their drainage channels are described. A reconstruction of the sequence of events, based on morphological features, allows a tentative correlation of Glacial Lake Agassiz in the west with Glacial Lake Minong stages in the Superior basin. A radiocarbon date of 9 380 ± 150 years B.P. (GSC No. 287) was obtained from wood buried in a post-Minong beach.