Stratigraphic Architecture and Sediment Facies of the Western

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Stratigraphic Architecture and Sediment Facies of the Western Document généré le 27 sept. 2021 06:10 Géographie physique et Quaternaire Stratigraphic Architecture and Sediment Facies of the Western Oak Ridges Moraine, Humber River Watershed, Southern Ontario Architecture stratigraphique et faciès sédimentaire de la moraine occidentale de Oak Ridges, bassin de la rivière Humber, sud de l’Ontario Hazen A.J. Russell, Robert W.C. Arnott et David R. Sharpe Glacial History, Paleogeography and Paleoenvironments in Glaciated Résumé de l'article North America La moraine de Oak Ridges, sud de l’Ontario, est une crête de sable et de gravier Volume 58, numéro 2-3, 2004 orientée est-ouest d’une longueur de 160 km au nord du lac Ontario. L’étude de la moraine de Oak Ridges dans le bassin de la rivière Humber permet de URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/013141ar comprendre son rôle dans le système de drainage de la vallée Laurentienne. La DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/013141ar moraine de Oak Ridges a été édifiée en trois phases. La phase I consiste en une sédimentation rapide par hyperconcentration des écoulements, où les chenaux en tunnel se déversent dans un lac sous-glaciaire du lac Ontario. Le bassin de Aller au sommaire du numéro sédimentation de faible énergie de la phase II est sous-glaciaire et touche à un inlandsis ayant d’importantes crevasses. La phase III se caractérise par un changement de faciès très rapide, par la présence d’eskers, de cônes Éditeur(s) aquatiques et de bassins sédimentaires. Les analyses sédimentaires détaillées ébranlent l’hypothèse que la moraine de Oak Ridges ait été formée par la fonte Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal des glaces saisonnière, les fluctuations climatiques près des marges glaciaires, ou dans une position interlobaire. Notre interprétation indique plutôt qu’elle a ISSN été mise en place en réponse à des événements de fonte sous-glaciaire de 0705-7199 (imprimé) nature épisodique et catastrophique, et par des apports subséquents d’eau de 1492-143X (numérique) fonte saisonnière. La moraine s’est probablement formée lors de la ré-équilibration du système glacio-hydraulique en présence d’un inlandsis mince, en contact avec le substrat et alimentant un lac sous-glaciaire dans le Découvrir la revue bassin du lac Ontario. Citer cet article Russell, H. A., Arnott, R. W. & Sharpe, D. R. (2004). Stratigraphic Architecture and Sediment Facies of the Western Oak Ridges Moraine, Humber River Watershed, Southern Ontario. Géographie physique et Quaternaire, 58(2-3), 241–267. https://doi.org/10.7202/013141ar Tous droits réservés © Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 2006 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l’Université de Montréal, l’Université Laval et l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. https://www.erudit.org/fr/ GPQ_58-2-3.qxd 20/06/06 09:55 Page 241 Géographie physique et Quaternaire, 2004, vol. 58, nos 2-3, p. 241-267, 19 fig., 3 tabl. STRATIGRAPHIC ARCHITECTURE AND SEDIMENT FACIES OF THE WESTERN OAK RIDGES MORAINE, HUMBER RIVER WATERSHED, SOUTHERN ONTARIO* Hazen A.J. RUSSELL**, Robert W.C. ARNOTT and David R. SHARPE; first and second authors: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5; first and third authors: Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E8. ABSTRACT The Oak Ridges Moraine in southern Ontario is a RÉSUMÉ Architecture stratigraphique et faciès sédimentaire de la ca. 160 km long east-west trending ridge of sand and gravel situated moraine occidentale de Oak Ridges, bassin de la rivière Humber, sud north of Lake Ontario. Study of the Oak Ridges Moraine in the Humber de l’Ontario. La moraine de Oak Ridges, sud de l’Ontario, est une crête River watershed was undertaken to assess its role in the groundwa- de sable et de gravier orientée est-ouest d’une longueur de 160 km au ter system of the buried Laurentian Valley. The Oak Ridges Moraine nord du lac Ontario. L’étude de la moraine de Oak Ridges dans le bas- is interpreted to have been deposited in three stages. Stage I records sin de la rivière Humber permet de comprendre son rôle dans le sys- rapid deposition from hyperconcentrated flows where tunnel chan- tème de drainage de la vallée Laurentienne. La moraine de Oak Ridges nels discharged into a subglacial lake in the Lake Ontario basin. Low- a été édifiée en trois phases. La phase I consiste en une sédimenta- energy basin sedimentation of Stage II was in a subglacial and ice- tion rapide par hyperconcentration des écoulements, où les chenaux contact setting of a highly crevassed ice sheet. Stage III sedimentation en tunnel se déversent dans un lac sous-glaciaire du lac Ontario. Le is characterized by rapid facies changes associated with esker, sub- bassin de sédimentation de faible énergie de la phase II est sous-gla- aqueous fan, and basinal sedimentation. Detailed sediment analysis ciaire et touche à un inlandsis ayant d’importantes crevasses. La challenges the concept that the Oak Ridges Moraine was deposited phase III se caractérise par un changement de faciès très rapide, par principally from seasonal meltwater discharges, climatic modulated la présence d’eskers, de cônes aquatiques et de bassins sédimen- ice-marginal fluctuations, or in an interlobate position. Instead it is taires. Les analyses sédimentaires détaillées ébranlent l’hypothèse interpreted to have formed in response to late-glacial ice sheet events que la moraine de Oak Ridges ait été formée par la fonte des glaces associated with subglacial meltwater ponding, episodic and cata- saisonnière, les fluctuations climatiques près des marges glaciaires, ou strophic subglacial meltwater discharge, and subsequent seasonal dans une position interlobaire. Notre interprétation indique plutôt qu’elle meltwater discharge. The moraine probably formed as the glacial- a été mise en place en réponse à des événements de fonte sous- hydraulic system re-equilibrated to the presence of a thinned, glaciaire de nature épisodique et catastrophique, et par des apports grounded ice shelf and a subglacial lake in the Lake Ontario basin. subséquents d’eau de fonte saisonnière. La moraine s’est probable- ment formée lors de la ré-équilibration du système glacio-hydraulique en présence d’un inlandsis mince, en contact avec le substrat et ali- mentant un lac sous-glaciaire dans le bassin du lac Ontario. Manuscrit reçu le 17 juin 2005 ; manuscrit révisé accepté le 2 mars 2006 (publié le 2e trimestre 2006) * Geological Survey of Canada contribution number 2005129 ** E-mail address: [email protected] GPQ_58-2-3.qxd 20/06/06 09:55 Page 242 242 H. A. J. RUSSELL, R. W. C. ARNOTT and D. R. SHARPE INTRODUCTION the Greater Toronto Area.It provides recharge to lower aquifers due to infill of deep valleys, with coarse sediment, that provide Moraines form a prominent element of the southern Ontario connecting to lower sediment (Sharpe et al., 2002). The ORM landscape. The location and distribution of the moraines was also provides abundant water to streams and to watershed outlined early in the 20th century by Taylor (1913). Subsequent ecosystems, in addition to a large domestic groundwater sup- work has refined the extent and form of these moraines ply (Sibul et al., 1977; Howard et al., 1995). Thus, improved (Barnett, 1992). Moraines in the area have been classified by information on sediment extent, composition and variability is Chapman and Putnam (1943) as either till or kame moraines needed to better manage these vital watershed activities. The (Fig. 1) and related to specific genetic processes. Kame Humber River watershed which includes the western extent of moraines have been inferred to be deposited at the margin of the ORM and underlying portions of the buried Laurentian Valley inactive ice, whereas, till moraines are inferred to be thrust is one such watershed worthy of study (Figs. 2-3). into position by advancing ice, and to mark the extent of ice- Moraine origin can be inferred from its sediment composi- advance (Chapman and Putnam, 1943). There have been few tion and architecture. The ORM has been interpreted as an studies of the sediment composition of either kame or till interlobate moraine deposited between converging flow of the moraines. Consequently, 60 years after Chapman and Putnam Lake Simcoe ice-lobe to the north and the Lake Ontario lobe work, understanding of many moraines in southern Ontario is to the south (Chapman and Putnam, 1984). The proposed incomplete. Two exceptions are the Waterloo and Oak Ridges inter-lobe re-entrant and increased meltwater and sediment moraines (Karrow and Paloschi, 1996). In particular, the flux in this reconstruction was attributed to climatic warming ca. 160 km long Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) has been the during the Mackinaw Interstadial (Karrow, 1974; Duckworth, focus of extensive sedimentological study aimed at under- 1979). The proposed ice lobes and interstadial ice retreat standing the geological history of the landform (Barnett et al., implied sedimentary events, structures and depositional trends 1998; Sharpe et al., 2002). unique to each lobe. This classic interpretation for the origin of Many moraines in Ontario are important areas of ground- the ORM is at odds with accumulating evidence of large-scale water recharge. Moraine topography and internal sedimentary erosional and depositional meltwater events in the area and architecture controls the transmission of water from ground sur- formation of the ORM from short-lived flood discharge events face to groundwater and regional aquifers.
Recommended publications
  • Ontario's Greenbelt
    Ontario’s Greenbelt: Acres of Possibility Burkhard Mausberg Ontario’s Greenbelt turns 12 years old in 2017. At two million acres, it’s the world’s largest peri-urban protected area. The Greenbelt Act and Plan were passed with much fanfare in 2005, and while there was some loud opposition from certain affected landowners and municipalities, the plan received significant backing from conservationists and planning experts. Since its inception, the Greenbelt has enjoyed huge public approval: it is consistently the provincial government’s most popular environmental initiative, garnering more than 90% support. The Greenbelt addressed a growing frustration with land use planning in the Greater Toronto Area: Ontarians asked for better regional planning. They recognized the negative impacts of poor development and the loss of greenspace and farmland. But the Greenbelt’s roots go back longer than the last dozen years—to the mid-1970s, in fact, when Premier Bill Davis protected the Niagara Escarpment. Aside from creating Niagara Falls, the escarpment is known for its rich biodiversity, centuries-old cedar trees, and unique cliff ecology. Declared a UNESCO biosphere reserve, the Niagara Escarpment includes Great Lakes coastlines, woodlands, limestone alvar, oak savannahs, conifer swamps, and other signature features. Together these diverse habitats contain a premier level of species variety among Canadian biosphere reserves, including more than 300 bird species, 55 mammals, 36 reptiles and amphibians, and 90 fish varieties. In 2001, Ontario’s Premier Mike Harris declared the Oak Ridges Moraine protected from development. The premier understood that the moraine is an ecologically important landform, created by receding glaciers during the last ice age.
    [Show full text]
  • Buried Bedrock Valleys and Glacial and Subglacial Meltwater Erosion in Southern Ontario, Canada
    See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232806604 Buried bedrock valleys and glacial and subglacial meltwater erosion in Southern Ontario, Canada Article in Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences · May 2011 DOI: 10.1139/E10-104 CITATIONS READS 3 100 1 author: Cunhai Gao Ontario Geological Survey 22 PUBLICATIONS 149 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Available from: Cunhai Gao Retrieved on: 02 August 2016 801 Buried bedrock valleys and glacial and subglacial meltwater erosion in southern Ontario, Canada Cunhai Gao Abstract: Morphometric features from a recently compiled bedrock topography map by the Ontario Geological Survey sug- gest a glacial erosion origin for the buried large bedrock valleys and troughs in southern Ontario. The bedrock valleys at Milverton, Wingham and Mount Forest are tunnel valleys, resulting from subglacial meltwater erosion beneath the Huron ice lobe, probably during or shortly after the Late-Wisconsinan glacial maximum. Diagnostic features for this interpretation include abrupt valley beginning and termination, uneven longitudinal valley profiles and up-slope gradients. The Dundas bedrock valley is the western extension of the Lake Ontario Basin. No comparable bedrock valleys were found to connect it to the Milverton valley for a joint drainage system as previously suggested. The Laurentian bedrock trough is the southeast- ward extension of the Georgian Bay Basin, both developed along shale bedrock between the Precambrian shield highlands and the Niagara Escarpment, resulting from long-term mechanical weathering associated with Pleistocene glacial erosion. This bedrock low has a floor that exceeds 50 km in width and is 26 m and more below the current water level of Georgian Bay.
    [Show full text]
  • Energizing the Oak Ridges Moraine?
    Energizing the Oak Ridges Moraine? Analyzing the policy implications of three wind energy developments on the Oak Ridges Moraine and their potential impact on the Coordinated Land Use Planning Review through the involvement of First Nations and environmental non-governmental organizations Joanna Salsberg School of Urban and Regional Planning Queen’s University Energizing the Oak Ridges Moraine? Analyzing the policy implications of three wind energy developments on the Oak Ridges Moraine and their potential impact on the Coordinated Land Use Planning Review through the involvement of First Nations and environmental non- governmental organizations Joanna Salsberg A report submitted to the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Queen’s University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Urban and Regional Planning Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada July, 2016 Copyright © Joanna Salsberg, 2016 Cover Images: Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. (2016). Watershed features. Retrieved from https://trca.ca/conservation/watershed-management/duffins-carruthers-creek/watershed-features/. Davis, G. (2015). Appeal of snowy ridge wind park underway. Retrieved from http://www.chextv.com/2015/07/22/32563/. Mendleson, R. (2013). Environmentalists split on green energy projects. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08/05/environmentalists_split_on_green_energy_projects.html. Executive Summary Ontario’s diverse provincial land use plans have been operating collectively to manage growth, encourage agriculture, and protect significant landscapes within the region for a little over a decade. Currently, these plans are being updated through the Coordinated Land Use Planning Review, creating an opportune moment to reflect on the plans’ histories and accomplishments, as well as determine a direction for their shared futures.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter One the Vision of A
    Oak Ridges Trail Association 1992 - 2017 The Vision of a Moraine-wide Hiking Trail Chapter One CHAPTER ONE The Oak Ridges Moraine is defined by a sub-surface geologic formation. It is evident as a 170 km long ridge, a watershed divide between Lake Ontario to the south and Lake Simcoe, Lake Scugog and Rice Lake to the north. Prior to most THE VISION OF A MORAINE-WIDE HIKING TRAIL being harvested, Red Oak trees flourished along the ridge – hence its name. Appended to this chapter is an account of the Moraine’s formation, nature and Where and What is the Oak Ridges Moraine? history written by two Founding Members of the Oak Ridges Trail Association. 1 Unlike the Niagara Escarpment, the Oak Ridges Moraine is not immediately observed when travelling through the region. During the 1990s when the Oak The Seeds of the Vision Ridges Moraine became a news item most people in the Greater Toronto Area had no idea where it was. Even local residents and visitors who enjoyed its From the 1960s as the population and industrialization of Ontario, particularly particularly beautiful landscape characterized by steep rolling hills and substantial around the Golden Horseshoe from Oshawa to Hamilton grew rapidly, there was forests had little knowledge of its boundaries or its significance as a watershed. an increasing awareness of the stress this placed on the environment, particularly on the congested Toronto Waterfront and the western shore of Lake Ontario. The vision of a public footpath that would span the entire Niagara Escarpment - the Bruce Trail - came about in 1959 out of a meeting between Ray Lowes and Robert Bateman of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists.
    [Show full text]
  • Glacilacustrine Environment of Part of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Southern
    Document generated on 10/02/2021 12:20 p.m. Géographie physique et Quaternaire Glacilacustrine environment of part of the Oak Ridges Moraine, Southern Ontario Le mileu glaciolacustre d’une partie de la Moraine d’Oak Ridge, dans le sud de l’Ontario Glaziallimnische Umwelt eines Teils der Oak Ridge-Moränen im Süden von Ontario Robert Gilbert Volume 51, Number 1, 1997 Article abstract Glacilacustrine sediments in a 112 m core recovered from the Oak Ridges URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/004824ar Moraine near Vandorf, Ontario are used to assess the environment at the time DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/004824ar of deposition. Varves in the upper 23.7 m are of two types: thinner (20-110 mm) varves in groups of 29 and 23 at two levels. These are dominated by deposition See table of contents of silt in summer, with lesser amounts of laminated silts and sands representing turbidity current deposition. Thicker (0.18-1.02 m) varves at the base and top of the deposit as well as in a group of 27 between the thin varves Publisher(s) have a greater fraction in summer of coarser sediment deposited from gravity flows. Winter deposits of both are dominated by the clay- size fraction and Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal most show at least one parting of silt or sand associated with periods of increased meltwater inflow during winter. Carbonate content varies from ISSN 25-55 % with the highest proportion in the thinner deposits in winter and in the summer deposits of thin varves.
    [Show full text]
  • Oak Ridges Moraine: Southern Ontario's Sponge
    THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE ONTARIO – GRADE 6 Oak Ridges Moraine: Southern Ontario's Sponge Lesson Overview Students will examine the location and the importance of the Oak Ridges Moraine and investigate ongoing conflicts concerning its development. Grade Level 7/8 Time Required Approx. 80 minutes (one or two periods) Curriculum Connection Ontario Geography Grade 7 Themes of Geographic Inquiry - investigate current local, national, or global environmental issues and events to extend their understanding of these themes (in geography) Natural Resources - demonstrate an understanding that people use renewable, non- renewable and flow resources in a variety of ways to meet their needs. Link to Canadian National Geographic Standards: Essential Element #5 (Grades 6 to 8) - Environment and Society • Effects of human modification of the physical environment • Limits and opportunities of the physical environment for human activities • Watershed management Essential Element #6 (Grades 6 to 8) - the Uses of Geography • Role of multiple points of view on contemporary policies and issues Geography Skill # 1 (Grades 6 to 8) - Asking Geographic Questions • Identify geographic issues, define geographic problems and pose geographic questions. Geography Skill # 2 (Grades 6 to 8) - Acquiring Geographic Information • Use maps to collect and/or compile geographic information The Canadian Atlas Resources Pg. 26-27 - Mixedwood Plains map – see Oak Ridges Moraine on the map and in the text box. Canadian Council for Geographic Education 1 THE CANADIAN ATLAS ONLINE ONTARIO – GRADE 6 Additional Resources, Materials and Equipment • 2 desks, 2 empty pails, 1 container of water, 1 tablespoon, 1 paper towel, 4 one cm cubes, 1 tablespoon • The Canadian Atlas • Computer lab with internet access and printer • Outline map of Southern Ontario where Oak Ridges Moraine could be located and indicated • Oak Ridges Moraine website - www.stormco.org • Oak Ridges Trail Association website - www.interlog.com/~orta • McDougall, Bruce: ”Watershed Down,” Canadian Geographic Magazine - Nov/Dec 2001 pp.
    [Show full text]
  • The Humber River: the 10-Year Monitoring Report for the Canadian Heritage Rivers System October 2009 Lower Humber Valley, Toronto, TRCA, 2008
    THE HUMBER RIVER: THE 10-YEAR MONITORING REPORT FOR THE CANADIAN HERITAGE RIVERS SYSTEM October 2009 Lower Humber Valley, Toronto, TRCA, 2008 THE HUMBER CHALLENGE Our challenge is to protect and enhance the Humber River watershed as a vital and healthy ecosystem where we live, work and play in harmony with the natural environment. GUIDING PRINCIPLES To achieve a healthy watershed, we should: • Increase awareness of the watershed’s resources • Protect the Humber River as a continuing source of clean water • Celebrate, regenerate, and preserve our natural, historical and cultural heritage • Increase community stewardship and take individual responsibility for the health of the Humber River • Establish linkages and promote partnerships among communities • Build a strong watershed economy based on ecological health, and • Promote the watershed as a destination of choice for recreation and tourism The Humber River: The 10-Year Monitoring Report for the Canadian Heritage Rivers System i FRAGMENT: THE VALLEY Like a sweet wine flowing from the glass, the Humber of my boyhood years! First the stretch of the river valley as I knew it best, running south from Dundas Street to my beloved stone marvel of the Old Mill Bridge, a scant mile to the south, not forgetting to count a quarter-mile jog to the east halfway down to heighten the wonderment. What force of ten million years’ cunning erosion, the relentless path of an awkward giant carving out for himself great steps one by one as he strides on and on, thirsty now for a great cold draught of Lake Ontario water! What sheer-climbing cliffs with the history of planet Earth carved in each layer of shale reaching up a hundred feet from the shining valley floor, the littered rocks of the river ….
    [Show full text]
  • Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (2017)
    Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (2017) BLEED OAK RIDGES MORAINE CONSERVATION PLAN (2017) May 2017 Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (2017) Table of Contents Introduction 1 Context 1 About the Oak Ridges Moraine 3 Authority to Establish the Plan 3 Purpose of the Plan 3 The Vision for the Oak Ridges Moraine 4 Plan Objectives 4 Land Use Designations 4 Some Key Land Use Policies 5 How to Read this Plan 8 How to Use this Plan 9 Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan Regulation (Ontario Regulation 140/02) 12 Part I General 12 1. Plan 12 2. Application 12 3. Definitions 12 4. Date of commencement of application 24 5. Prohibition 24 6. Existing uses, buildings and structures 24 7. Previously authorized single dwelling 25 8. Building or structure previously authorized or authorized under s. 17 (1) of Act 26 9. Exception, site plan approval 26 Part II Land Use Designations 27 10. Division of Plan Area, land use designations 27 11. Natural Core Areas 28 12. Natural Linkage Areas 29 13. Countryside Areas 30 14. Residential development in certain parts of Countryside Areas 33 15. New lots in Countryside Areas 34 16. Plans of subdivision, site plan approval and lot creation in Countryside Areas 34 17. Previously authorized uses, buildings and structures in Countryside Areas 35 18. Settlement Areas 36 Part III Protecting Ecological and Hydrological Integrity 38 19. Purpose and application 38 20. Supporting connectivity 38 Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (2017) | iii Table of Contents 21. Minimum area of influence and minimum vegetation protection zone 38 Key Natural Heritage Features 39 22.
    [Show full text]
  • Part 04 Jackson
    Jackson New Caribou Fossil Records from Rice Lake 55 New Caribou Fossil Records from Rice Lake, South-Central Ontario: Radiocarbon Evidence and Middle Holocene Climatic Change Lawrence J. Jackson This paper discusses three new radiocarbon dates on fossil caribou bones from Rice Lake, Ontario, and their possible environmental implications. Three specimens identified by Howard Savage, of the University of Toronto, and Richard Harington, of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, indicate a middle Holocene caribou presence in this area of south-central Ontario. One specimen, previously reported as a possible Late Pleistocene record (cf. Pavlish and Alcock [1984] on Webb Bay), is radiocarbon-dated several thousand years later in the middle Holocene. Zonal pollen in Rice Lake cores suggests the principal occurrence of these dated Rice Lake caribou during a Hypsithermal warming between about 7,000 and 3,000 years B.P. The lack of fossil material for the late glacial period (terminal Pleistocene) is believed to correlate with the cur- rent inaccessibility of depositional environments due to flooding of ancient Rice Lake shorelines. The local presence of Early Palaeo-Indian sites, on the other hand, is highly suggestive of the presence of caribou at this time. The apparent absence of caribou during the early and late Holocene, as well as lack of evidence for their human exploitation throughout the Holocene, requires explanation. Introduction by a geologist during hillside cottage excavation. Dr. Howard Savage, of the University of Toronto Rice Lake is a 26 km long, narrow post-glacial Faunal Laboratory, identified this specimen as lake basin that connects the Kawartha Lakes with the left calcaneum of an adult caribou (Rangifer the Trent River and Lake Ontario.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Area Master Plan
    Conservation Area Master Plan October 2011 A Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area Master Plan 1.0 INTRODUCTION TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................... iv 6.3 Existing Regional and Local Trail Systems ......... 44 Chapter 1. Introduction .............................................1 6.3.1 Existing Regional Trails .............................. 44 1.1 Overview ........................................................ 1 6.3.2 Existing Local Trails .................................. 45 1.2 Context ........................................................... 1 6.4 Proposed Trail Systems ................................... 45 1.2.1 TRCA’s Terrestrial Natural Heritage 6.4.1 Bruce’s Mill Trail ....................................... 47 System Strategy.......................................... 2 6.4.2 Forest Trail - Short .................................... 47 1.2.2 Rouge River Watershed Plan ........................ 4 6.4.3 Forest Trail - Long ..................................... 47 1.2.3 TRCA and Conservation Lands ..................... 5 6.4.4 Lookout Trail ............................................ 48 1.3 Study Process ................................................. 5 6.4.5 Wagon Trail .............................................. 48 1.3.1 The Advisory Committee .............................. 6 6.4.6 Sugar Shack Trail ...................................... 48 1.3.2 Public Consultation ..................................... 6 6.4.7 Butterfly Meadow Trail .............................. 48 1.4 Location,
    [Show full text]
  • Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, and Chronology of the Northwestern Outlet of Glacial Lake Agassiz, Northeastern Alberta
    Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and chronology of the Northwestern Outlet of glacial Lake Agassiz, northeastern Alberta by Joseph M. Young A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Alberta © Joseph M. Young, 2018 Abstract Lake Agassiz was dammed on the retreating southern and western margins of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the end of the last Ice Age. Periodic discharges of freshwater from the lake basin have been implicated in altering oceanic circulation and impacting global climate. Meltwater from a rapid decrease in lake level at the start of the Moorhead Phase has been hypothesized as the initiation mechanism for the Younger Dryas cold reversal (~12.9 to 11.5 ka yr BP). However, the timing and routing of this event is still disputed, as there is evidence for both easterly and northwestward drainage during this time. This thesis presents a twofold contribution to understanding the timing, dynamics, and significance of glacial Lake Agassiz meltwater centred on the Moorhead Phase. Radiocarbon data pertaining to the Moorhead and subsequent Emerson Phases from the Lake Agassiz basin was collated and assessed using manual and statistical filters to vet the dataset. Approximately one third of existing dates were found to be inadequate chronological constraints. A Bayesian model was then applied to the filtered dataset to produce refined age ranges for the start and end of each lake phase. The modelled onset of the Moorhead Phase suggests a lack of contemporaneity to the onset of the Younger Dryas. We suggest further high-quality radiocarbon dates are needed in the Lake Agassiz basin to more robustly constrain lake dynamics during this time.
    [Show full text]
  • Gy (Alpine Variety) • Erosive Features GY 301: Geomorphology • Depositional Features
    UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA Last Time Glacial Geomorphology (alpine variety) • Erosive features GY 301: Geomorphology • Depositional features Lecture 23: Glacial Geomorphology 2: Continental Glaciers http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/etext/hoosier/image/rm-01.jpg Alpine Glaciers and Erosion Alpine Glaciers and Erosion When alpine glaciers form and advance, significant changes to When alpine glaciers form and advance, significant changes to the terrain will occur the terrain will occur Before Glaciation During Glaciation http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/virtdept/ipvft/arete.html http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/projects/virtdept/ipvft/arete.html Alpine Glaciers and Erosion Alpine Glaciers and Erosion Head area features Toe area features •Cirques •U-shaped valleys •Arêtes •Truncated spurs •Horns •Hanging valleys •Tarns •Pater Noster lakes http://virtual.yosemite.cc.ca.us/ghayes/Tuolumne_Meadows_Field_Trip_files/image024.jpg http://virtual.yosemite.cc.ca.us/ghayes/Tuolumne_Meadows_Field_Trip_files/image024.jpg 1 Alpine Glaciers and Deposition Today’s Lecture In alpine settings, most till is deposited in linear Glacial Geomorphology (Continental variety) deposits called moraines • Continental glaciers today and in the past • Erosive features •Lateral moraine • Depositional features •Medial moraines •Terminal moraines •Recessional moraines Types of Glaciers Continental Glaciers • Alpine: rivers of ice that flow through valleys to • Thick ice masses actually lower elevations depress the lithosphere • Continental: large ice masses that cover significant below sea level portions of continents and are a mile or more thick • Currently only 2 large continental glaciers exist: the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets (but there are a few smaller ice caps; e.g., Baffin Island) http://opa.yale.edu/images/articles/6449-E-Oice.jpg Ice Shelves The Ice Age • Large portions of • 18,000 years ago, the continental glaciers that last glacial maximum are floating in the covered all of Canada oceans and a good chunk of Europe in a continental glacier.
    [Show full text]