Late Wisconsin evolution of the Maumee lacustrine basin in northeastern Indiana
- Indiana Geological Survey, Bloomington, IN (United States)
Previous studies of classical Glacial Lake Maumee have emphasized post-glacial lake phases formed in front of the retreating Erie lobe during the latest stages of the Wisconsin glaciation. One or more earlier lake phases have been inferred by some workers based primarily on: (1) abrupt increases in clay content of the Erie lobe till sheet deposited in the Maumee lowland following the Erie Interstade; and (2) scattered exposures of lake clays below this till sheet in northwestern Ohio. Subsurface interpretations derived from water well records, sediment samples, and downhole geophysical logs in Allen County suggest that large proglacial lakes were, in fact, widespread in the general area of classical Glacial Lake Maumee throughout much of the late Wisconsin. The configurations of buried Erie lobe and moraines that predate the Erie Interstade imply that a completely enclosed lacustrine basin had been well established in Allen County before the interstade. The northern part of this proto-Maumee basin is partially filled by deltaic and fan sediments derived from the terminus of the Saginaw lobe, which stood along the northern basin margin and supplied abundant meltwater to the basin. Subsequent readvance of the Erie lobe following the Erie Interstade reduced the area of the lake basin while increasing meltwater input, ultimately causing one or more early catastrophic drainage events that spilled down a channel to the southwest. Subsurface evidence for such drainage is suggested by a large buried channel system that cuts across the buried Erie Lobe end moraines. The buried channels are essentially parallel in size, shape, and direction to the modern Wabash-Erie Channel, but are now filled with cobble- and boulder-bearing sand and gravel that may partially represent debris from the draining of the early lake phases.
- OSTI ID:
- 5578852
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921058--
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Vol. 24:7; ISSN GAAPBC; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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