scholarly journals Stratigraphy and correlation of the Late Wisconsinan glacial events in the Lake Michigan basin

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 53-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. B. Evenson ◽  
D. M. Mickelson ◽  
W. R. Farrand
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Glacial Retreat ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
A Minor

Meaningful correlations of late glacial events between areas as distant as the Great Lakes and southern Quebec depend on the establishment of detailed local chronologies, mostly from studies in the Lake Michigan basin and the St. Lawrence lowland now holding the most promise for a radiometrically controlled record of the late glacial (ca. 14,000-8000). Based on recent investigations in the Lake Michigan region, we propose a revision in the déglaciation pattern and stratigraphie nomenclature. Although oscillatory glacial retreat began to dominate over readvance about 17,000 years BP, we define late Wisconsinan as beginning at ca. 14,000 when the ice withdrew from the Lake Border Morainic system. Following the Cary-Port Huron retreat, the ice read-vanced (350 km) depositing the red Shorewood Till. This was followed by a minor retreat and then by deposition of the Manitowoc Till. Continued retreat eventually uncovered an eastward outlet and Lake Chicago dropped to the Two Creeks low-water level. This déglaciation was not as extensive as previously assumed. The post-Twocreekan readvance (125 km) to the Two Rivers moraine oc-cured around 11,850 years BP. This sequence argues for a normal, climatically controlled progressive déglaciation rather than one interrupted by a major post-Twocreekan (formally Valderan) surge. Based on the knowledge that the Valders Till is late Woodfordian in age we have proposed the time-stratigraphic term "Greatlakean" as a substitute for the now misleading term "Valderan".

Paleohydrology of the upper Laurentian Great Lakes from the late glacial to early Holocene

2009 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Breckenridge ◽  
Thomas C. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Sharp Drop ◽  
Freshwater Fluxes

AbstractBetween 10,500 and 9000 cal yr BP, δ18O values of benthic ostracodes within glaciolacustrine varves from Lake Superior range from − 18 to − 22‰ PDB. In contrast, coeval ostracode and bivalve records from the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan basins are characterized by extreme δ18O variations, ranging from values that reflect a source that is primarily glacial (∼ − 20‰ PDB) to much higher values characteristic of a regional meteoric source (∼ − 5‰ PDB). Re-evaluated age models for the Huron and Michigan records yield a more consistent δ18O stratigraphy. The striking feature of these records is a sharp drop in δ18O values between 9400 and 9000 cal yr BP. In the Huron basin, this low δ18O excursion was ascribed to the late Stanley lowstand, and in the Lake Michigan basin to Lake Agassiz flooding. Catastrophic flooding from Lake Agassiz is likely, but a second possibility is that the low δ18O excursion records the switching of overflow from the Lake Superior basin from an undocumented northern outlet back into the Great Lakes basin. Quantifying freshwater fluxes for this system remains difficult because the benthic ostracodes in the glaciolacustrine varves of Lake Superior and Lake Agassiz may not record the average δ18O value of surface water.

scholarly journals Greatlakean Substage: A Replacement for Valderan Substage in the Lake Michigan Basin

1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward B. Evenson ◽  
William R. Farrand ◽  
Donald F. Eschman ◽  
David M. Mickelson ◽  
Louis J. Maher
Keyword(s):  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Glacial Ice ◽  
The Times ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Stratigraphic Nomenclature ◽  
New Evidence

New evidence from recent field and seismic investigations in the Lake Michigan basin and in the type areas of the Valders, Two Creeks and Two Rivers deposits necessitates revision of late-glacial ice-front positions, rock- and time-stratigraphic nomenclature and climatic interpretations and deglaciation patterns for the period ca. 14,000–7,000 radiocarbon years B.P. The previously reported and long accepted pattern of deglaciation for the Lake Michigan basin started with a regular retreat from the Lake Border Morainic System, with a minor oscillation marked by the Port Huron moraine(s) and then an extensive Twocreekan deglaciation followed by a major (320 km) post-Twocreekan advance (Valders). However, we now record a major retreat between the times of the Lake Border and Port Huron moraines, followed by a gradual retreat from the Port Huron limit and interrupted by a minor standstill (deposition of Manitowoc Till), a retreat (Twocreekan) and a readvance (Two Rivers Till). No Woodfordian or younger readvance was as extensive as had been the preceding one. This sequence argues for a normal, climatically controlled, progressive deglaciation rather than one interrupted by a major post-Twocreekan (formerly Valderan) surge. This revision appears finally to harmonize the geologic evidence and the palynological record for the Great Lakes region. Our investigations show that Valders Till from which the Valderan Substage was named is late-Woodfordian in age. We propose the term “Greatlakean” as a replacement for the now misleading time-stratigraphic term “Valderan”. The type section and the definition of the upper and lower boundaries of the Greatlakean Substage remain the same as those originally proposed for the Valderan Substage but the name is changed.

The Anomalous Roxana Silt and Mid-Wisconsinan Events in and Near Southern Michigan

1988 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold A. Winters ◽  
John J. Alford ◽  
Richard L. Rieck
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Illinois River ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Terminal Moraine ◽  
River Erosion ◽  
Organic Deposits

Thick deposits of Roxana Silt are recognized only along the Illinois River (downstream from the Woodfordian terminal moraine) and are generally interpreted as being mainly loess, with the bulk accumulating from about 40,000 to 30,000 yr ago in association with an Altonian-age glacier in northeastern Illinois. Yet 11 14C dates indicate that southern Michigan was not ice-covered during that interval; thus, any proximate ice must have, at best, been restricted to Great Lakes basins, an interpretation supported by the absence of late Altonian till at critically located Michigan, and nearby, sites. Late mid-Wisconsinan ice did, however, obstruct eastern drainage of the ancestral Great Lakes. Such glacial blockage, the distribution of many Michigan organic deposits within pre-Woodfordian lacustrine sediments, and radiocarbon dates suggest that, more than once, late Altonian lakes associated with the Lake Michigan basin drained into the Illinois River. Erosion of lake and spillway bluffs along with repeated river fluctuations provided a source for the thick, geographically restricted Roxana Silt. Meanwhile, along other nearby rivers the supply was meager and the loess thin.

Palynological and Radiocarbon Evidence for Deglaciation Events in the Green Bay Lobe, Wisconsin

1996 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. Maher ◽  
David M. Mickelson
Keyword(s):  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Silty Sand ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Green Bay ◽  
Devils Lake ◽  
Western Great Lakes ◽  
Short Time

A new and significant site of organic silty sand has been found beneath the Valders till at Valders Quarry in northeastern Wisconsin. This is now the earliest known late-glacial site associated with red till ice advances in the western Great Lakes area. Leaves of terrestrial plants washed into a small depression provide a date of 12,965 ± 200 yr B.P. (WIS-2293), which is significantly older than the Two Creeks Forest Bed (ca. 11,800 yr B.P.). Percentage and concentration pollen diagrams suggest that the site was open and distant from a closed Picea forest. No wood or Picea needles have been found. This date is statistically indistinguishable from 12,550 ± 233 yr B.P., the mean of three dates for the end of inorganic varve sedimentation at Devils Lake, 160 km southwest at the terminus of the Green Bay Lobe. Assuming that the Green Bay lobe vacated its outermost moraine in the interval from 13,000 to 12,500 yr B.P., only a short time was available for retreat of the ice margin over 350 km, drainage of red sediment from Lake Superior into the Lake Michigan basin, readvance of over 250 km, retreat of at least 80 km, and advance to this site. The time for these events appears to have been too short to resolve by current radiocarbon technique. This extremely rapid collapse of the Green Bay lobe has a calibrated age of about 15,000 cal yr B.P., about that of the dramatic warming seen in the Greenland ice cores.

A Proposed Diachronic Revision of Late Quaternary Time-Stratigraphic Classification in the Eastern and Northern Great Lakes Area

2000 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Karrow ◽  
Aleksis Dreimanis ◽  
Peter J. Barnett
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Quaternary Deposits ◽  
Late Wisconsinan ◽  
Stratigraphic Nomenclature ◽  
Lake Michigan Lobe

A succession of stratigraphic codes (1933, 1961, 1983) has guided attempts to refine classifications and naming of stratigraphic units for Quaternary deposits of the Great Lakes region. The most recent classifications for the late Quaternary of the Lake Michigan lobe (1968) and the eastern Great Lakes (1972) have been widely used, but later work has created the need for revision. An attempt has been made to integrate the two previous classifications following the diachronic system of the 1983 Code of Stratigraphic Nomenclature. A new nomenclature for the higher, more broadly recognized units was presented in 1997. We here present the diachronic nomenclature for finer subdivisions recognized in the eastern and northern Great Lakes. Following the interglacial Sangamon Episode, the three parts of the Wisconsin Episode are further subdivided as follows: the Ontario Subepisode (former Early Wisconsinan) comprises the Greenwood, Willowvale, and Guildwood phases; the Elgin Subepisode (former Middle Wisconsinan) comprises the Port Talbot, Brimley, and Farmdale phases; and the Michigan Subepisode (former Late Wisconsinan) consists of Nissouri, Erie, Port Bruce, Mackinaw, Port Huron, Two Creeks, Onaway, Gribben, Marquette, Abitibi, and Driftwood phases. Succeeding interglacial time to the present is the Hudson Episode.

Differential Temporal and Spatial Preservation of Archaeological Sites in a Great Lakes Coastal Zone

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 591-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Lovis ◽  
G. William Monaghan ◽  
Alan F. Arbogast ◽  
Steven L. Forman
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Sand Dunes ◽  
Coastal Dunes ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
Ams Dating

AbstractAnalysis of regional site taphonomy that incorporates depositional and postdepositional histories has become increasingly important in understanding the nature of preserved site populations and the strategies necessary for their discovery. We applied a systematic archival and field strategy directed at understanding such taphonomic processes in the coastal sand dunes of the northern and eastern Lake Michigan basin, and coupled these with a tactically directed program of OSL, 14C, and AMS dating. We demonstrate that long-term geological processes including lake level variation, episodic dune activation and stabilization, and the long-term effects of postglacial isostatic adjustments have markedly affected the potential for preservation of sites in coastal dune contexts over time and across subregions of the basin. Preservation potential for different time periods in coastal dunes is largely not synchronous with that of southern Michigan floodplains, posing substantial inferential problems. The archaeology of coastal dunes specifically, and coastal zones generally, must be used with extreme caution when cast against archaeological data from landforms with different formation processes and histories. While particularly true for the Great Lakes region, these results have implications for regional research broadly.

EARLIEST MICROBOTANICAL EVIDENCE FOR MAIZE IN THE NORTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN BASIN

2018 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca K. Albert ◽  
Susan M. Kooiman ◽  
Caitlin A. Clark ◽  
William A. Lovis
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Maize Starch ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Western Great Lakes ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Multiple Samples

There is no recorded maize (Zea maysspp.mays) from sites predating circa cal AD 800 in the northern Lake Michigan or Lake Superior basins of the western Great Lakes, despite the presence of maize microbotanicals including phytoliths and starches in Michigan, New York, and Quebec as early as 400 cal BC. To evaluate the potential for an earlier maize presence in the northern Lake Michigan basin, samples of carbonized food residues adhering to 16 ceramic vessels were obtained from the Winter site (20DE17) located on the Garden Peninsula in the northern Lake Michigan basin. Each sample was split and sent to two analysts. Both analysts identified low incidences of maize starch and phytoliths in multiple samples, with overlapping identifications on several. Three direct accelerator mass spectrometry dates on the carbonized residues reveal maize incorporated into the residues as early as the second century cal BC, 800 years before any regional macrobotanical evidence. Although the method of dispersal cannot be determined, these results support the proposition that initial northern dispersal of maize in the region may have been nearly 800 years earlier than macrobotanical evidence would suggest and is consistent with the timing of its introduction to the lower Great Lakes area.

Forest canopy disturbance geospatial data for Lake Michigan basin, USA, 1985-2008

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian W. Housman ◽  
Mark D. Nelson ◽  
Charles H. Perry ◽  
Kirk M. Stueve ◽  
Chengquan Huang
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Michigan Basin ◽  
Canopy Disturbance
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