Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:44:52.115Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Andy Breckenridge  and
Thomas C. Johnson
Andy Breckenridge*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Mercyhurst College, 501 E. 38th Street, Erie, PA 16546, USA
Thomas C. Johnson
Affiliation:
Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +1 814 824 3297. Email Address:abreckenridge@mercyhurst.edu, tcj@d.umn.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Between 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.

Keywords

Great LakesLake SuperiorLake HuronLake MichiganOxygen isotopesLake AgassizPaleohydrology
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , May 2009 , pp. 397 - 408
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alley, R.B., Mayeewski, P.A., Sowers, T., Stuiver, M., Taylor, K.C., and Clark, P.U. Holocene climatic instability: a prominent, widespread event 8200 years ago. Geology 25, (1997). 483–486.Google Scholar
Bajc, A.F., Morgan, A.V., and Warner, B.G. Age and paleoecological significance of an early Postglacial fossil assemblage near Marathon, Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 34, (1997). 687–698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, D.C., Dyke, A., Hillaire-Marcel, C., Jennings, A.E., Andrews, J.T., Kerwin, M.W., Bilodeau, G., McNeely, R., Southon, J., Morehead, M.D., and Gagnon, J.M. Forcing of the cold event of 8,200 years ago by catastrophic drainage of Laurentide lakes. Nature 400, (1999). 344–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birks, S.J., Edwards, T.W.D., and Remenda, V.H. Isotopic evolution of glacial Lake Agassiz: new insights from cellulose and porewater isotopic archives. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 246, (2007). 8–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, G.J., Wassenaar, L.I., and Hobson, K.A. Global application of stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopes to wildlife forensics. Oecologia 143, (2005). 337–348.Google Scholar
Breckenridge, A. Lake Superior varve stratigraphy and implications for eastern Lake Agassiz outflow from 10,700 to 9,040 cal ybp (9.5–8.1 14C ka). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 246, (2007). 45–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breckenridge, A.J., Johnson, T.C., Beske-Diehl, S., and Mothersill, J.S. The timing of regional late glacial events and post-glacial sedimentation rates from Lake Superior. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 2355–2367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broecker, W.S., Kennett, J.P., Flower, J.P., Teller, J.T., Trumbore, S., Bonani, G., and Wolfli, W. Routing of meltwater from the Laurentide ice sheet during the Younger Dryas cold episode. Nature 341, (1989). 318–321.Google Scholar
Buhay, W.M., and Betcher, R.N. Paleohydrologic implications of (super 18) O enriched Lake Agassiz water. Journal of Paleolimnology 19, (1998). 285–296.Google Scholar
Clarke, P.U., Marshall, S.J., Clarke, G., Hostetler, S.W., Licciardi, J.M., and Teller, J.T. Freshwater forcing of abrupt climate change during the last glaciation. Science 283, (2001). 283–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colman, S.M., Foster, D.S., (1990). Open-File Report — Stratigraphy, descriptions, and physical properties of sediments cored in Lake Michigan. U. S. Geological Survey, 92 pp.Google Scholar
Colman, S.M., Clark, J.A., Clayton, L., Hansel, A.K., and Larsen, C.E. Deglaciation, lake levels, and meltwater discharge in the Lake Michigan Basin. Quaternary Science Reviews 13, (1994). 879–890.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colman, S.M., Keigwin, L.D., and Forester, R.M. Two episodes of meltwater influx from glacial Lake Agassiz and their climatic contrast. Geology 22, (1994). 547–550.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colman, S.M., King, J.W., Jones, G.A., Reynolds, R.L., and Bothner, M.H. Holocene and Recent sediment accumulation rates in southern Lake Michigan. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, (2000). 1563–1580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, H. The measurement of oxygen isotope paleotemperatures. Tongioro, E. Stable Isotopes in Oceanographic Studies and Paleotemperatures (1965). Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Laboratorio di Geologia Nucleare, Pisa. 161–182.Google Scholar
Dansgaard, W., and Tauber, H. Glacier oxygen-18 content and Pleistocene ocean temperatures. Science 166, (1969). 499–502.Google Scholar
Dean, W.E., and Stuiver, M. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope studies of the sediments of Elk Lake, Minnesota. Bradbury, J.P., Dean, W.E. Elk Lake, Minnesota: Evidence for Rapid Climate Change in the North-Central United States. Geological Society of America Special Paper 276, (1993). 180–183.Google Scholar
Dell, C.I. The origin and characteristics of Lake Superior sediments. Proc. 15th Conference on Great Lakes Research. International Association for Great Lakes Research (1972). 361–370.Google Scholar
Delorme, L.D. Fresh-water ostracodes of Canada. 3. Family Candonidae. Canadian Journal of Zoology 48, (1970). 1099–1127.Google Scholar
Dettman, D.L., Smith, A.J., Rea, D.K., Moore, T.C. Jr., and Lohman, K.C. Glacial meltwater in Lake Huron during early postglacial times as inferred from single-valve analysis of oxygen isotopes in ostracodes. Quaternary Research 43, (1995). 297–310.Google Scholar
Dyke, A.S., Moore, A., and Robertson, L. Deglaciation of North America. (2003). Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 1574 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eyles, N., and Schwarcz, H.P. Stable isotope record of the glacial cycle from lacustrine ostracodes. Geology 19, (1991). 257–260.Google Scholar
Fairbanks, R.G. A 17,000-year glacio-eustatic sea level record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep-ocean circulation. Nature 342, (1989). 637–642.Google Scholar
Fanning, A.F., and Weaver, A.J. Temporal–geographical meltwater influences on the North Atlantic Conveyor: implications for the Younger Dryas. Paleoceanography 12, (1997). 307–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrand, W.R., (1960). Former shorelines in western and northern Lake Superior Basin. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 257 pp.Google Scholar
Farrand, W.R. The Quaternary history of Lake Superior. Proc. 12th Conference on Great Lakes Research. International Association for Great Lakes Research. (1969). Ann Arbor, MI. 181–197.Google Scholar
Farrand, W.R., and Drexler, C.W. Late Wisconsin and Holocene history of the Lake Superior basin. Karrow, P.K., Calkin, P.E. Quaternary Evolution of the Great Lakes. Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 30, (1985). 17–32.Google Scholar
Fisher, T.G. Chronology of glacial Lake Agassiz meltwater routed to the Gulf of Mexico. Quaternary Research 59, (2003). 271–276.Google Scholar
Fisher, T.G., and Lowell, T.V. Questioning the age of the Moorhead Phase in the glacial Lake Agassiz basin. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 2688–2691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, T.G., and Whitman, R.L. Deglacial and Lake level fluctuation history recorded in Cores, Beaver Lake, Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Journal of Great Lakes Research 25, (1999). 263–274.Google Scholar
Fisher, T.G., Smith, D.G., and Andrews, J.T. Preboreal oscillation caused by a glacial Lake Agassiz flood. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 873–878.Google Scholar
Fleitmann, D., Mudelsee, M., Burns, S.J., Bradley, R.S., Kramers, J., and Matter, A. Evidence for a widespread climatic anomaly at around 9.2 ka before present. Paleoceanography 23, (2008). PA1102 1029/2007PA001519 Google Scholar
Forester, R.M., Colman, S.M., Reynolds, R.L., and Keigwin, L.D. Lake Michigan's late Quaternary limnological and climate history from ostracode, oxygen isotope, and magnetic susceptibility. Journal of Great Lakes Research 20, (1994). 93–107.Google Scholar
Friedman, I., O'Neil, J.R., (1977). Compilation of stable isotope fractionation factors of geochemical interest. USGS Professional Paper, Report: P 0440-KK, pp. 12.Google Scholar
Hansel, A.K., Mickelson, D.M., Schneider, A.F., and Larsen, C.E. Late Wisconsinan and Holocene history of the Lake Michigan Basin. Karrow, P.F., and Calkin, P.E. Quaternary evolution of the Great Lakes. (1985). Geological Association of Canada, 39–53.Google Scholar
Hu, F.S., Slawinski, D., Wright, H.E. Jr., Ito, E., Johnson, R.G., Kelts, K.R., McEwan, R.F., and Boedigheimer, A. Abrupt climatic change in the North American midcontinent during early Holocene times. Nature 400, (1999). 437–440.Google Scholar
Johnson, R.G., and McClure, B.T. A model for Northern Hemisphere continental ice sheet variation. Quaternary Research 6, (1976). 325–353.Google Scholar
Leverington, D.W., and Teller, J.T. Paleotopographic reconstructions of the eastern outlets of glacial Lake Agassiz. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 40, (2003). 1259–1278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, C.F.M., and Anderson, T.W. Oscillations of levels and cool phases of the Laurentian Great Lakes caused by inflows form glacial Lakes Agassiz and Barlow–Ojibway. Journal of Paleolimnology 2, (1989). 99–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, C.F.M., and Todd, B.J. Summary core logs and corresponding seismostratigraphic sequences, Appendix 7.1. Todd, B.J., Lewis, C.F.M., Thorleifson, L.H., Nielsen, E. Lake Winnipeg Project: Cruise Report and Scientific Results, Geological Association of Canada OF Report 3113, (1996). 443–469.Google Scholar
Lewis, C.F.M., Moore, T.C. Jr., Rea, D.K., Dettman, D.L., Smith, A.M., and Mayer, L.A. Lakes of the Huron Basin; their record of runoff from the Laurentide ice sheet: late glacial history of large proglacial lakes and meltwater runoff along the Laurentide ice sheet. Quaternary Science Reviews 13, (1994). 891–922.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, C.F.M., Thorleifson, L., Todd, B.J., Forbes, D.L., Nielsen, E., Henderson, P.J., King, G.R., Gibson, C., Anderson, T.W., Rodrigues, C.G., Moran, K., Jarrett, C.A., and Risberg, J. Ice-proximal to ice-distal environments of Lake Agassiz, 9.2–7.7 ka: the sedimentary record beneath northern Lake Winnipeg, Canada (poster). (2003). CANQUA meeting, Halifax, NS.Google Scholar
Lewis, C.F.M., Blasco, S.M., and Gareau, P.L. 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 59, 2–3 (2005). 187–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, C.F.M., Heil, C.W., Hubeny, J.B., King, J.W., Moore, T.C., and Rea, D.K. 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 the Lake Michigan basin. Journal of Paleolimnology 37, (2007). 435–452.Google Scholar
Licciardi, J.M., Teller, J.T., and Clark, P.U. Freshwater routing by the Laurentide ice sheet during the last deglaciation. Clark, P.U., Webb, R.S., and Keigwin, L.D. Mechanisms of Global Climate Change at Millennial Time Scales. Geophysical Monograph Vol. 112, (1999). 117–201. American Geophysical Union Google Scholar
Lowell, T., Larson, G.J., Hughes, J.D., and Denton, G.H. Age verification of the Lake Gribben Forest Bed and the Younger Dryas advance of the Laurentide ice sheet. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 36, (1999). 383–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowell, T., Waterson, N., Fisher, T., Loope, H., Glover, K., Comer, G., Hajdas, I., Denton, G., Schaefer, J., Rinterknecht, V., Broecker, W., and Teller, J. Testing the Lake Agassiz meltwater trigger for the Younger Dryas, Eos Trans. AGU 86, (2005). http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005EO400001 Google Scholar
Lund, S.P. A comparison of Holocene paleomagnetic secular variation records from North America. Journal of Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets 101, (1996). 39–52.Google Scholar
Lund, S.P., and Banerjee, S.K. Late Quaternary paleomagnetic field secular variation from two Minnesota lakes. Journal of Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets 90, (1985). 803–825.Google Scholar
Manabe, S., and Stouffer, R.J. Simulation of abrupt climate change induced by freshwater input to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 378, (1995). 165–167.Google Scholar
Manabe, S., and Stouffer, R.J. Coupled ocean–atmosphere model response to freshwater input: comparison to the Younger Dryas event. Paleoceanography 12, (1997). 321–336.Google Scholar
Mann, J.D., Rayburn, J.A., and Teller, J.T. Brokenpipe Lake, Manitoba: a remnant of an Emerson phase Lake Agassiz lagoon. GSA — Abstracts with Programs, 1997 North-Central Section meeting. Geological Society of America (1997). 57–58.Google Scholar
Miller, B., Tevesz, M., and Pranschke, F. An early Holocene oxygen isotope record from the Olson buried forest bed, Southern Lake Michigan. Journal of Paleolimnology 24, (2000). 271–276.Google Scholar
Moore, T.C. Jr., Rea, D.K., Mayer, L.A., Lewis, C.F.M., and Dobson, D.M. Seismic stratigraphy of Lake Huron: Georgian Bay and postglacial lake level history. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (1994). 1606–1617.Google Scholar
Moore, T.C. Jr., Walker, J.C.G., Rea, D.K., Lewis, C.F.M., Shane, L.C.K., and Smith, A.J. Younger Dryas interval and outflow from the Laurentide ice sheet. Paleoceanography 15, (2000). 4–18.Google Scholar
Odegaard, C., Rea, D.K., Moore, T.C. Jr. Stratigraphy of the mid-Holocene black bands in Lakes Michigan and Huron: evidence for possible basin-wide anoxia. Journal of Paleolimnology 29, (2003). 221–234.Google Scholar
Patterson, W.P., Smith, G.R., and Lohmann, K.C. Continental paleothermometry and seasonality using the isotopic composition of aragonitic otoliths of freshwater fishes. Geophysical Monograph 78, (1993). 191–202.Google Scholar
Rahmstorf, S. Bifurcations of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation in response to changes in the hydrologic cycle. Nature 378, (1995). 145–149.Google Scholar
Rahmstorf, S. The thermohaline ocean circulation: a system with dangerous thresholds?. Climatic Change 46, 3 (2000). 247–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmussen, S.O., Andersen, K.K., Svensson, A.M., Steffensen, J.P., Vinther, B.M., Clausen, H.B., Siggaard-Andersen, M.-L., Johnsen, S.J., Larsen, L.B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Bigler, M., Röthlisberger, R., Fischer, H., Goto-Azuma, K., Hansson, M.E., and Ruth, U. A new Greenland ice core chronology for the last glacial termination. Journal Geophysical Research 111, (2006). D06102 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006079 Google Scholar
Rea, D.K., and Colman, S.M. Radiocarbon ages of pre-bomb clams and the hard-water effect in Lakes Michigan and Huron. Journal of Paleolimnology 14, (1995). 88–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rea, D.K., Moore, T.C. Jr., Lewis, C.F.M., Mayer, L.A., Dettman, D.L., Smith, A.J., and Dobson, D.M. Stratigraphy and paleolimnologic record of lower Holocene sediments in northern Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (1994). 1586–1605.Google Scholar
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. Great Lakes paleohydrology: complex interplay of glacial meltwater, lake levels, and sill depths. Geology 22, (1994). 1059–1062.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C.J.H., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G.S., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S.W., Ramsey, C.B., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van der Plicht, J., and Weyhenmeyer, C.E. IntCal04 Terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 26–0 ka BP. Radiocarbon 46, (2004). 1029–1058.Google Scholar
Renssen, H., Goosse, H., Fichefet, T., and Campin, J.M. The 8.2 kyr BP event simulated by a global atmosphere–sea–ice–ocean model. Geophysical Research Letters 28, (2001). 1567–1570.Google Scholar
Schwarcz, H.P., and Eyles, N. Laurentide ice sheet extent inferred from stable isotopic composition (O,C) of ostracodes at Toronto, Canada. Quaternary Research 35, (1991). 305–320.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P.J. Extended 14C database and revised CALIB radiocarbon calibration program. Radiocarbon 35, (1993). 215–230.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., van der Plicht, J., and Spurk, M. INTCAL98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40, (1998). 1041–1083.Google Scholar
Teller, J.T., and Leverington, D.W. Glacial Lake Agassiz; a 5000 yr history of change and its relationship to the delta (super 18) O record of Greenland. Geological Society of America Bulletin 116, (2004). 729–742.Google Scholar
Teller, J.T., Risberg, J., Matile, G., and Zoltai, S. Postglacial history and paleoecology of Wampum, Manitoba, a former lagoon in the Lake Agassiz Basin. Geological Society of America Bulletin 112, (2000). 943–958.Google Scholar
Teller, J.T., Leverington, D.W., and Mann, J.D. Freshwater outbursts to the oceans from glacial Lake Agassiz and their role in climate change during the last deglaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, (2002). 879–887.Google Scholar
Teller, J.T., Boyd, M., Yang, Z., Kor, P., and Fard, A.M. Alternative routing of Lake Agassiz overflow during the Younger Dryas; new dates, paleotopography, and a re-evaluation. Quaternary Science Reviews 24, (2005). 1890–1905.Google Scholar
Thorleifson, L.H. Review of Lake Agassiz history. Teller, J.T., Thorleifson, L.H., Matile, G., and Brisbin, W.C. Sedimentology, Geomorphology, and History of the Central Lake Agassiz Basin: Geological Association of Canada Annual Meeting, Field Trip Guidebook B2. (1996). 55–84.Google Scholar
Yu, Z., McAndrews, J.H., and Eicher, U. Middle Holocene dry climate caused by change in atmospheric circulation patterns; evidence from lake levels and stable isotopes. Geology 25, (1997). 251–254.Google Scholar