Vashon Glaciation

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Vashon Glaciation
19,000 – 16,000 BP
Vashon Glaciation Mockup 2016-06-26.png
An artist's depiction of a landscape adjacent to the ice sheet during the glaciation.
Vashon occurred at...
Continent: North America
Present-day country: United States of America
Present-day state: Washington
Region: Western Washington
Geologic Formation:Crescent Terrane (see Siletzia)
Vashon Glaciation occurred within the...
Phanerozoic Eon 541,000,000 BP – Present
Cenozoic Era 66,000,000 BP – Present
Quaternary Period 2,580,000 - Present
Pleistocene Epoch 2,580,000 - 11,700 BP
Late Pleistocene 129,000 – 11,700 BP
Vashon Glaciation was a part of the...
Late Cenozoic Ice Age 33,900,000 BP to present
Quaternary glaciation 2,580,000 BP to present
Last glacial period 110,000 – 12,000 BP
Wisconsin glaciation 85,000 – 11,000 BP
Fraser glaciation20,000 – 10,000 BP
Vashon glaciation19,000 – 16,000 BP

The Vashon Glaciation, Vashon Stadial or Vashon Stade is a local term for the most recent period of very cold climate in which during its peak, glaciers covered the entire Salish Sea as well as present day Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia and other surrounding areas in the western part of present-day Washington (state) of the United States of America. [1] This occurred during a cold period around the world known as the last glacial period. This was the most recent cold period of the Quaternary glaciation, the time period in which the arctic ice sheets have existed. The Quaternary Glaciation is part of the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, which began 33.9 million years ago and is ongoing. It is the time period in which the Antarctic ice cap has existed.

Contents

The Vashon Glaciation lasted from about 19,000 – 16,000 BP (Before Present – present defined as January 1, 1950 for this scale). The Cordilleran Ice Sheet was an ice sheet that covered present-day southern Alaska and parts of western Canada. The Fraser Glaciation began when the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced out of the mountains of British Columbia [2] following the Fraser River and Fraser Valley. The Vashon Glaciation is an extension of the Fraser Glaciation in which the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced south of the present day Canada–United States border into the Puget Sound region. By following the Fraser Valley, the ice reached the Puget Sound Region using the same pathway that cold arctic air takes during a present-day winter cold snap.

The Cordilleran, Laurentide, Innuitian, and the currently existing Greenland Ice Sheet all made up the North American ice sheet complex, which covered present day Canada and much of the northern U.S. This cold glaciated time for North America was called the Wisconsin glaciation.

Climate (20,000 to 16,000 BP)

During the Vashon glaciation, the climate in Western Washington, like most places, was much colder than today. As well as being cold, it was also much drier than in current times, which was characteristic of some places, and opposite of others.

Pollen data collected from Battleground Lake in southwest Washington (state) shows that from 20,000 – 16,000 BP, annual temperatures in the area were about 6 ± 1 °C (10.8 ± 1.8 °F) colder than in present times (present times as of 1990), and precipitation was around 1 meter (39.4 inches) less. [3] The Battle Ground area averaged 52.14 inches (132.44 cm) of precipitation per year for the period of 1961–1990. [4] A meter less precipitation means that during period of 20,000 – 16,000 BP, the average precipitation would have only been around 24.5% of what it was in the near present 1961–1990 period.

The Laurentide Ice Sheet had a major effect on the climate. It was an ice sheet covering much of Canada, and parts of the northern United States in the Midwest and east. The Rocky Mountains separated the Laurentide Ice Sheet from the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The Laurentide Ice Sheet had a cooling effect on the middle latitudes. [3] This caused the jet stream over North America to split in two. [3] The southern branch was pushed further south than it is in present times meaning that the storm tracks were missing the Pacific Northwest most of the time. [3] Because of this, Southern and Central California had wetter climates than in present times. [5]

Average Annual Temperatures and Precipitation from 20,000 – 16,000 BP
City/LocationAverage Annual TemperatureAverage Annual Precipitation
Aberdeen39.7 °F (4.3 °C)20.26 inches (51.46 cm)
Battle Ground40.2 °F (4.6 °C)12.77 inches (32.44 cm)
Centralia40.8 °F (4.9 °C)11.52 inches (29.26 cm)
Vancouver40.4 °F (4.7 °C)10.12 inches (25.69 cm)
Table is based on temperatures being 6 °C colder and precipitation only being 24.5% of what it was in the 1961–1990 period.
Source for 1961–1990 averages: Western Regional Climate Data Center
The locations listed are areas not covered by the glacier. Calculating climate on top of the glacier is more complicated due to the elevation difference and the effect that ice has on temperature.

Average annual temperatures in the lowlands of Western Washington were above 0 °C (32 °F). This means that there was more summer thawing than there was winter freezing. This would seem to be a climate too warm to support glaciers, but the ice was pushing in from the north faster than it could melt.

The advance (19,000 to 16,950 BP)

The advance of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet actually began long before 19,000 years ago. However, 19,000 years ago marks the approximate time when glaciers crossed the present-day Canada–United States border into Western Washington, [6] which is generally considered to be the beginning of the Vashon Glaciation. This southern part of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet is called the Puget Lobe. During the Vashon Glaciation, the Cordilleran Ice Sheet grew and advanced southwards at a rate of about 135 metres (443 ft) per year. [7] [6] The Vashon Glaciation actually began after the planet's Last Glacial Maximum. Glaciers were retreating throughout most of the world, but growing in Western Washington. Around 18,350 BP, the Puget Lobe blocked the Puget Sound from reaching the Strait of Juan de Fuca, [6] turning the Puget Sound into Glacial Lake Russell. [8] By around 17,950 BP, the glacier reached present-day Seattle. [6] By around 17,650 BP, the Puget Lobe reached present-day Tacoma. [6] By around 17,350 BP, the glacier reached present-day Olympia. [6] The Puget Lobe reached its maximum extent in the vicinity of the present-day city of Tenino [9] around 16,950 BP. [7]

The maximum extent (16,950 to 16,850 BP)

Map showing the Vashon Glaciation at its maximum extent. Vashon Glaciation Map 2016-06-27.png
Map showing the Vashon Glaciation at its maximum extent.

The Puget Lobe remained at its maximum extent in the vicinity of present-day Tenino from around 16,950 BP to around 16,850 BP, a total of about 100 years. [7] The ice depths were about 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) at the present-day Canada–United States border, 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in Seattle, and 200 metres (660 ft) at the glacier's terminus in the Tenino area. [7]

The retreat (16,850 to 16,000 BP)

Around 16,850 BP, the Puget Lobe began retreating northward at a rate of about 340 meters (1,120 feet) per year. [7] By about 16,650 BP, the glacier only came down to present-day Olympia. [6] The Puget Lobe began to uncover Glacial Lake Russell. By 16,450 BP, the Puget Lobe only came down to Tacoma. By 16,150 BP, the glacier only came down to Seattle. [6] By about 16,000 BP, the Puget Lobe retreated far enough north that Glacial Lake Russell and the Strait of Juan de Fuca became connected, making Glacial Lake Russell the salt water body of Puget Sound again. [6]

Formation of Kettles and Kettle Lakes

For areas on land, as the Puget Lobe receded, blocks of ice broke off and became separate. The melting glacier produced streams which carried sediment. The bottom of the ice blocks became buried in sediment. As the blocks of ice melted, it left depressions in the ground called kettles. Some of these kettles filled up with water to become kettle lakes and kettle ponds. (see Kettle (landform))

Glacial Lake Carbon – Catastrophic Glacial Outburst Flood

Glacial Lake Carbon was a lake created by the Puget Lobe damming the Carbon River. Around 16,850 BP when the glacier began retreating, the ice dam holding back the lake became breached causing a major glacial outburst flood. [10] The flood covered present day central and northern Thurston County, part of Pierce County, and small parts of Lewis and Grays Harbor Counties. [11]

Life during the Vashon Glaciation

Domain Kingdom Phylum / Division Class Order Family Genus & Species Life Form Name (common)Location & Time PeriodCurrent Status
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Artiodactyla Bovidae Bison [12]
American bison k5680-1.jpg
BisonGenus no longer exists in Western Washington.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Artiodactyla Camelidae Classical Latin:
Camelops hesternvs
Medieval Latin:
Camelops hesternus
Camelops hesternus Sergiodlarosa.jpg
Extinct Western Camel,
Yesterday's Camel
Genus is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Artiodactyla Bovidae Classical Latin:
Ovibos moschatvs
Medieval Latin:
Ovibos moschatus [12]
Ovibos moschatus qtl3.jpg
MuskoxSpecies no longer exists in Western Washington.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Canidae Classical Latin:
Aenocyon dirvs
Medieval Latin:
Aenocyon dirus [13]

Canis dirus Sergiodlarosa.jpg
Dire wolfGenus is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Canidae Classical Latin:
Canis lvpvs
Medieval Latin:
Canis lupus
European grey wolf in Prague zoo.jpg
Grey wolfSpecies no longer exists in Western Washington due to hunting during the latter half of the 1800s century up until the 1930s. [14]
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Felidae Classical Latin:
Homotherivm servm
Medieval Latin:
Homotherium serum [15]
Homotherium serum.jpg
American scimitar catGenus is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Felidae Panthera leo atrox [16]
Panthera leo atrox Sergiodlarosa.jpg
American lionSubspecies is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Felidae Smilodon fatalis [17]
Smilodon fatalis.jpg
Saber-toothed tigerGenus is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin: Evkaryota
Medieval Latin: Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Classical Latin:
Vrsidae
Medieval Latin:
Ursidae
Classical Latin:
Arctodvs simvs
Medieval Latin:
Arctodus simus
Arctodus simus Sergiodlarosa.jpg
North American short-faced bearGenus is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Proboscidea Elephantidae Classical Latin:
Mammvthvs colvmbi
Medieval Latin:
Mammuthus columbi [18]
Columbian mammoth.jpg
Columbian mammothGenus is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Proboscidea Classical Latin:
Mammvtidae
Medieval Latin:
Mammutidae
Classical Latin:
Mammvt americanvm
Medieval Latin:
Mammut americanum [12]
Mammut americanum Sergiodlarosa.jpg
American mastodonFamily is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Pilosa Megalonychidae Classical Latin:
Megalonyx ieffersonii
Medieval Latin:
Megalonyx jeffersonii [12]
Megalonyx wheatleyi12.jpg
Jefferson's ground slothGenus is extinct worldwide.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Rodentia Geomyidae Thomomys mazama melanops [19]
Mazama pocket gopher.jpg
Mazama pocket gopherSpecies does currently exist in this area, but not abundantly.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Pinaceae Abies lasiocarpa [3]
Abies lasiocarpa 7458.jpg
Subalpine firPuget Sound Region, 21,000 – 17,000 BPSpecies no longer grows in the Puget Sound Region as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Pinaceae Picea [3] SpruceOlympic Peninsula – west side lowlands, 20,000 – 16,000 BPGenus does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Pinaceae Picea engelmannii [3]
Engelmann spruce on the PCT, Washington.JPG
Engelmann sprucePuget Sound Region, 21,000 – 17,000 BPSpecies no longer grows in the Puget Sound Region as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Pinaceae Classical Latin:
Pinvs
Medieval Latin:
Pinus [3]
PineOlympic Peninsula – west side lowlands, 20,000 – 16,000 BPGenus does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Pinaceae Classical Latin:
Pinvs contorta
Medieval Latin:
Pinus contorta [3]
Pinus contorta 28263.JPG
Lodgepole pinePuget Sound Region, 21,000 – 17,000 BPSpecies does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Pinaceae Classical Latin:
Tsvga heterophylla
Medieval Latin:
Tsuga heterophylla [3]
Tsuga heterophylla1.jpg
Western hemlockOlympic Peninsula – west side lowlands, 20,000 – 16,000 BPSpecies does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Pinaceae Classical Latin:
Tsvga mertensiana
Medieval Latin:
Tsuga mertensiana [3]
Tsuga mertensiana 0261.JPG
Mountain hemlockOlympic Peninsula – west side lowlands, 20,000 – 16,000 BPSpecies does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae Pinophyta Pinopsida Pinales Taxaceae Classical Latin:
Taxvs brevifolia
Medieval Latin:
Taxus brevifolia [3]
Taxus brevifolia Blue Mts WA.jpg
Pacific yewPuget Sound Region, 21,000 – 17,000 BPSpecies does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae N/AN/A Asterales Asteraceae Artemisia [3]
Sagebrushsjc.jpg
SagebrushPuget Sound Region, 21,000 – 17,000 BP; Olympic Peninsula – west side near the alpine glaciers, 20,000 – 16,000 BPGenus no longer grows in the Puget Sound Region as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae N/AN/A Fagales Classical Latin: Betvlaceae
Medieval Latin: Betulaceae
Classical Latin:
Alnvs
Medieval Latin:
Alnus [3]
AlderOlympic Peninsula – west side lowlands, 20,000 – 16,000 BPGenus does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin:
Evkaryota
Medieval Latin:
Eukaryota
Plantae N/AN/A Poales Cyperaceae [3]
Pycreus.jpg
SedgesPuget Sound Region, 21,000 – 17,000 BPFamily does currently grow in this area as a native plant.
Classical Latin: Evkaryota
Medieval Latin: Eukaryota
Plantae N/AN/A Poales Poaceae [3]
Grasses in the Valles Caldera 2014-06-26.JPG
GrassPuget Sound Region, 21,000 – 17,000 BP; Olympic Peninsula – west side near the alpine glaciers, 20,000 – 16,000 BPFamily does currently grow in this area as a native and non-native plant.

Post Vashon times (16,000 BP to present)

Pollen data collected from Battleground Lake shows that between 16,000 and 15,000 BP, temperatures were around 4 ± 2 °C (7.2 ± 3.6 °F) colder than present (present as of 1990). [3] The amount of precipitation was similar to that of the present. [3]

From about 14,000 to 12,000 BP, the area got more Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine), but was still an open area. [3] Currently, the earliest human beings known to be in Western Washington were there in 13,800 BP. [20] A mastodon kill site from that time period was excavated in Sequim in 1977. [20]

From 12,000 BP to 10,000 BP, the area got a bigger variety of trees, and became a closed forest. [3] The vegetation was similar to today with Alnus rubra (red alder), Picea sitchensis (sitka spruce), Pinus contorta (lodgepole pine), Pseudotsuga (Douglas fir), and Tsuga heterophylla (Western hemlock). [3]

The official end of the Pleistocene Epoch and the beginning of the Holocene Epoch occurred in 11,700 BP.

Between 9,500 and 4,500 BP during the Holocene climatic optimum, temperatures in the area were around 2 ± 1 °C (3.6 ± 1.8 °F) warmer than present with 45 ± 5% less precipitation. [3] Between 9,500 and 5,000 BP, there was Alnus (alder), Pseudotsuga (Douglas fir), Pteridium (bracken fern), and high amounts of Chrysolepis (chinkapin) and Quercus (oak trees). [3]

Sequence of lakes

Date (years before present)Event [21]
18800The weight of the ice begins to depress the earth crust. The Puget Sound troughs and basin had been created previously.
18300Corderillian Ice Sheet has filled the Strait of Georgia southward out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where it floats on the ocean. The glacial front is north of the junction of the Hood Canal to Admiralty Inlet and fills the Whidbey Basin. The outwash plains fill the entrance of the Hood Canal, Admiralty Inlet and Possession Sound from north of Everett to the southern end of Whidbey Island. The ice continued to move southward at an average rate of 450 feet (140 m) per year.
Three freshwater lakes filled the basin. Nearly the entire length of the Hood Canal was open water. To the east the largest body of water filled the East Passage, the Dalco Passage (Tacoma) with a river like basin along the west of Vashon Island. A separate lake flowed from the Case Inlet and Nisqually Reach west of Tacoma through the narrows into the river running north through the Colvos Passage.
18100The ice sheet continues its southward progression, separating the Hood Canal from the other basins in Puget Sound. The ice front is just north of Seattle and the outwash plain covers all of Elliott Bay, from just north of West Point south to Blake Island.
Three freshwater lakes that had been created early continued to exist, growing small as the ice front moved south.
17800The ice sheet has created a uniform arched front running from Dosewallips River mouth, southeast across the Kitsap Peninsula, through Bremerton, arcing across the southern tip of Vashon Island, ending in the Green River valley in the area of Kent. Outwash plains fill the mid reaches of the Hood Canal, the Clifton Channel and 3 to 5 miles (4.8 to 8.0 km) in the Carr Inlet, Colvos Channel, Quartermaster Harbor, and the East Passage of Puget Sound and a similar plain in the valley of the Green River from Kent to Auburn.
A single freshwater lake extends across the glacial front, covering the lower Hood Canal and the lower hills north of the Black Hills north of Olympia. A smaller body of water fills the valleys of the Puyallup and White Rivers.
17500The ice front reached to just north of Olympia. The entire basin of the Puget Sound was filled with ice. A small outwash plain covered 2 to 3 miles (3.2 to 4.8 km) in an arch from the heights south of the Hood Canal south and eastward to the Eastern bluffs of the Nisqually River mouth. A narrow band of water lay to the south of this plain and covered the area where Olympia now stands.
16900The ice front reached its southernmost most point. It skirted the east face of the Olympic Mountains, south to the plains north of the Black Hills, skirting their northern hills, reaching southward into the Black River Valley to its junction with the Chehalis River. The front rested on the flanks of Mount Rainier, turning northward, joined by numerous small glaciers in the valleys of the eastern front of the Cascade Mountains. There was 3,000 feet (910 m) of ice over Seattle and the land was depressed 275 feet (84 m) Pioneer Sq.
16600The ice began to retreat after 16900 ya. By 16600, it had returned to north of Olympia, as it was 1000 years earlier.
16500The ice continued to retreat. Still standing south of Tacoma, substantial freshwater bodies had formed. Lake Skokomish stood in the southern bend of the Hood Canal and the lower reaches of the Skokomish River. Early Lake Russell or a late version of Lake Nisqually.
16400Continuing to recede to the north, the ice front reaches from the south side of Tacoma in a northwest arc across the Kitsap Peninsula, exposing the southern hook of Hood Canal, reaching the Olympic Mountains near Quilcene Bay.
A large freshwater body formed.
16300The ice front became anchored on the west among the Olympic Mountains near Quilecene Bay. Lake Russell spread across the southern basins of Puget Sound. Lake Hood drained across its southern outlets into Lake Russell. From Tacoma, the ice lay ice front lay 7 to 10 miles (11 to 16 km) to the north and lay across the Green River at Kent.
16300Within a very short period, the glacier retreated up to 15 miles (24 km) in a few decades. Bremerton and Renton are now ice free.
16200Continuing the advanced rate of retreat, Seattle becomes the southern tip of the ice sheet. The Hood Canal has fully joined with Lake Russell, leaving only the highest points the Kitsap Peninsula standing above the shore.
16100The retreat appears to have slowed or halted with evidence that the ice sheet was thinning, rather than receding. The water levels of Lake Russell have dropped correspondingly.
The upper end of the Stillaguamish River has formed a freshwater lake. Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish appear as water bodies along the southern margin of the lake.
16000The ice front has receded north opening the mouth of Hood Canal and lies just south of the southern end of Whidbey Island.
The length of the Stillaguamish River is a freshwater lake. Lake Sammamish has linked to Lake Washington along its present watercourse with Lake Washington draining across Lake Union and then only through the Duwamish River at its south end.
15900The ice front has receded north into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, linking the Puget Sound Basin to the ocean. The Duwamish-Green River Valley was salt-water reach of the sound. The Stillaguamish River is also a salt-water branch of the sound.
7500Except for the Duwamish-Green River saltwater embayment, the modern waterways have formed into the waterways known today. The Whidbey basin has taken a rudimentary form, with the Stillaguamish River flowing into Port Susan Passage and Skagit Bay has appeared.
5500Mt Rainier's northern crest collapsed sending a lahar down the White River. This creates the Auburn delta in the Duwamish Embayment, separating the Puyallup River valley from the Green River valley.
2100An eruption of Mt Rainier sends sand lahars down White River to its junction with he Duwamish at Tukwila.
1100Duwamish valley earthquake lifts the Duwamish valley by 20 feet (6.1 m) draining what was left of the salt-water embayment, creating the Duwamish delta and what has become the Port of Seattle.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunnel valley</span> Glacial-formed geographic feature

A tunnel valley is a U-shaped valley originally cut under the glacial ice near the margin of continental ice sheets such as that now covering Antarctica and formerly covering portions of all continents during past glacial ages. They can be as long as 100 km (62 mi), 4 km (2.5 mi) wide, and 400 m (1,300 ft) deep.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glacial history of Minnesota</span>

The glacial history of Minnesota is most defined since the onset of the last glacial period, which ended some 10,000 years ago. Within the last million years, most of the Midwestern United States and much of Canada were covered at one time or another with an ice sheet. This continental glacier had a profound effect on the surface features of the area over which it moved. Vast quantities of rock and soil were scraped from the glacial centers to its margins by slowly moving ice and redeposited as drift or till. Much of this drift was dumped into old preglacial river valleys, while some of it was heaped into belts of hills at the margin of the glacier. The chief result of glaciation has been the modification of the preglacial topography by the deposition of drift over the countryside. However, continental glaciers possess great power of erosion and may actually modify the preglacial land surface by scouring and abrading rather than by the deposition of the drift.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proglacial lakes of Minnesota</span>

The proglacial lakes of Minnesota were lakes created in what is now the U.S. state of Minnesota in central North America in the waning years of the last glacial period. As the Laurentide Ice Sheet decayed at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation, lakes were created in depressions or behind moraines left by the glaciers. Evidence for these lakes is provided by low relief topography and glaciolacustrine sedimentary deposits. Not all contemporaneous, these glacial lakes drained after the retreat of the lobes of the ice sheets that blocked their outlets, or whose meltwaters fed them. There were a number of large lakes, one of which, Glacial Lake Agassiz, was the largest body of freshwater known to have existed on the North American continent; there were also dozens of smaller and more transitory lakes filled from glacial meltwater, which shrank or dried as the ice sheet retreated north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulder Park</span>

Boulder Park National Natural Landmark, of Douglas County, Washington, along with the nearby McNeil Canyon Haystack Rocks and Sims Corner Eskers and Kames natural landmarks, illustrate well-preserved examples of classic Pleistocene ice stagnation landforms that are found in Washington. These landforms include numerous glacial erratics and haystack rocks that occur near and on the Withrow Moraine, which is the terminal moraine of the Okanogan ice lobe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weichselian glaciation</span> Last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe

The Weichselian glaciation was the last glacial period and its associated glaciation in northern parts of Europe. In the Alpine region it corresponds to the Würm glaciation. It was characterized by a large ice sheet that spread out from the Scandinavian Mountains and extended as far as the east coast of Schleswig-Holstein, northern Poland and Northwest Russia. This glaciation is also known as the Weichselian ice age, Vistulian glaciation, Weichsel or, less commonly, the Weichsel glaciation, Weichselian cold period (Weichsel-Kaltzeit), Weichselian glacial (Weichsel-Glazial), Weichselian Stage or, rarely, the Weichselian complex (Weichsel-Komplex).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glacial Lake Columbia</span> Body of water

Glacial Lake Columbia was the lake formed on the ice-dammed Columbia River behind the Okanogan lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet when the lobe covered 500 square miles (1,300 km2) of the Waterville Plateau west of Grand Coulee in central Washington state during the Wisconsin glaciation. Lake Columbia was a substantially larger version of the modern-day lake behind the Grand Coulee Dam. Lake Columbia's overflow – the diverted Columbia River – drained first through Foster Coulee, and as the ice dam grew, then through Moses Coulee, and finally, the Grand Coulee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of New England</span> Overview of the geology of New England

New England is a region in the North Eastern United States consisting of the states Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. Most of New England consists geologically of volcanic island arcs that accreted onto the eastern edge of the Laurentian Craton in prehistoric times. Much of the bedrock found in New England is heavily metamorphosed due to the numerous mountain building events that occurred in the region. These events culminated in the formation of Pangaea; the coastline as it exists today was created by rifting during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The most recent rock layers are glacial conglomerates.

Deglaciation is the transition from full glacial conditions during ice ages, to warm interglacials, characterized by global warming and sea level rise due to change in continental ice volume. Thus, it refers to the retreat of a glacier, an ice sheet or frozen surface layer, and the resulting exposure of the Earth's surface. The decline of the cryosphere due to ablation can occur on any scale from global to localized to a particular glacier. After the Last Glacial Maximum, the last deglaciation begun, which lasted until the early Holocene. Around much of Earth, deglaciation during the last 100 years has been accelerating as a result of climate change, partly brought on by anthropogenic changes to greenhouse gases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Llanquihue glaciation</span> Last glacial period in southern Chile

The last glacial period and its associated glaciation is known in southern Chile as the Llanquihue glaciation. Its type area lies west of Llanquihue Lake where various drifts or end moraine systems belonging to the last glacial period have been identified. The glaciation is the last episode of existence of the Patagonian Ice Sheet. Around Nahuel Huapi Lake the equivalent glaciation is known as the Nahuel Huapi Drift.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Jordan (Montana)</span> Body of water

Lake Jordan was a glacial lake formed during the late Pleistocene along the Jordan River. After the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, water melting off the glacier accumulated between the Rocky Mountains and the ice sheet. The lake drained along the front of the ice sheet, eastward towards the Yellowstone River and Glacial Lake Glendive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Chouteau</span> Body of water

Lake Chouteau was a glacial lake formed during the late Pleistocene along the Teton River. After the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, water melting off the glacier accumulated between the Rocky Mountains and the ice sheet. The lake drained along the front of the ice sheet, eastward towards the Judith River and the Missouri River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky Prairie</span> Protected area 56 miles southwest of Seattle, Washington

Rocky Prairie is a prairie that is about 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Seattle, Washington, United States, and about 10 miles (16 km) south of Washington's capital city of Olympia. It sits very close to the Millersylvania State Park, the community of Maytown, and the city of Tenino.

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