Paleogeography of Lake Agassiz and regional post-glacial uplift history of the Flin Flon region, central Manitoba and Saskatchewan

Detailed mapping and elevation measurements of glacial lake shorelines in the Flin Flon region has permitted the reconstruction of 6 well-defined levels of Lake Agassiz formed around 8.3 ka to 7.9 ka ¹⁴C BP. The Stonewall, The Pas, Gimli, Grand Rapids, Drunken Point and Ponton paleo-water planes have been tilted upward to the northeast in the Holocene, with gradients decreasing, from the highest to the lowest level, from about 0.34 m km^-1 to 0.22 m km^-1 in the study area. The Setting level, lower than the Ponton but less well defined, is also documented here for the first time. This mapping conclusively refutes the view, entrenched in the literature from the 1890's to the 1960's, that there has been negligible differential uplift in the region following final drainage of Lake Agassiz. The finding has major consequences regarding correlation of glacial lakes across the mid-continent, the post-glacial history of large lakes in the region, and for interpretation of earth rheology and its implications for ice sheet reconstruction.     

Modeling the history of Lake of the Woods since 11,000 cal yr B.P. using GIS

Because of differential isostatic rebound, many lakes in Canada have continued to change their extent and depth since retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Using GIS techniques, the changing configuration and bathymetry of Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota were reconstructed for 12 points in time, beginning at 11,000 cal yr B.P. (9.6 ¹⁴C ka B.P.), and were also projected 500 years into the future, based on the assumption that Lake of the Woods continued to have a positive hydrological budget throughout the Holocene. This modeling was done by first compiling a bathymetric database and merging that with subaerial data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). This DEM file was then adjusted by: (1) isobase data derived from Lake Agassiz beaches prior to 9000 cal yr B.P. (8.1 ¹⁴C ka B.P.) and (2) modeled isostatic rebound trend analysis after 9000 cal yr B.P. Just after the end of the Lake Agassiz phase of Lake of the Woods, only the northernmost part of the basin contained water. Differential rebound has resulted in increasing water depth. In the first 3000 years of independence from Lake Agassiz, the lake transgressed >50 km to the south, expanding its area from 858 to 2857 km², and more than doubling in volume. Continued differential rebound after 6000 cal yr B.P. (5.2 ¹⁴C ka B.P.) has further expanded the lake, although today it is deepening by only a few cm per century at the southern end. In addition, climate change in the Holocene probably played a role in lake level fluctuations. Based on our calculation of a modern hydrological budget for Lake of the Woods, reducing runoff and precipitation by 65% and increasing evaporation from the lake by 40% would end overflow and cause the level of the lake to fall below the outlets at Kenora. Because this climate change is comparable to that recorded during the mid-Holocene warming across the region, it is likely that the area covered by the lake at this time would have been less than that determined from differential isostatic rebound alone.     

Combining geomorphological and geodetic data to determine postglacial tilting in Manitoba

Estimates of postglacial rebound in central North America from Laurentide deglaciation to the present time are uncertain as a result of lack of data from the continental interior. A more precise knowledge of postglacial tilt history will assist studies of the evolution of the major lakes in Manitoba and will facilitate the engineering and environmental management of the present-day hydrological system. This paper explores the benefits of combining geomorphological data with high-precision, real-time geodetic data (GPS positioning and absolute gravity) and lake-gauge tilt data now being collected for postglacial rebound studies in Manitoba and adjacent regions in the US. Presently-available data sets representing these data types are (1) tilting of the 9.5 kyr B.P. Campbell strand line south and west of Lake Winnipeg, (2) the rate of decrease in absolute gravity values measured from 1987 to 1995 at Churchill, Manitoba, and (3) the present-day regional tilt rate derived from water-level gauges in southern Manitoba lakes. These data are compared to theoretical predictions based on the published ICE-3G loading history and on a model of Earth rheology characterized by a 1066B density and elastic structure, an upper-mantle viscosity of 10 ²¹Pa s, a lower-mantle viscosity of 2 × 10 ²¹Pa s, and a lithosphere thickness of 120 km (Tushingham & Peltier, 1991). All three data types show disagreement in Manitoba with ICE-3G and the standard Earth model. ICE-4G does better but could not be investigated in any detail. The constraints on model parameters provided by the different data types were investigated by varying, one at a time, three key parameters, (1) the thickness of the lithosphere in excess of 120 km, (2) the lower mantle viscosity, and (3) the thickness of Laurentide ice over the Prairies, to obtain better fits to the data. The present data do not appear to constrain lithosphere thickness in excess of 120 km very well. While both the Campbell strand line data and the Churchill absolute gravity data are consistent with an increase in lower-mantle viscosity, the present-day, lake-gauge data are not. All three data types are consistent with a thinning of the Laurentide ice-sheet over the Prairies relative to the ICE-3G model. Simultaneous adjustment of model parameters with the advantage of anticipated new data in Manitoba and adjacent regions in the US will lead to better understanding of the trade-offs between Earth rheology and ice sheet history and hence to an improved Laurentide postglacial rebound model.     

Early postglacial history of the southeastern Assiniboine Delta,glacial Lake Agassiz basin

New stratigraphic evidence from the Rossendale area, Manitoba, Canada, provides insight into the early postglacial evolution of the southeastern Assiniboine Delta. In this region, much of the upper 13+ m of sediment accumulation is characterized by multiple cycles of sandy rhythmites interbedded with massive to laminated silt. These sediments were deposited rapidly by traction or turbidity currents and record the construction of the Assiniboine fan-delta during the deep-water Lockhart Phase of glacial Lake Agassiz (>10.8 ¹⁴C ka BP). Shortly before ∼10 ¹⁴C ka BP, fluvial incision into deltaic deposits occurred locally at the Rossendale Gully site in response to the regression of glacial Lake Agassiz during the Moorhead Phase. Plant macrofossils deposited in the gully by 10 ¹⁴C ka BP provide the first information on early postglacial plant colonization of the distal Assiniboine delta. These data suggest initial establishment of Scorpidium scorpioides, Potamogeton spp., Scirpus spp., and other wetland plants, followed by colonization of uplands by a Picea-Populus assemblage. Importantly, because the gully is located in a protected depression behind the Campbell beach, evidence of water table rise from aquatic macrophytes suggests that glacial Lake Agassiz transgressed to the Campbell level during the early Emerson Phase (∼10 ¹⁴C ka BP). Furthermore, no evidence exists for a post-Lockhart rise in Lake Agassiz above the Upper Campbell beach. If Agassiz stood at the Campbell level during the early Emerson Phase, then drainage through the southern outlet may have been possible at this time. This scenario, if true, may suggest that the northwestern outlet was temporarily closed by a glacial advance shortly before 10 ¹⁴C ka BP. This is the first in a series of ten papers published in this special issue of Journal of Paleolimnology. These papers were presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (2004), held at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. P.F. Karrow and C.F.M. Lewis were guest editors of this special issue     

An early Holocene oxygen isotope record from the Olson buried forest bed, Southern Lake Michigan

Analysis of a 3.5 m vibracore from the Olson buried forest bed in the southern Lake Michigan basin provides new paleolimnological data for the early Holocene. The core records a rise in lake level from the Chippewa low water phase toward the Nipissing high water phase. Deepening of the water level at the core site is suggested by a trend toward decreasing organic carbon content up core that is interpreted as a response to increasing distance between terrestrial debris sources and the core site.Published data from deep water cores from the southern Lake Michigan basin suggest there had been an inflow of isotopically light water from glacial Lake Agassiz into the southern basin between 10.5-11 ka (A1 event). The data also indicate a second flood of isotopically light water between 8-9 ka (A2 event).Three new ¹⁴C dates from the Olson site core suggest that most of the sediment was deposited between 8.45 ka and 8.2 ka, an interval roughly coeval with the second pulse of ¹⁸O-depleted water (A2) from Lake Agassiz into the southern basin. Oxygen isotope ratio analysis of shell aragonite from the gastropods Probythinella lacustris and Marstonia deceptashows increasingly negative values up core. This trend in¹⁸O values suggests that ¹⁸O - depleted water entered the southern basin about 8.4 ka. The Olson site core thus provides a chronology of events in the southern Lake Michigan basin associated with the draining of glacial Lake Agassiz.     

Postglacial sedimentary record and history of West Hawk Lake crater,Manitoba

West Hawk Lake (WHL) is located within the glacial Lake Agassiz basin, 140 km east of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The small lake lies in a deep, steep-sided, meteorite impact crater, which has been partly filled by 60 m of sediment that today forms a flat floor in the central part of the basin below 111 m of water. Four cores, 5–11 m in length, were collected using a Kullenberg piston gravity corer. All sediment is clay, contains no unconformities, and has low organic content in all but the upper meter. Sample analyses include bulk and clay mineralogy, major and minor elements, TOC, stable isotopes of C, N, and O, pollen, charcoal, diatoms, and floral and faunal macrofossils. The sequence is divided into four units based mainly on thickness and style of lamination, diatoms, and pollen. AMS radiocarbon dates do not provide a clear indication of age in the postglacial sequence; possible explanations include contamination by older organic inwash and downward movement of younger organic acids. A chronological framework was established using only selected AMS dates on plant macrofossils, combined with correlations to dated events outside the basin and paleotopographic reconstructions of Lake Agassiz. The 822 1-cm-thick varves in the lower 8 m of the cored WHL sequence were deposited just prior to 10,000 cal years BP (∼8,900 ¹⁴C years BP), during the glacial Lake Agassiz phase of the lake. The disappearance of dolomite near the top of the varved sequence reflects the reduced influence of Lake Agassiz and the carbonate bedrock and glacial sediment in its catchment. The lowermost varves are barren of organisms, indicating cold and turbid glacial lake waters, but the presence of benthic and planktonic algae in the upper 520 varves indicates warming; this lake phase coincides with a change in clay mineralogy, δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C in cellulose, and in some other parameters. This change may have resulted from a major drawdown in Lake Agassiz when its overflow switched from northwest to east after formation of the Upper Campbell beach of that lake 9,300–9,400 ¹⁴C years ago. The end of thick varve deposition at ∼10,000 cal years BP is related to the opening of a lower eastern outlet of Lake Agassiz and an accompanying drop in West Hawk Lake level. WHL became independent from Lake Agassiz at this time, sedimentation rates dropped, and only ∼2.5 m of sediment was deposited in the next 10,000 years. During the first two centuries of post-Lake Agassiz history, there were anomalies in the diatom assemblage, stable O and C isotopes, magnetic susceptibility, and other parameters, reflecting an unstable watershed. Modern oligotrophic conditions were soon established; charcoal abundance increased in response to the reduced distance to the shoreline and to warmer conditions. Regional warming after ∼9,500 cal years BP is indicated by pollen and diatoms as well as C and O isotope values. Relatively dry conditions are suggested by a rise in pine and decrease in spruce and other vegetation types between 9,500 and 5,000 cal years BP (∼8,500–4,400 ¹⁴C years BP), plus a decrease in δ¹³C_cell values. After this, there was a shift to slightly cooler and wetter conditions. A large increase in organic content and change in elemental concentration in the past several thousand years probably reflects a decline in supply of mineral detritus to the basin and possibly an increase in productivity.     

Holocene lake-level fluctuations and beach-ridge development along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, USA

Geomorphology of a beach-ridge complex and adjacent lake basins along the northern shore of Lake Michigan records fluctuations in the level of Lake Michigan for the last 8000 to 10 000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. (radiocarbon years Before Present). A storm berm at 204.7–206 m (671.6–675.9 ft) exposed in a sandpit provides evidence of a pre-Chippewa Low lake level that is correlated with dropping water levels of Glacial Lake Algonquin (c. 10 300–10 100 ¹⁴C yr B.P.). Radiocarbon dates from organic material exposed in a river cutbank and basal sediments from Elbow Lake, Mackinac Co., Michigan, indicate a maximum age of a highstand of Lake Michigan at 6900 ¹⁴C yr B.P., which reached as high as 196.7 m (645 ft), during the early-Nipissing transgression of Lake Michigan. Basal radiocarbon dates from beach swales and a second lake site (Beaverhouse Lake, Mackinac Co.) provide geomorphic evidence for a subsequent highstand which reached 192.6 m (632 ft) at 5390±70 ¹⁴C yr B.P.Basal radiocarbon dates from a transect of sediment cores, along with tree-ring data, and General Land Office Surveyor notes of a shipwreck, c. A.D. 1846, reveal a late-Holocene rate for isostatic rebound of 22.6 cm/100 radiocarbon years (0.74 ft/100 radiocarbon years) for the northern shore of Lake Michigan, relative to the Lake Michigan-Lake Huron outlet at Port Huron, Michigan. Changes in sediment stratigraphy, inter-ridge distance, and sediment accumulation rates document a mid- to late-Holocene retreat of the shoreline due to isostatic rebound. This regression sequence was punctuated by brief, periodic highstands, resulting in progressive development over the past 5400 ¹⁴C yr of 75 pairs of dune ridges and swales each formed over an interval of approximately 72 years. Times of lake-level fluctuation were identified at 3900, 3200, and 1000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. based on changes in inter-ridge spacing, shifts in the course of Millecoquins River, and reorientation of beach-ridge lineation. Soil type, dune development, and selected pollen data provide supporting evidence for this chronology. Late-Holocene beach-ridge development and lake-level fluctuations are related to a retreat of the dominant Pacific airmass and the convergence of the Arctic and Tropical airmasses resulting in predominantly meridional rather than zonal air flow across the Great Lakes region.This is the 13th in a series of papers published in this special AMQUA issue. These papers were presented at the 1994 meeting of the American Quaternary Association held 19–22 June, 1994, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Dr Linda C. K. Shane served as guest editor for these papers.     

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.     

Late Pleistocene outburst flooding from pluvial Lake Alvord into the Owyhee River, Oregon

At least one large, late Pleistocene flood traveled into the Owyhee River as a result of a rise and subsequent outburst from pluvial Lake Alvord in southeastern Oregon. Lake Alvord breached Big Sand Gap in its eastern rim after reaching an elevation of 1292 m, releasing 11.3 km³ of water into the adjacent Coyote Basin as it eroded the Big Sand Gap outlet channel to an elevation of about 1280 m. The outflow filled and then spilled out of Coyote Basin through two outlets at 1278 m and into Crooked Creek drainage, ultimately flowing into the Owyhee and Snake Rivers. Along Crooked Creek, the resulting flood eroded canyons, stripped bedrock surfaces, and deposited numerous boulder bars containing imbricated clasts up to 4.1 m in diameter, some of which are located over 30 m above the present-day channel.Critical depth calculations at Big Sand Gap show that maximum outflow from a 1292- to 1280-m drop in Lake Alvord was  10,000 m³ s^− 1. Flooding became confined to a single channel approximately 40 km downstream of Big Sand Gap, where step-backwater calculations show that a much larger peak discharge of 40,000 m³ s^− 1 is required to match the highest geologic evidence of the flood in this channel. This inconsistency can be explained by (1) a single 10,000 m³ s^− 1 flood that caused at least 13 m of vertical incision in the channel (hence enlarging the channel cross-section); (2) multiple floods of 10,000 m³ s^− 1 or less, each producing some incision of the channel; or (3) an earlier flood of 40,000 m³ s^− 1 creating the highest flood deposits and crossed drainage divides observed along Crooked Creek drainage, followed by a later 10,000 m³ s^− 1 flood associated with the most recent shorelines in Alvord and Coyote Basins.Well-developed shorelines of Lake Alvord at 1280 m and in Coyote Basin at 1278 m suggest that after the initial flood, postflood overflow persisted for an extended period, connecting Alvord and Coyote Basins with the Owyhee River of the Columbia River drainage. Surficial weathering characteristics and planktonic freshwater diatoms in Lake Alvord sediment stratigraphically below Mt. St. Helens set Sg tephra, suggest deep open-basin conditions at  13–14 ka (¹⁴C yr) and that the flood and prominent shorelines date to about this time. But geomorphic and sedimentological evidence also show that Alvord and Coyote Basins held older, higher-elevation lakes that may have released earlier floods down Crooked Creek.     

Evidence for high water levels in the Erie basin during the Younger Dryas chronozone

A high water phase in the Lake Erie basin is identified from a variety of evidence for the period 11.0 ka to 10.5 ka. It is believed to correspond to the first Agassiz inflow to the upper Great Lakes (Main Lake Algonquin phase) when Agassiz waters discharged in both catastrophic and equilibrium modes to Lake Superior. After allowing for differential isostatic rebound, a computational model is used to estimate the lake levels in the Erie basin needed to generate Agassiz-equivalent discharges out of the basin into Lake Ontario. Computations suggest that Lake Tonawanda spillways would be re-activated by the high lake levels needed to sustain Agassiz-equivalent discharges. Existing published evidence from the Erie basin, Niagara River, and western New York (including ¹⁴C dates), is consistent with this interpretation. Additional evidence from the Niagara Peninsula (pollen spectra and geomorphology) supports the inference that extensive flooding of the southern Niagara Peninsula (Lake Wainfleet) occurred due to high water levels in the Erie basin. In the Niagara Peninsula, very shallow washover spillways would only operate when standard hydrologic variations of lake level in the Erie basin coincided with short term high levels driven by catastrophic inflows to the Great Lakes from Lake Agassiz. We support the view of Lewis & Anderson (1992) that a meltwater flux from Agassiz inflows reached Lake Erie.     

A post-Calumet shoreline along southern Lake Michigan

The southern shore of Lake Michigan is the type area for many of ancestral Lake Michigan’s late Pleistocene lake phases, but coastal deposits and features of the Algonquin phase of northern Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior are not recognized in the area. Isostatic rebound models suggest that Algonquin phase deposits should be 100 m or more below modern lake level. A relict shoreline, however, exists along the lakeward margin of the Calumet Beach that was erosional west of Deep River and depositional east of the river. For this post-Calumet shoreline, the elevation of basal foreshore deposits east of Deep River and the base of the scarp west of Deep River indicate a slightly westward dipping water plane that is centered at ∼184 m above mean sea level. Basal foreshore elevations also indicate that lake level fell ∼2 m during the development of the shoreline. The pooled mean of radiocarbon dates from the surface of the peat below post-Calumet shoreline foreshore deposits indicate that the lake transgressed over the peat at 10,560 ± 70 years B.P. Pollen assemblages from the peat are consistent with this age. The elevation and age of the post-Calumet shoreline are similar to the Main Algonquin phase of Lake Huron. Recent isostatic rebound models do not adequately address a high-elevation Algonquin-age shoreline along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, but the Goldthwait (1908) hinge-line model does.     

Timing of the last highstand of Lake Lahontan

Radiocarbon and uranium-series ages of a variety of materials from the Lahontan basin indicate that the last highstand lake occurred between 14 500 and 13 000 yr B.P. Although few in number, existing radiocarbon and uranium-series age data also indicate that lakes in the western Lahontan subbasins were small or moderate in size between 30 000 and 25 000 yr B.P. Existing data do not support the conclusions of Bradbury et al. (1989) who did not find evidence of a 14 000±yr B.P. highstand lake in the sediments of the Walker Lake subbasin. These data also do not support the existence of a highstand lake in the Walker Lake subbasin between 30 000 and 25 000 yr B.P.     

Former glacial lakes of the Bunger Hills,Antarctica

The Bunger Hills in East Antarctica occupy a land area of approximately 400 km². They have been exposed by Holocene retreat of the Antarctic ice sheet and its outlet glaciers. The accompanying sea level rise flooded the marine inlets that now separate the northern islands and peninsulas from the major part of the hills. During deglaciation the continental ice sheet margin retreated south‐eastwards with several temporary halts, during which ice‐dammed lakes were formed in some valleys. These lakes were maintained long enough to permit formation of beaches of sand and gravel, and for the erosion of shore platforms and low cliffs in bedrock. Around the western end of Fish Tail Bay impressive shoreline features 20 m above sea level define a former ice‐dammed lake that was 5.5 km long. A similar 7 km long former ice‐dammed lake was formed at Lake Dolgoe. The more extensive and deeper glacial lake is revealed by well‐developed and preserved shoreline features cut at 29 m which is 16 m above present lake level. In addition, several small ice‐dammed lakes existed temporarily near Lake Shchel and in the valley to the west. Lake Fish Tail existed more than 6,900 ¹⁴C years ago and Lake Shchel probably more than 6,680 ¹⁴C years ago. It is inferred that the shore platforms and beaches were formed by lake ice and wave action over considerable periods when the lakes were impounded by steep cold ice margins. There appears to have been a balance between meltwater input and evaporative loss from the lakes in the cold dry continental climate. There is no evidence for rapid lake level fluctuations, and there was very little input of clastic sediment. This resulted in poor development of deltaic and rhythmically laminated lake floor deposits. It is suggested that such deposits are more characteristic of ice‐dammed lakes formed in association with wet‐based temperate ice than those associated with dry‐based polar ice.     

Big lake records preserved in a little lake’s sediment: an example from Silver Lake,Michigan, USA

We reconstruct postglacial lake-level history within the Lake Michigan basin using soil stratigraphy, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), sedimentology and ¹⁴C data from the Silver Lake basin, which lies adjacent to Lake Michigan. Stratigraphy in nine vibracores recovered from the floor of Silver Lake appears to reflect fluctuation of water levels in the Lake Michigan basin. Aeolian activity within the study area from 3,000 years (cal yr. B.P.) to the present was inferred from analysis of buried soils, an aerial photograph sequence, and GPR. Sediments in and around Silver Lake appear to contain a paleoenvironmental record that spans the entire post-glacial history of the Lake Michigan basin. We suggest that (1) a pre-Nipissing rather than a Nipissing barrier separated Silver Lake basin from the Lake Michigan basin, (2) that the Nipissing transgression elevated the water table in the Silver Lake basin about 6,500 cal yr. B.P., resulting in reestablishment of a lake within the basin, and (3) that recent dune migration into Silver Lake is associated with levels of Lake Michigan. This is the fourth in a series of ten papers published in this special issue of Journal of Paleolimnology. These papers were presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (2004), held at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. P.F. Karrow and C.F.M. Lewis were guest editors of this special issue.     

Paleohydrologic implications of 18O enriched Lake Agassiz water

Lake Agassiz water oxygen isotopic compositions inferred from sediment core organics and pore waters provide some additional insight into the paleohydrology of the Great Lakes and their drainage into the North Atlantic during the late glacial and early Holocene. Isotopically enriched Lake Agassiz water supports the hypothesis that high Huron Basin lake (Mattawa) phases, during the early Holocene (9600–9300 and 9100–8100 years BP) resulted from an influx of Lake Agassiz water and suggests that low lake (Stanley) phases (9800–9600, 9300–9100, 8100–7400 years BP) were influenced more by regional influxes of isotopically depleted glacial melt water. Eastward drainage of enriched early Lake Agassiz water supports an active Port Huron outlet between 11000 and 10500 years BP and also helps to explain the absence of an ¹⁸O depleted interval in North Atlantic foram records. This may be the result of a balance between the opposing isotopic effects of depleted Lake Agassiz water and lower sea surface temperatures on carbonate precipitation between 11000 and 10000 years BP.     

Lake Winnipeg: geological setting and sediment seismostratigraphy

Lake Winnipeg, the seventh largest lake in North America, is located at the boundary between the Interior Plains and the Canadian Shield in Manitoba, Canada. Seismic profiles were obtained in Lake Winnipeg on two geoscientific cruises in 1994 and 1996. These data indicate the morphology of the bedrock surface. In most cases, a clear distinction between low relief Paleozoic carbonate rock and high relief Precambrian rock can be made. In northern Lake Winnipeg, the eastern limit of Paleozoic rock is clearly demarcated 30 km west of the previous estimate of its position. In southern Lake Winnipeg, all or most of the Paleozoic sequence terminates at a prominent buried escarpment in the centre of the lake. This indicates that Paleozoic rock on the eastern shore, known from drilling and outcrops, is an outlier. Major moraines are apparent as abrupt, large ridges having a chaotic internal reflection pattern. These include the Pearson Reef Moraine, the George Island Moraine and the offshore extension of The Pas Moraine. Little evidence for extensive or thick till was observed. Instead, fine-grained sediments deposited in glacial Lake Agassiz rest directly on bedrock over most of the lake basin. Hence an episode of erosion to bedrock was associated with glaciation and/or deglaciation. The Agassiz Sequence sediments are well-stratified, drape underlying relief and in some areas are over 100 m thick. In places, stratification in these sediments is disrupted, perhaps by dewatering. Evidence of erosion of Agassiz Sequence sediments by recent currents was observed. The contact between the Agassiz Sequence and the overlying Winnipeg Sequence sediments is a marked angular unconformity. The Agassiz Unconformity indicates up to 10 m of erosion in places. The low-relief character of this unconformity precludes subaerial erosion and the lack of till, moraines, or extensive deformation precludes glacial erosion. Waves appear to be the most likely erosional agent, either in waning Lake Agassiz or early Lake Winnipeg time. Winnipeg Sequence sediments, in places very thin, mantle most of the lakefloor. These sediments were deposited in the present Lake Winnipeg and are faintly stratified to massive and reach about 10 m in thickness in deep water. On the surface of the Winnipeg Sequence, vigorous, episodic currents are thought to contribute to the construction of flow-transverse sand waves as much as 6 m high in a deep, narrow constriction in the lake.     

Relict Shorelines and Ice Flow Patterns of the Northern Puget Lowland From Lidar Data and Digital Terrain Modelling

Airborne lidar data from the northern Puget Lowland provide information on the spatial variability and amplitude of raised postglacial shorelines, marine deltaic features and glaciomarine sediments deposited between approximately c. 12 920 and 11 050 ¹⁴C yr BP (15 960‐12 364 cal yr BP). Relict shorelines preserved in embayments on Whidbey and Camano islands (between 47°54′N and 48°24′N) are found up to an altitude of c. 90 m and record glacio‐isostatic movements attributed to postglacial rebound. The tilt of the regional minimum highstand sea level surface to the north of 0.80 m km^?1, with local variability from 0.25 m km^?1 to 0.77 m km^?1, is consistent with previous studies (Thorson 1989; Dethier et al. 1995). The local variability is related to the uncertainty in the depth of the water column above these features at the time of deposition and probable tectonic deformation. The information generated by these lidar data is most valuable in posing new research questions, generating alternative research hypotheses to those already formulated in the northern Puget Lowland.     

Late-Glacial and Holocene Record of Lake Levels of Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake,Northern Maine,USA

Paleohydrology studies at Mathews Pond and Whitehead Lake in northern Maine revealed synchronous changes in lake levels from about 12,000 ¹⁴C yrs BP to the present. We analyzed gross sediment structure, organic and carbonate content, mineral grain size, and macrofossils of six cores from each of the two lakes, and obtained 72 radiocarbon dates. Interpretation of this paleo-environmental data suggests that the late-glacial and Younger Dryas climate was dry, and lake levels were low. Early Holocene lake levels were considerably higher but declined for an interval from about 8000 to 7200 ¹⁴C yrs BP. Sediment of both lakes contains evidence of a dry period at ∼7400 ¹⁴C yrs BP (8200 cal yr). Lake levels of both sites declined abruptly about 4800 ¹⁴C yrs BP and remained low until 3000 ¹⁴C yrs BP. Modern lake levels were achieved only within the past 600 years. The west-to-east, time-transgressive nature of lake-level changes from several sites across northeastern North America suggests periodic changes in atmospheric circulation patterns as a driving force behind observed moisture balance changes. Electronic supplementary material to this article is available at and accessible for authorized users.     

Sediment records of phosphorus-driven shifts to phytoplanktondominance in shallow Florida lakes

Primary producer community structure (PPCS) in shallow lakes isinfluenced by phosphorus (P) load and water column P concentration.Theoretically PPCS may shift between phytoplankton and macrophyte states withintermediate P loading, but phytoplankton dominate when P loading exceeds acritical threshold. We analyzed sediment cores from five shallow, eutrophiclakes (size range: 0.6 to 125 km²) that arephytoplankton dominated to determine whether the development of the currentstate was associated stratigraphically with an increase in sediment total P(TP) and a shift in PPCS. We used sponge biogenic silica(BSi_Sponges) concentrations and total carbon to total nitrogenratios (TC:TN) as proxies for macrophyte abundance and sediment organic mattersource, respectively. Three stratigraphic groups of sediments were identifiedwith k-means cluster analysis. These samples were grouped by increasing TPconcentrations and decreasing age and identified as macrophyte, transitionaland phytoplankton sediments. Results show that as P loading increased in thelate 19th and early 20th centuries, the lakes producedsediments with an increasing contribution from phytoplankton. Four of our lakesmay represent a subset of shallow lakes because of their large size (30 to 125km²) and relatively rapid historic P enrichment. Inthese Florida lakes, PPCS shifted to phytoplankton dominance with nopaleolimnological record of lake-wide alternating stable states or of lake-widephytoplankton dominance before anthropogenic P enrichment.     

EVIDENCE FOR LATE-GLACIAL ICE DAMMED LAKES IN THE CENTRAL STRAIT OF MAGELLAN AND BAHÍA INÚTIL, SOUTHERNMOST SOUTH AMERICA

ABSTRACT. This paper critically appraises the evidence for a succession of ice-dammed lakes in the central Strait of Magellan ( c. 53°S) c. 17 000–12 250 cal. yr BP. The topographic configuration of islands and channels in the southern Strait of Magellan means that the presence of lakes provides compelling constraints on the position of former ice margins. Lake shorelines and glacio-lacustrine sediments have been dated by their association with a key tephra layer from Volcan Reclús (c. 15 510–14 350 cal. years bp ) and by ¹⁴C-dated peats. The timing of glacial lake formation and associated glacier readvances is at odds with the rapid and widespread glacier retreat of the Patagonian ice fields further north after c. 17 000 cal. yr bp , suggesting rather that the lakes were coeval with the Antarctic Cold Reversal and persisted to the Late-glacial/Holocene transition. This apparent asymmetrical latitudinal response in glacier behaviour may reflect overlapping spheres of northern hemisphere and Antarctic climatic influence in the Magellan region.