Ancestral Niagara River drainage: Stratigraphie and paleontologie setting
PARKER E. CALKIN Department of Geological Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 4240 Ridge Lea Road, Amherst, New York 14226 CARLTON E. BRETT Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
ABSTRACT from sites at Goat Island and Whirlpool Park along the Gorge pro- vide insight into the Late Wisconsinan ice retreat and allow the first The modern Niagara River was initiated as a multi-outlet river- zonation and radiocarbon dating of the mollusks within the ancient lake system following the last ice retreat from the area about Niagara River gravels. To the east of the Gorge, excavations for 12,300 yr B.P. This system extended from Early Lake Erie to the new sewage treatment plants at Niagara Falls (STP) and at the base contemporaneously formed Glacial Lake Iroquois in the Ontario of the Lockport spillway (Lockport Gulf Site) have both exposed basin. The last major ice advance and one subsequent glacial oscil- exceptional sections of Late Wisconsinan through Holocene strata, lation associated with the ice retreat are recorded in sequences of including fossiliferous lake sands and peats apparently deposited in glaciolacustrine deposits and till along the present Gorge wall and Lake Tonawanda and Lake Iroquois, respectively. This is the first within older bedrock spillways. Dated wood overlying Iroquois detailed study of the occurrence of Lake Tonawanda fossils and silts and till within the Lockport spillway, east of Niagara, suggest their radiocarbon dating. Preliminary reports of this work were that the multi-outlet (Lake Tonawanda) phase of the drainage presented by Calkin and others (1975) and Calkin and Miller ceased about 10,900 yr B.P. with concentration of the outflow, and (1976). hence major gorge recession, at Lewiston. Radiocarbon analysis of mollusks from river gravels at the top of the Niagara Gorge at Whirlpool Park indicate that cataract recession from Lewiston to L. IROQUOIS STRAND this site of intersection with the much older buried St. Davids Gorge occurred after 9800 yr B.P. Lake Tonawanda persisted near L. WARREN STRANDS the present site of Niagara Falls until about 1,000 yr ago; however, dated mollusks imply that deposition here was interrupted by in- L. WHITTLESEY STRAND tense scouring shortly before 3800 yr B.P., which may have been a response to the closing of the North Bay outlet of the upper Great END MORAINES Lakes and consequent large increase in discharge through Lake Erie. • STRATIGRAPHIC MOLLUSK Mollusks which occur in the ancient Niagara River gravels are l4 well preserved and distinctly zoned. The Lake Tonawanda fauna, and/or C SITE heretofore undescribed, includes about 15 species, all of which are extant in the region. 1 GOAT ISLAND
INTRODUCTION 2 WHIRLPOOL PARK
The modern Niagara River was initiated with retreat of the Late 3 NIAGARA FALLS SEWAGE Wisconsinan ice sheet and eastward draining of the last pro-glacial lake in the Erie Basin. The newly formed Early Lake Erie then dis- TREATMENT PLANT charged across the emergent Niagara cuesta (escarpment) to Gla- cial Lake Iroquois in the Ontario Basin (Fig. 1). The generalities 4 LOCKPORT SITE and a great many details of the evolution of the Niagara drainage system from a river-lake called "Lake Tonawanda" with five out- 5 LOCKPORT GULF SITE lets through eventual differential enlargement of the main gorge at Lewiston (Niagara Gorge) have been presented and updated suc- 6 WINTER GULF SITE cessively by a number of authors since early studies by James Hall (1842). Study of recent excavations in and near Niagara Falls has led us KILOMETERS to review here some of this work relative to more recent published 0 10 20 30 studies in the area and to present some additional information on 1 1 i i the river history resulting from our field work. In particular, data Figure 1. Explanation.
Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 89, p. 1140-1154, 6 figs., 3 tables, August 1978, Doc. no. 80803.
1140
Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 ANCESTRAL NIAGARA RIVER DRAINAGE 1141
Figure 1. Surficial geology of northwestern New York showing location of sites mentioned in this paper. Geology ^ LAKE ONTARIO a*ter Mu"er> 1977b.
SYNTHESIS OF PREVIOUS WORK prehensive accounts of the development of Niagara River itself are to be found in works of Gilbert (1891), Grabau (1901), Spencer The general sequence of events in the Great Lakes area leading (1907), and particularly by Kindle and Taylor (1913) and Taylor to, or associated with, the formation of the Niagara River and (1933). A brief review of pertinent points from these works is given Gorge are generally well known (Leverett, 1902; Leverett and below with modifications drawn from recent published literature. Taylor, 1915; Hough, 1958, 1963, 1966; Prest, 1970). Com- The Late Wisconsinan glaciation in western New York and
Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 1142 CALKIN AND BRETT
southern Ontario was marked by at least three successively less ex- Lake Tonawanda waters are thought to have carved spillways tensive advances; the last of these has been correlated with the Port (Kindle and Taylor, 1913) to Glacial Lake Iroquois at Lewiston Huron stadial of Michigan. The Port Huron advance terminated and farther eastward at Lockport, Gasport, Medina, and Holley the preceding Mackinaw Interstadial (Dreimanis and Karrow, (New York), respectively. The main channel of the Lewiston spill- 1972), during which ice may have retreated north and eastward out way system, headed approximately 1,200 to 2,000 m north of the of the Erie to the Ontario Basin (Wall, 1968; Dreimanis, 1969; present American Falls across Johnson Ridge (Fig. 2). Because of Karrow, 1969); in addition, it induced a rise in waters to the Gla- the differential postglacial uplift toward the northeast, the eastern cial Lake Whittlesey level in the Erie-Huron basins. Several outlets successively gave way to those closer to the outflow from radiocarbon dates suggest that this event occurred about 13000 yr Lake Erie on the west. Bottom sediments deposited over the clay B.P. (Dreimanis and Goldthwait, 1973). Oscillatory retreat of the and silt of preceding glacial lakes consisted of fine sands and very Port Huron ice from terminal positions on or near the Paris coarse silts (D'Agostino, 1958); the finer materials apparently Moraine in southern Ontario and the Hamburg Moraine in west- moved through the spillways. ern New York (Fig. 1) has been correlated with six or more lower Taylor (Kindle and Taylor, 1913) has suggested that the cutting lake stands and as many ice marginal positions in the Niagara area of, and major drainage through, the Lake Tonawanda spillways (Chapman and Putnam, 1966; Calkin, 1970). Fairchild (1907) as- east of Lewiston occurred as Niagara waters drained into a low and signed the name "Lake Dana" to the slowly subsiding waters of the short-lived phase of Glacial Lake Iroquois called "Newfane." The Erie Basin immediately preceding emergence of the Niagara Es- amount and timing of cutting in the Lockport spillway (Fig. 1) is carpment and the simultaneous formation of nonglacial, Early considered below in this paper. At Lewiston, New York, weak Lake Erie and Glacial Lake Iroquois in the Ontario Basin. Lake Newfane beaches are about 26 m above the present Lake Ontario Dana, perhaps confined to the northeastern part of the Erie and level. Wood from the Lockport Site (Fig. 1), believed to have been southernmost Ontario basins, drained eastward through Syracuse washed across the gravelly delta of the Lockport spillway of Lake to the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, following glacial retreat from Tonawanda during Newfane time (Miller, 1973), has been dated at the Batavia Moraine in western New York (Fig. 1) (Calkin, 1970; 12100±400 yr B.P. (1-838; Buckley and others, 1968). Sub- Muller, 1977a). The succeeding Glacial Lake Iroquois also drained sequently, uplift raised Lake Iroquois 12 m to its main phase and east into the Mohawk River but over a threshold near Rome, New submerged the Newfane deposits. York. It formed before a minor glacial readvance associated with An analysis of dates and events in the Ontario-St. Lawrence area the Carlton Moraine along the present Lake Ontario margin (Mul- has led Karrow and others (1975) to suggest that Lake Iroquois ler, 1977a). drained shortly after 12000 yr B.P. but before at least 11000 yr B.P. The time for initiation of the Niagara drainage is difficult to Iroquois drainage was followed by short-lived and lower lake bracket closely. The oldest date for Early Lake Erie is 12650 ± 170 phases that were tributary successively to Glacial Lake Vermont yr B.P. (1-4040; Lewis, 1969) on plant detritus; for Lake Iroquois, and to the Champlain Sea before Early Lake Ontario waters began it is 12660 ± 400 yr B.P. (W-861; Rubin and Alexander, 1960; to rise in response to glacial rebound. Muller, 1963) on wood from Lewiston, New York. However, peat During this immediately postglacial period, when the Lewiston dates such as 1-4040 may be contaminated by recycled carbon (see, spillway (future Niagara Gorge) was receiving a successively for example, Calkin and Miller, 1976); in addition, the W-861 date greater share of the Niagara discharge, Lake Erie itself was rapidly was subsequently rerun as 12080 ± 300 yr B.P. (W-833; Muller, increasing in elevation and size with uplift of its outlet at Buffalo 1963). In any case, wood dates of 12730 ± 220 yr B.P. (1-3665; (Lewis, 1969). In addition, changes in the position of the ice margin Calkin, 1970) and 12610 ± 200 yr B.P. (1-8022; Buckley, 1976) to the north and west caused discharges into Lake Erie, and hence from a shallow-water peat at Winter Gulf near North Collins, New to the Niagara via the Huron Basin, to change or cease entirely. York (Fig. 1), suggest that Glacial Lake Whittlesey had drained to Reduction by more than 80 to 90 percent must have occurred as the Lake Warren before about 12700 yr B.P. (Calkin and Miller, Kirkfield (Ontario) outlet for Lake Algonquin was opened by ice 1976). Furthermore, 14C dates in the Lake Ontario or St. Lawrence retreat, thereby allowing Glacial Lake Algonquin waters to by-pass area indicate that inception of Erie and Iroqouis occurred prior to Lake Erie and to drain directly through Kirkfield into Lake Iroquois about 12200 yr B.P. (Calkin, 1970; Karrow and others, 1975; Nel- or its immediate successors. Karrow and others (1975) indicate that son Gadd and Pierre LaSalle, 1974, personal communs.). this first complete by-passing by Huron and western waters may Early Lake Erie was nourished by Glacial Lake Algonquin in the have continued for about 300 yr following its initiation 11,500 yr Huron Basin to the east through Port Huron and the St. Clair and B.P., before isostatic uplift closed the Kirkfield outlet. However, Detroit Rivers. It was initially very narrow, because its outlet area continued retreat of the ice sheet opened a second northern outlet near Buffalo was depressed as much as 42 m below the present level for the upper Great Lakes about 10,400 yr B.P. (Karrow and (Lewis, 1969). There existed at that time at least two, pre-Port Hu- others, 1975) at North Bay, Ontario. The upper lakes then drained ron, deep valleys cut in bedrock which may have once carried Erie directly through the Ottawa Valley into the St. Lawrence River waters north through the barrier of the Niagara escarpment. These until about 5500 yr B.P., when the additional outlets at Chicago were the Erigan (preglacial?) Valley 30 km west of Niagara Falls and Port Huron came into play during the Glacial Lake Nipissing I (Spencer, 1907; Karrow, 1973), and the St. Davids Gorge (Hobson interval (Lewis, 1969). Lewis indicated that during Nipissing II and Terasmae, 1969); however, both were blocked by thick drift. stage (that is, between 4700 and 3700 yr B.P.), drainage was shared Therefore, the outflow of Early Lake Erie flooded the lowland be- by the Chicago and Port Huron outlets, and full discharge of the tween the two cuestaform ridges of the Onondaga and Niagara es- upper lakes did not return through the Port Huron and the Niagara carpments north and east of Buffalo (Fig. 1). The resulting Lake River until post-Nipissing time, about 3700 yr B.P. Tonawanda as described by its low strand lines (Kindle and Taylor, The variation in the Niagara River discharge resulting from these 1913), was really a shallow extension of the uppermost Niagara diversions and the fluctuations of water levels in the Ontario Basin River; it stretched 93 km eastward at its highest sustained level and must have affected the river cutting and rate of recession of Niagara averaged about 10 m in depth. Falls from the escarpment at Lewiston. However, the real details
Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 ANCESTRAL NIAGARA RIVER DRAINAGE 1143
-Cataract Basin
—Niagara Escarpment
Lewiston Branch Gorge Figure 2. Map of the Niagara Gorge with en- largement of Goat Island Old Narrow (Fig. 3a) and Whirlpool Gorge Park (Fig. 3b) section lo- cations. Five named di- visions of the Gorge are Devils Hole after Kindle and Taylor (1913) and Taylor Lower Great (1933). Gorge
-Old Channel
O ^ 100 Whirlpool Rapids Niagara River Meters
Johnson Ridge Luna Island _ . „ \ Talus
Upper Great Gorge
America+ n Canadian Falls NIAGARA RIVER
are yet uncertain. Taylor (Kindle and Taylor, 1913; Taylor, 1933) TABLE 1. CORRELATIONS OF TAYLOR (1933) attempted correlations of gorge sections with the lake history (see Table 1). His and other similar correlations were based largely on Glacial lake event Niagara Gorge physical dimensions of the Gorge (Fig. 2). section of event* The mean rate of cutting of the Upper Great Gorge (3,700 m Early Algonquin to Kirkfield Algonquin Lewiston Branch Gorge length) from post-Nipissing time to the present must have been Kirkfield Algonquin Old Narrow Gorge about 0.8 or 1.0 m yr~' for intervals of 4,700 yr or 3,700 yr, re- Port Huron Algonquin Lower Great Gorge Termination of Iroquois Falls at Head of Niagara Glen spectively. This is slightly less than the rate of recession of the + -1 Nipissing (North Bay open) Whirlpool Rapids Gorge Horseshoe Falls of 1.28 m yr computed for the period 1842 Post-Nipissing (similar to present Upper Great Gorge through 1905 (Internat. Joint Commission, 1953, p. 14) before drainage) major man-made water diversions. A rate of 1.1 m yr-1 is deter- mined for the total years of record (1678 through 1969: Am. Falls * See Figure 2. + This is the Early L. Nipissing and Nipissing-Stanley lake stage of Prest Internat. Board, 1974). Despite the similarity in mean recession (1970). rates, correlations such as that of Taylor (see also Gilbert, 1891; and Antevs, 1931) especially for the period before post-Nipissing anticipated by Kindle and Taylor (1913, p. 19). Philbrick (1974) time, can only be approximate and speculative, considering the un- has also shown how the bedrock stratigraphy and present Niagara certainties of the glacial and postglacial lake history (see Hough, configuration may control its future gorge-cutting. 1958, p. 156) and a multiplicity of other factors such as those con- The path of the modern river through Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and sidered long ago by Gilbert (1891). Philbrick (1970), for example, Lewiston may have been predetermined and the necessary cutting has recently shown that the rates of recession decrease appreciably of the Gorge decreased by drainage developed prior to the last when the Horseshoe Falls has a broad horizontal arch configura- major (Port Huron) ice advance over the area. Spencer (1907) tion rather than a narrow notch outline. His model may have been suggested that the Niagara Rapids (including the surface beneath
Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 1144 CALKIN AND BRETT
Goat Island) represent the eastern bank of a "pre-glacial, Falls- suggest that the boulder gravel extends down to the Lockport Chippewa Valley" which he described as heading about 2 km north dolostone bedrock. of Goat Island in a "col" within Johnson Ridge, abutted to the North, across the Bridal Veil Falls channel (of the American north by the head of the St. Davids Gorge (Fig. 2; see also Sanford, Rapids), on Luna Island, a compact red sandy silt till up to 1 m 1956). The buried St. Davids Gorge has been known since the time thick lies directly on the glacially polished and striated bedrock sur- of Lyell and Hall; its stratigraphy south of the Whirlpool was out- face. lined at the turn of the century by Upham (1897) and Spencer Four km north of Goat Island in Whirlpool State Park, we (1910). Hobson and Terasmae (1969) obtained a 14C age of 22,800 cleared a section through the ancient mollusk-bearing river gravels ± 450 yr B.P. (GSC-816) on wood of interstadial deposits at about 171 m a.s.l. The section is 60 m northwest (downstream) sandwiched between multiple till sequences within the buried por- along the gorge wall from the Whirlpool (Figs. 2 and 3b) and oc- tion. Polhman (1889) outlined a "pre-glacial" flowline for the an- curs in the lower of a series of at least three river terraces starting at cestral Tonawanda Creek which essentially followed the present about 179 m a.s.l. The stratigraphy closely resembles that at Goat upper Niagara through the Whirlpool to the St. Davids Gorge. Island but lacks the sub-till gravel; in addition, its river terrace de- Although Pohlman presented no evidence in his paper, Bishop posits are sandier, more clearly bedded, and contain a simpler mol- (1897) described glacial striations on the modern rock-cut portion lusk assemblage than the river gravels at Goat Island. However, the of the Niagara channel near Buffalo, and similar evidence of glaci- exposure was only a few meters wide; its precipitous position fore- ation across the Niagara rapids channel is cited by Spencer (1907) stalled more extensive excavation. and in this paper. The main pattern of development of the Gorge involved minimal Interpretations of Glacial Drift along the Gorge vertical cutting with general headward recession of one major cata- ract line from the Niagara Escarpment at Lewiston to the Falls ad- Passing reference has been made in previous literature to the sand jacent to Goat Island. Although earlier buried drainage lines may and clay below the ancient terrace gravels on Goat Island (Hall, have controlled the path of flow, the only major gorge known with 1838, 1843; Hayes, 1839, p. 38) and in the St. Davids Gorge at the any certainty to have been reoccupied was that of the St. Davids Whirlpool; however, subsurface stratigraphy has not been defined between the Whirlpool and the head of the Whirlpool Rapids elsewhere. At the base of unit 1 (Table 2 and Fig. 3a) at Goat Is- (Kindle and Taylor, 1913) (Fig. 2). Here, the cutting and re- land, there are large boulders 0.4 to 1.0 m across, chiefly of dolo- excavation may have involved a series of rapids and stepped falls, stone in a matrix of sand and fine gravel. The boulders are smooth as Pohlman (1889) had envisioned for excavation of the whole and rounded, some distinctly striated, and give the impression of Gorge. The major basin-like embayment in the Gorge wall, called stream flow. They grade upward to well-bedded and sorted red Devil's Hole (Fig. 2) below the Whirlpool, has apparently been ex- pebble gravel which we have commonly associated elsewhere in the cavated by Lake Tonawanda outflow via a spillway east of the city Erie/Ontario lowlands with ice-marginal glaciolacustrine deposi- of Niagara Falls. tion (Calkin, 1970). A similar boulder gravel on a striated bedrock During recession of the Falls, the river, a few hundred meters surface has been exposed periodically at Prospect Point (Fig. 2); B. above respective cataract positions, must have been somewhat like Lukajic (1976, personal commun.) has also reported glaciolacus- it is now above Goat Island (Grabau, 1901). The banks of this trine deposits below an apparent till on the Canadian side of the river, cut in till and bedrock, are terraced (for detail, see Kindle and Gorge, directly opposite Goat Island. The contact with the overly- Taylor, 1913) and outline a channel much broader than the Gorge ing red till is sharp on both sides of the Gorge. Both gravels are itself. Sand and gravel accumulated in protected areas; a mollusk probably of glacial origin, deposited during an ice marginal stand assemblage was incorporated which in part resembles that of the at the position of the Niagara Falls Moraine (Fig. 1). present Niagara River (Letson, Chap. 5 in Grabau, 1901). These The overlying till (Fig. 3, unit 2) here (and at Luna Island and gravel terraces were then successively abandoned as the Falls re- Whirlpool Park) is correlated with the subsequent and last (Port treated. Letson has described molluscan species collected from Huron) ice advance. The till is a compact, dark reddish-brown de- gravel localities at Goat Island, Prospect Park, Queen Victoria posit with silty sand matrix and 10% to 18% rounded dolostone Park, Whirlpool (both sides), and at the Niagara Glen. and red sandstone (Grimsby Fm.) pebble clasts. Red laminated glacial lake silt (Fig. 3, unit 3) overlies the till in GOAT ISLAND AND the narrow exposure at the Whirlpool and locally on Goat Island WHIRLPOOL PARK SECTIONS but has been eroded away prior to deposition of the overlying gravel along parts of the latter exposure. Occurrence of the silt Stratigraphy suggests low energy glaciolacustrine deposition, perhaps following a brief ice retreat. The overlying coarse pebble-cobble gravel (Fig. A section of drift and river gravel 9 m thick was exposed on Goat 3, unit 4) is very well bedded and sorted, and may in turn represent Island in 1974 during repair of the stairway leading to Luna Island glaciolascustrine deposition following a short readvance or more at the American Falls (Figs. 2 and 3a). The ancient mollusk-bearing vigorous melting during construction of the adjacent Niagara Falls gravels which form most of the flat surface of Goat Island at about Moraine (Fig. 1). 167 to 170 m above sea level (a.s.l.) (Kindle and Taylor, 1913) cap Final ice retreat and glaciolacustrine deposition prior to de- the section. These are underlain by glaciolacustrine deposits, till, velopment of the ancestral Niagara is marked by brown, laminated and a pebble-boulder gravel, respectively. Borings of the U.S. Army lake clay and silt at the Goat Island and Whirlpool Park sites (Fig. Corps of Engineers and exposures on the adjacent Gorge walls 3, unit 5).
Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 N 1560 170
9080 ± 130 BGS- 275 Goat Island 9115 ± 215 QC - 118 river gravels 168 r — Large Pelecypod shells (dated) 1550 Figure 3a. Goat Is- also other undated smaller mollusks land stratigraphie sec- 166 tions. See Table 2 for de- tail of unit 6. 1540 164
162 1530
160
Luna Island 1-520 158.
156 V"/// / red silty sand 1-510 till 154
railing and walkway IN 171 9770 + 150 BGS 274 560 9915 + 165 QC 117
169 grovel /'-Large Pelecypod Shells Figure 3b. Whirlpool Park stratigraphie and Gastropod (dated) sections. See Table 2 for detail of unit 6. brown lam silt »clay 550 3 m. OO O o 167- o oo & 10 ft. well stratified pebble gravel °o 00 Ok.l o oo 530 82m, to Niagarcr| 16 Lockport dolostone River bedrock Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 1146 CALKIN AND BRETT TABLE 2. STRATIGRAPHY AND FOSSIL MOLLUSK DISTRIBUTION OF NIAGARA RIVER GRAVELS AT GOAT ISLAND AND WHIRLPOOL PARK Gastropoda Pelecypoda >3 o Cl >3 5 S -8 a I çp •S Ic .RC •a tS -£5 S a .3 q. a S Unit Top to Description of sediment g p -a Jä § s «te o bottom ?s « « o I -o (cm) O O a< 2 £ S Ü £ w 0-30 Gravel, pebble-cobble, poorly sorted; contains worn mollusk shells. 30—55 Gravel, poorly sorted; dolostone cobble-sized slabs underlain by pockets of coarse mollusk-bear- ing sand with abundant and large unionid pelecypods; unionids dated 9080 ± 130 yr B.P. (BGS- 275) and 9115 + 215 yr B.P. -ca (QC-118). » 55-75 Gravel, cobble, poorly sorted, and r re re r rc coarse sand with small mollusks; o G cobbles highly weathered. 75—100 Sand, med.-coarse, well sorted, few mollusks. 100-105 Gravel, pebble/cobble, with some No mollusks dasts of lake clay; unit is dis- continuous. 3w 0-120 Sandy loam; scattered mollusks. c 2w 120—130 Sand, brown, coarse, poorly sorted cc with scattered cobbles; extremely abundant gastropods dated o ao 9915±165 yr B.P. (QC-117) with few large pelecypods dated 97701150 yr B.P. (BGS-274). lw 130—220 Gravel, pebble, and interbedded No mollusks sand units 10-20 cm thick. * Symbols based on counts of shells/kg dry weight of sediment are: r = rare, s 4; rc = moderately common, 5-16; c = common, 17-32; cc = very common, >32. f Extinct form. * Extinct in Niagara River Basin. Ancient Niagara River Gravels (1838, p. 271—273) was the first to describe the occurrence of fos- sils in fluvial gravels of Goat Island. In a later paper (Hall, 1843, p. Previous Work. Taylor (Kindle and Taylor, 1913) mapped these 396), he noted the discovery in 1841 (in the company of Charles deposits as being within the temporary spillways for Lake Ton- Lyell) of a mastodon tooth in association with fresh-water mollusks awanda to Lake Iroqouis and bearing "mostly coarse gravel with such as "Cyclas" and Valvata in the river gravels 3.4 m (11 ft) cobble deposited in bars or spread over channel floors, containing below the surface on the east side of the river. This occurrence was abundant fossil shells." He categorized the channels as "older at about the same elevation as the Goat Island surface and appar- abandoned channel floors — successively abandoned as the cata- ently was near Prospect Point (Fig. 2). He also described fresh- ract receded." Kindle and Taylor (1913, p. 19) considered that "the water shells in river gravels farther north at the Whirlpool. Hayes making of the old channel began when the eastern outlets were (1839) has similarly described some of the fossil mollusks on Goat abandoned and the whole river was gathered into one stream"; Island and within the terraces elsewhere. Letson (in Grabau, 1901) however, we know of no reason why this must be true for the lower listed, and described in detail, 19 species of gastropods and 14 of parts of the channel. pelecypods collected from the 9 known localities in the vicinity of The occurrence of fossils in the river gravels exposed in terraces Niagara Falls and Gorge (Fig. 2). Of the 31 mollusk species listed, along the present Niagara River gorge was known even prior to the all but 3 occurred within the Goat Island gravels, and in turn, only early surveys of James Hall (Hall, 1843, p. 395). However, Hall 7 were considered as nonliving species. Robertson and Blakeslee Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 ANCESTRAL NIAGARA RIVER DRAINAGE 1147 (1948) give a complete treatment of mollusks of the Niagara re- sand. A few large unionid clams, mostly articulated, were exca- gion; however, they noted that the ancient Niagara gravels were in- vated and used for I4C dating. The thin shell bed is underlain by accessible for study at the time of writing. Shells from the river coarser river gravels, but unlike the lower units at Goat Island gravels have not been used previously in 14C dating. (Table 2), those at Whirlpool Park appear to be barren of fossils. Paleontology and Paleoecology. A distinct zonation of fossils occurs in the river gravels at Goat Island (Table 2) contrary to the Radiocarbon Dates and Niagara Gorge History implication of Letson (Grabau, 1901). There is a general increase in density and diversity of fossils upward. The lowest unit above the At the Whirlpool site, radiocarbon dates of 9770 ± 150 yr B.P. lag gravel (Table 2, unit 2) contains sparse sphaerid clams and (BGS-274) on unionid pelecypod fragments and 9915 ± 165 yr almost no other species; the shells are largely disarticulated but B.P. (QC-117) on Oxytrema gastropods shells were obtained from generally occur as unbroken valves, suggesting little or no trans- the coarse sand bed of unit 2 (Table 2). The close correspondence port. The fine-grained, well-sorted nature of this sand unit and the of dates suggests that they may be reasonable ages for the mollusks predominance of sphaerids point to deposition under moderate and in turn for the sand unit; there is little evidence of significant energy conditions. Such conditions may have occurred when this transport involved in the dated shells. In addition, there is no ex- area was an arm of Lake Tonawanda, prior to the establishment of posed evidence in the form of pebble beds above the shells to indi- the Niagara as a single major outlet. cate extended periods of scour following mollusk accumulation. Fossils are also sparse in the overlying poorly sorted gravel (Ta- Conditions favorable for mollusk accumulation must have ble 2, unit 3), and none of the fluvial Oxytrema gastropods nor any ceased at least by the time recession had brought the cataract, and large unionid clams like those within the younger beds were found. consequent higher flow velocities, to within several hundred meters Diminutive snails — Valvata sincera Say (Fig. 4, i and j), V. of the Whirlpool. Perhaps the gravel banks were abandoned even tricarinata (Say) (Fig. 4, d and e), Lymnaea sp., Gyraulus parms, sooner (when the Falls were farther downstream) due to river lower- and a variety of rarer forms and sphaerid clams — constitute the ing following discharge diversions through the North Bay outlets. fauna (about ten species). Apparently this is also the unit in which Assuming that turbulence and bed scouring were like conditions Hall discovered a mastodon tooth. above the present American Falls1, the cataract itself may have been The molluscan assemblages of the upper gravels at Goat Island about 800 m downstream from the Whirlpool or near the head of (Table 2, unit 4) and those at the Whirlpool (unit 2w) represent Niagara Glen 9800 yr B.P. If gorge-cutting was initiated at Lewis- distinctly fluvial faunas, characterized by extremely high densities ton about 12,400 yr B.P. (see discussion above), the over-all aver- of a few species. Aside from a few extinct forms (Table 2), the mol- age rate of recession to this point may have approached 1.6 m/yr. lusks found in these gravels are abundant members of modern At Goat Island, dates of 9080 ± 130 yr B.P. (BGS-275) and 9115 Niagara River faunas. ± 215 yr B.P. (QC-118) were obatined from the large unionid At Goat Island, the high spired gastropods Oxytrema (Go- shells taken from the shell bed about 0.65 to 1.0 m below the ter- niobasis) livenscens (Mencke) (Fig. 4, t and u) and the extinct sub- race surface (Table 2). These dates are also in good agreement with species O. livescetis niagarensis (Lea) (Fig. 4v) are overwhelmingly each other, and the shells showed little evidence of extensive trans- predominant in number in unit 4 and occur in densities up to sev- port; therefore, the dates can be reasonably applied to the contain- eral thousand per m2 in some horizons. Associated with these are ing Goat Island gravel unit. Furthermore, they appear to provide a large numbers of Valvata tricarinata and Planorbis which continue minimum age for the mastodon tooth found by Hall near Prospect in approximately equal densities to those in the underlying unit 3. Point. This is in good agreement with data summarized by In contrast, sphaerid clams are uncommon in Oxytrema horizons; Dreimanis (1968) which indicate that 80 percent of the dated mas- rather, bivalves are dominated here by the unionids Elliptio spp. todon remains in eastern North America fall between 9000 and (Fig. 4w) and Pleurobema cor data (Conrad). 12000 yr B.P. The sandy parts of unit 4 at Goat Island often display complete The significance of the date of 9100 yr B.P. for the mollusk layer articulated bivalves. However, the clams never show traces of just below the surface of Goat Island is uncertain. Assuming the periostracum, and the shell material itself is moderately weathered, stone layer over the clam bed does not represent a significant period appearing chalky and very fragile. The largest number and best of erosion and gravel removal, mollusk accumulation may have preserved specimens occur in sand pockets which are overlain by ceased on Goat Island shortly after 9100 yr B.P. This in turn would large flaggy slabs of Lockport dolostone. The stones apparently probably have been related to the lowering of Lake Erie by 3 to 5 m sheltered the clams from scouring by the river currents. Several and reduction in Niagara River discharge (perhaps by as much as specimens showed valves articulated but splayed open at the hinge, 90%; Lewis, 1969, p. 269) resulting from the opening of the outlet indicating death and decay of adductor muscles prior to burial; at North Bay (see discussion of synthesis of previous work above). however, others have valves tightly closed. A few appear to be Spencer (1907 and 1910) and Taylor (Kindle and Taylor, 1913; buried in approximtate life position (obliquely in sand with um- Taylor, 1933) have maintained that the river waters could not have bones directed upward), suggesting rapid burial. fallen below the Goat Island surface at 168 m (550 ft) until the cat- In contrast to these well-preserved fossils are the broken valves aract had cut headward through the Johnson bedrock ridge (Fig. 2; found in the overlying surface gravel unit 5. The broken and ab- probably on the order of 2000 to 3000 yr B.P. rather than 9100 yr raded condition of fossils here indicates probable reworking of B.P.). However, there is no proof that the Johnson Ridge had not shell material. At the Whirlpool, mollusks occur in a distinct shell layer (Table 1 2, unit 2w). Here, they are even more abundant than at the Goat Although total river discharge 9800 yr B.P. may have been on the same order of magnitude as that now over the American Falls (283 m3/sec or Island cut, though represented almost exclusively by Oxytrema. 10,000 cfs), comparison may be partly invalidated because the bed of the The gastropods occur densely packed in a coarse poorly sorted Niagara Rapids antedates the postglacial river, as noted by Spencer (1907). Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 ANCESTRAL NIAGARA RIVER DRAINAGE 1149 already been breached by earlier river flow. Furthermore, termina- D'Agostino's (1958) work suggests that a conformable relation tion of deposition on Goat Island may have involved only shoaling may occur farther east in the lake basin. The surface on the rather than complete emergence of the surface. glaciolacustrine clays or on the till is undulating and apparently Since the dated gravels appear to represent river deposits, the channeled in places to 30-cm relief. Further, it is marked by a rusty 9100 and 9800 yr dates may also be minimal for the time "when iron coating, a basal lag of pebbles and cobbles coated with calcium the eastern outlets for Lake Tonawanda were abandoned such that carbonate, and scattered, abraded mollusks. The carbonate and the entire outflow was directed through a single (Niagara River) oxide may be related to postdepositional ground-water movement; channel" (see Kindle and Taylor, 1913, p. 143). however, the undulating surface, stone lag, and abraded mollusk shells suggest a period of water scouring. LAKE TONAWANDA SECTIONS Paleontology and Paleoecology of Lake Tonawanda Sediments Stratigraphy and Discussion Five species of mollusks were tentatively identified by D'Agos- tino (1958) from within the silts of Lake Tonawanda. However, no Opportunities to examine Lake Tonawanda sediments occurred other accounts of mollusks from the lake sediments are known. during the Spring of 1974 when excavations for a new sewage The silty fine sands of Lake Tonawanda exposed at the STP and treatment plant (STP) were made at the intersection of Buffalo and Royal Avenue sites are quite fossiliferous (Table 3, units 1 and 2). Portage avenues, 2 km east of Goat Island, Niagara Falls, New In thicker sections at STP, the density and diversity of the mollusk York. At the same time, two small excavations were studied along assemblage decreases upward from the contact with the underlying Royal Avenue east of Hyde Park Boulevard, Niagara Falls (Fig. 2). red clay and/or till. The basal units bear a particularly rich fossil In all of these areas, excavation penetrated excellent sections of fauna dominated by sphaerid clams occurring in densities up to glacial deposits overlain by mollusk-bearing sediments believed to about 500,000 rrT2. A small percentage of abraded specimens of be related to Lake Tonawanda or its successors. Figure 5 depicts Oxytrema (Fig. 4m) occur at the lower contact. These may have the general sediment relations. existed before or during the scouring and formation of the lag Glacial Sediments. Two basal till units of stony, silty sand com- gravel. However, the main molluscan assemblage at this site evi- position separated by as much as a meter of red lake silt and varved dently postdates the scouring of the till and lake clay which under- silty clay units are exposed at the STP excavation. These overlie lies it. Specimens of Oxytrema are fairly abundant up to a meter striated bedrock and in turn are overlain by red varved silt-clay, by above the contact along with other species such as Stagnicola and dark brown silty clays and/or by Lake Tonawanda sediments (de- Helisoma (Fig. 4, a, b, p, q) and even occasional large unionid scribed below). The till-clay-till units here may correlate with the clams. However, the latter three forms are much less common in sequence of till-silt-gravel exposed over the basal gravels at Goat the upper beds (of unit 2) than at the contact itself. Island or Whirlpool Park sites. These in turn appear to record, re- The decline of density and diversity upward from units 1 into 2 is spectively, the last major glacial advance followed by minor reces- perhaps a reflection of the changes that occurred in substrate com- sion and short readvance before final glaciolacustrine silt-clay dep- position concurrent with deposition of silty sediments. The lowest osition. assemblage (aside from the reworked abraded forms) inhabited a Lake Tonawanda Sediments. Mottled, light greenish-gray or relatively firm lake bottom composed of compact clay or till with yellowish-brown silty fine sands up to 3 m thick overlie the red scattered boulders and cobbles. This varied bottom composition lacustrine clays or, in places, the upper till at STP. These are spar- was favorable to a variety of shallow-water mollusk species; how- ingly fossiliferous, and they grade laterally (southward) into well- ever, some of these forms, most notably the sphaerid clams, may sorted coarse or medium quartz sand and upward into a woody have disappeared as this environment gave way to a soft silty bot- peat interbedded with clean quartz sand. D'Agostino (1958) con- tom. sidered mottled silty fine sands as typical of the western Lake Ton- The deposits of mottled silty fine sand above the lag gravel were awanda deposits, and they appear to have been laid down in deeper apparently laid down rapidly but under relatively unagitated con- parts of Lake Tonawanda (Kindle and Taylor, 1913). The sedi- ditions as indicated by preservation and orientation of the fossils. ments all lie as much as 3 to 5 m below the upper limit reached by Numerous specimens of unionid and sphaerid clams (—40%) were the main (beach-producing) stage of Lake Tonawanda; this is articulated and tightly closed; few shells showed primary breakage. 178.3 m in Niagara Falls. Specimens had periostracum and hinge ligaments preserved and The basal contact of the mottled silty fine sand is sharply defined were non-chalky, unlike those from Goat Island. It appears that and represents a disconformity in the Niagara Falls area, although burial occurred before complete decay and disarticulation could 4 Figure 4. Post-Pleistocene fossil mollusks from Niagara County, New York. Specimens in c, i, j, t, u, and v from shell-bearing upper unit (Table 2, unit 4) of ancient Niagara River gravels, on east side of Goat Island, approximately 0.9 m above present river level; Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York; remaining specimens from greenish shell-bearing channel-fill sand (Table 1, unit 3); south wall of pit excavated for sewage treatment plant, south of Buffalo Avenue and just north of Robert Moses Parkway, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York. All illustrations magnified X5 unless otherwise indicated, a, b, Helisoma anceps (Menke), c, Gyraukis sp. d, e, Valvata tricarinata (Say), f, g, Amnicola limosa (Say), h,Ancylus sp. i, j, Valvata sincera sincera Say. k. 1, Sphaerium striatinum Lamarck, m, Oxytrema (Goniobasis) livescens (Menke); worn specimen showing exposed portion of columella; x2. n, o, Physa sp. p, q, Stagnicola sp. r, s, Campeloma decisum (Say), t, u, Oxytrema (Goniobasis) livescens; (Menke) x2. v. Oxytrema (Goniobasis) livescens niagarensis (Lea), w, Elliptic dilatus (Rafinesque); xl. Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 1150 CALKIN AND BRETT 30 m. ( Mollusks 100 ft. • Woody peat N 570 173 171 vi a •560 (A O a> ® 169 ,a> « * A 167 -7 7 y 7 7 7 7- Lockport dolostone bedrock striations 042° Figure 5. Generalized stratigraphie section at Niagara Falls Sewage Treatment Plant site (STP). Numbers refer to units described in Table 3. take place, and the shells have remained relatively unweathered. posits and removal of any postglacial sediments ended in western Several of the clams were found in unstable orientations, tucked be- Lake Tonawanda sometime prior to about 3800 yr B.P. Scouring tween large lag cobbles on the basal Tonawanda contact with was followed by rapid but relatively quiet water deposition of silty hingelines oriented obliquely upward as in life. Furthermore, many fine sands inhabited initially by a large and diverse mollusk as- Sphaerium valves occur in unstable concave-up positions. The as- semblage. These events may in turn record a period of shallow semblages of mollusk species represent relatively quiet water (lacus- water and succeeding deepening of a western remnant of Lake trine?) faunas, suggesting lower energy conditions than those in the Tonawanda consequent on the transfer of Huron basin drainage upper gravel units at Goat Island and Whirlpool Park. from North Bay to Lake Erie during termination of Glacial Lake The sand and interbedded peat (Table 3, units 3 and 4) which Nipissing events. Scouring may also have occurred on the Goat Is- overlie the mottled silty fine sands of unit 2 in most exposures at land gravel surface at this time, as it is at about the same elevation STP contain large pieces of wood but no mollusks. However, two as the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) stone lag horizon. exceptions were noted. A very rich snail horizon was located at the Radiocarbon dates together with paleontological analysis indi- contact of a peat with an overlying clean coarse sand bed. The cates that the interbedded sands and peats above the mottled silty fauna (unit 4) is dominated by Stagnicola, Physa, and Helisoma fine sands at STP may represent recent shallow swamps or lakes (Fig. 4, n-q). Another rich accumulation of snails (Table 3, unit 3) which succeeded Lake Tonawanda proper. occurred in a fine sand filling of a small channel cut into red We are unaware of any older absolute dates on Lake Tonawanda glaciolacustrine clay below the peat and sand unit. Thirteen species sediments within the basin itself. If this scouring was widespread at of mollusks were obtained from this horizon. The fauna resembles or before 3800 yr B.P., it may have dispersed much of the datable that of unit 4, although it is dominated by Physa and Helisoma material. However, Marian White and Ernest Muller (Muller, rather than by Stagnicola. Both assemblages are suggestive of 1977) have described a section within a probable overflow area of paludal conditions. the southeasternmost part of early Lake Tonawanda. Wood dated at 10450 ± 400 yr B.P. (W-1038) at this site overlies scoured lake Radiocarbon Dates and Lake Tonawanda History clay (possibly glaciolacustrine) and underlies sediments containing mastodon pelvis remains. Taylor (Kindle and Taylor, 1913) has During the course of this study, four radiocarbon dates were ob- noted that Lake Tonawanda must have stood high enough at its tained from sediments at STP that are believed to relate to Lake west end to discharge through a spillway east of Niagara Falls to Tonawanda. These are listed in Table 3 and located in Figure 5. form the Devil's Hole (Fig. 2) plungepool basin near Niagara Uni- The dates, with previously discussed stratigraphic information, are versity some time after the main cataract had receded past the site. interpreted to indicate that an interval of scouring of the glacial de- This latter event was perhaps somewhat earlier than 9800 yr B.P., Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 ANCESTRAL NIAGARA RIVER DRAINAGE 1151 TABLE 3. STRATIGRAPHY AND FOSSIL MOLLUSK DISTRIBUTION IN SEDIMENTS OF LAKE TONAWANDA OR SUCCESSORS AT NIAGARA FALLS SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT AND ROYAL AVENUE Gastropoda Pelecypoda 5 »5 a a<3 •s •S .C O I J S "S .g -S 5 S -S H 0 a 3 o a u0 -S S S & 'S •o. <3 Ci « e Unit Description of H S -C -C g c S 1 1 -s -fi fossil-bearing units O < ¡2 o. a Sand, med.-coarse, well- sorted with interbedded peat; log in peat below fos- siliferous sand dated 674 ± 126 yr B.P. (NSTF-50). Sand, med.-coarse, well- sorted in channel at base unit 4, on red glaciolacus- «M trine clay. £ Silty fine sand, mottled, greenish-gray; 0.3—2.0 m above basal contact; mix- ture of pelecypods and gas- rt tropods from units 2 and 3 «ao dated 1230 ± 118 yr B.P. (QC-116). Silty fine sand, mottled greenish-gray; pelecypods dated 3780 ± 90 yr B.P. (BGS-273); rests on red > glaciolacustrine clay. Í 1-2 Silty fine sand, mottled rt X O greenish-gray; 0-2 m above ed basal contact with glacio- lacustrine clay. Note: Units are located in Figure 5. * Symbols based on counts of shells/kg dry weight of sediment are: r = rare, £ 4; rc = moderately common, 5-16; c = common, 17—32; cc = very common, >32. according to the Whirlpool mollusk dates considered in the preced- Interpretation and Discussion ing pages of this paper. The following section considers relations which indirectly date earlier events of Lake Tonawanda. Till. The lowest unit (Fig. 6c, unit 1), identified on the basis of boring logs, engineering text data, and personal communication LOCKPORT SPILLWAY OF LAKE TONAWANDA with Mr. Ulrich Stoll (1976), is a compart, well-graded, red "clayey sand and gravel." It is generally massive but contains some sand or Stratigraphy silt lenses. Mechanical analyses for three samples show by weight: Lake Tonawanda's outflow to the Ontario Basin at Lockport, gravel 36% to 52% New York, occupied successively three spillway systems. The last sand 22% to 32% and main spillway consisted of two channels up to 50 m deep now silt 18% to 26% (Wentworth Grade Scale) occupied by The Gulf and an eastern branch of Eighteenmile Creek clay 6% to 8% (Kindle and Taylor, 1913; D'Agostino, 1958). These channels and the present creek branches converge in a large embayment cut back Standard penetration test (N) counts range between about 10 and almost a kilometer into the lower part of the Niagara Escarpment 40 blows per foot, although most borings were terminated near the (Fig. 6, a and b). Data from 39 deep borings (Stoll, 1968) and sev- higher limit. The larger figures and greater compaction correspond eral large excavations for the Lockport Wastewater Treatment to the lower portions of the unit where "broken limestone" rock Plant (Gulf Site, Fig. 1) spanning this embayment are summarized fragments were common. in the cross section of Figure 6c. Four major units are distinguished These deposits do not appear to result from stream and/or lake below the surface "fill." deposition (U. Stoll, 1976, personal commun.) as might be ex- Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 Figure 6. Stratigraphie section west-east at the Lockport Wastewater Treatment Plant (Lockport Gulf Site) (c) and its setting (a and b) within the spillway of Lake Tonawanda. Geology from boring logs; modified after Stoll (1968). a Rock Fragments _ Wood " Marl 30 m. •/.•Sand i w 100 ft. 112 —'—Silt -n-Clay + Silt X X -== ^ X. 108 • •. oo ' ^- X "x — 104 iri a' cn 100 Less stony-•- ^ \ compact aboves 96 92 ' Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 ANCESTRAL NIAGARA RIVER DRAINAGE 1153 pected within the lower end of a spillway considered to have been cutting at Lockport and perhaps elsewhere along Lake Tonawanda cut since the last ice retreat. We suggest that unit 1 is basal till with occurred prior to the last ice advance. Major sediment outflow water-laid components in the upper part. Mechanical analyses put through the Lockport spillway, and almost certainly through those it within the envelope of more than 50 red silty sand tills examined with higher outlets to the east, ceased by about 11000 yr B.P., recently from Lake Ontario bluffs (Calkin and others, 1976), perhaps within a thousand years after the draining of glacial Lake although it is more gravelly as a result of its position at the Niagara Iroquois. Thus was initiated the present single outlet for the Niag- Escarpment. Extending from 2 to more than 20 m below the sur- ara drainage. face of the embayment, the deposits indicate that the deepest and By about 9800 yr B.P., the Niagara Falls had not yet receded far perhaps major part of the spillway channels were cut at least prior enough to intersect the St. Davids buried gorge at the Whirlpool. to the last ice advance. The upper concave contact of the deposit However, the cataract may have been near the head of the Niagara (Fig. 6c) may be a result of scouring by Lake Tonawanda outflow. Glen at this time. Comparison of this dating with that now ac- Glaciolacustrine Deposits. Overlying the "clayey sands and cepted for events such as the termination of glacial Lake Iroquois gravels" (till?) are well-bedded, red glaciolacustrine sediments (Fig. and opening of the North Bay outlet indicates that there may be no 6c, unit 2). These include varved silt/clay, interbedded sections of clear-cut correlation of the Niagara Gorge sections described by sorted gravel through clay-sized material, and thicker beds of sand Taylor (1933; see in Fig. 2) and major glacial lake discharge events or gravel. It is, overall, a fining upward sequence with scattered of the Great Lakes Basin. wood fragments and cones in the upper 30 to 300 cm. These de- Although uplift had caused abandonment of eastern spillways to posits are presumed to have been derived largely by outflow of the Ontario Basin, Lake Tonawanda persisted at least near Niagara Lake Tonawanda through the spillway into Lake Iroquois. How- Falls. Drainage through the Lewiston outlet via the present main ever, the lowest sediments may be partly ice-marginal, and may channel as well as through that now occupied by the creek above have been deposited in pre-Iroqouis lakes Lundy, Early Algonquin, Devil's Hole (Fig. 2) occurred well after 9800 yr B.P. Scouring, fol- and/or Dana. The upper limit of the deposits is at about 109 m (358 lowed by quiet-water deposition in western Lake Tonawanda, oc- ft), or well below the recognized local levels of Lake Iroquois beach curred sometime just prior to about 3800 yr B.P. These events may crests in this area. The wood was shed through the spillway or have been related to the closing of the North Bay outlet from the brought by longshore currents of Lake Iroqouis (Miller, 1973) upper Great Lakes and diversion of this discharge to Lake Erie and from the Lockport Site 5.5 km to the north (Fig, 1). the Niagara River. A shallow but clear-water remnant of Lake Woody Marl. A unit of gray bedded marl with as much as 70% Tonawanda persisted near the present Niagara Falls for some time wood debris (Fig. 6c, unit 3) overlies the glaciolacustrine deposits. after this date and prior to the establishment of paludal conditions The wood, largely spruce or tamarack (J. McAndrews, 1976, by at least 674 ± 126 B.P. personal commun.), includes logs up to 1 m long and 6 cm in diameter. The marl grades laterally in some parts of the basin to ACKNOWLEDGMENTS "gray silt or clay" (Stoll, 1968) and does contain sparsely scattered pebbles. However, it is extensive enough to represent local ponding We are indebted to John L. Krajewski of Schoellkopf Geological of spillway drainage and quiet-water deposition within the em- Museum, Niagara Falls, New York, for calling our attention to the bayment. Goat Island excavations and helping us secure a wealth of other in- Wood that was reported by Richard McCarthy of Lockport valuable information on the Falls. Richard McCarthy, Lockport, (1975, personal commun.; Calkin and Miller, 1977) to have come New York, guided us to the Lockport and Gulf organic sites and from within a few centimeters of the base of this unit has been given arranged to have wood dated through the help of the City of an age of 10,920 ± 160 yr (1-5841). The inception of marl deposi- Lockport. David H. Stansbery, The Ohio State University, kindly tion at least 10,000 to 11,000 yr B.P. indicates that waters of Lake helped C. Brett with mollusk species identification. Radiocarbon Iroquois had drained from the high (main) stage by at least this dates were furnished by: Queens College (QC) through the cour- time and that major cutting and sediment transport through the tesy of Walter Newman and Richard Pardi; Brock University, De- spillway had ceased. If outflow continued from Lake Tonawanda partment of Geological Sciences (BGS) with the help of Jaan above, there was apparently little clastic sediment carried. Terasmae; and by the SUNY Nuclear Science and Technology Recent Silty Clay. Massive gray or brown silty clays (Fig. 6c, Facility (NSTF) through the effort of Charles Thomas. Boro unit 4) above the marl unit attest to continued local ponding and Lukajic, Acres Consulting Services, Niagara Falls, Ontario, fur- perhaps enlargement of a postglacial stream network on the Ton- nished subsurface information, as did personnel of the Buffalo awanda lake plain above the escarpment. Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Ulrich Stoll of Ann Arbor, Michigan. CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY REFERENCES CITED The Quaternary strata studied at Goat Island, Whirlpool Park, and nearby Niagara Falls Sewage Treatment Plant record a period American Falls International Board, 1974, Preservation and enhancement of major ice advance and at least one minor oscillation during the of the American Falls at Niagara: Final report to the International succeeding retreat. These events are correlated with the Port Huron Joint Commission, Appendix D — Hydraulics, 41 p. Stadial immediately preceding eastward drainage of glacial lakes Antevs, Ernst, 1931, Late glacial correlations and ice recession in Man- itoba; Canada Geolgoical Survey Memoir 168, p. 20-24. from the Erie Basin and initiation of Niagara Falls. Direct dating of Bishop, I. P., 1897, The structure and economic geology of Erie County: the incipient or early Lake Tonawanda stage of the ancestral Niag- 15th Annual Report of the State Geologist for the year 1895, v. 1, ara is not yet possible. However, wood at the Lockport Site indi- p. 325-330. cates probable outflow through the Lockport spillway to Glacial Buckley, J. D., 1976, Isotopes' radiocarbon measurements XI: American Journal of Science Radiocarbon Supplement, v. 18, no. 2, p. 172-189. Lake Iroquois before 12100 yr B.P., and somewhat older dates are Buckley, J. D., Trautman, M. A., and Willis, E. H., 1968, Isotopes' available from Lewiston. Till-like sediments within the spillway it- radiocarbon measurements VI: American Journal of Science self suggest that, contrary to prevailing thought, major spillway Radiocarbon Supplement, v. 10, p. 246-294. Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021 1154 CALKIN AND BRETT Calkin, P. E., 1970, Strand lines and chronology of the glacial Great Lakes Screenivasa, M. R., 1975, Stratigraphy, paleontology, and age of Lake in northwestern New York: Ohio Journal of Science, v. 70, p. 78-96. Algonquin sediments in southwestern Ontario, Canada: Quaternary Calkin, P. E., and Miller, K. E., 1977, Late Quaternary environment and Research, v. 5, p. 49-87. man in western New York: Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, Kindle, E. M., and Taylor, F. B., 1913, U.S. Geological Survey Geological v. 288, p. 297-315. Atlas, Niagara Folio 190. Calkin, P. E., Brett, C. E., and Krajewski, J. L., 1975, Ancestral Niagara Leverett, F., 1902, Glacial formations and drainage features of the Erie and River deposits — Stratigraphy and paleontology: Geological Society of Ohio basins: U.S. Geological Survey Monograph 41, 802 p. America, Abstracts with Programs, v. 7, no. 1, p. 37. Leverett, F., and Taylor, F. B., 1915, The Pleistocene of Indiana and Michi- Calkin, P. E., Brennan, S. F., and Adams, R. W., 1976, Glacial stratigraphy gan and the history of the Great Lakes: U.S. Geological Survey along the south shore of Lake Ontario, New York: Abstracts, 19th Monograph 53, 529 p. Conference on Great Lakes Research, University of Guelph, Ontario, Lewis, C.F.M., 1969, Late Quaternary history of lake levels in the Huron p. 14. and Erie basins: Great Lakes Research, 12th Conference Proceedings, Chapman, L. J., and Putnam, D. F., 1966, The physiography of Southern p. 250-270. Ontario: Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 386 p. Miller, N. G., 1973, Late glacial plants and plant communities in north- D'Agostino, J. P., 1958, Lake Tonawanda: History and development [M.A. western New York State: Journal Arnold Arboretum, v. 54, no. 2, thesis]: State University of New York at Buffalo, 70 p. p. 123-159. Dreimanis, A., 1968, Extinction of mastodons in eastern North America: Muller, E. H., 1963, Geology of Chautauqua County, New York. Part II. Testing a new climate — environmental hypothesis: Ohio Journal of Pleistocene geology: New York State Museum and Science Service Bul- Science, v. 68, p. 257-272. letin 392. 1969, Late-Pleistocene lakes in the Ontario and Erie basins: Great 1977a, Late glacial and early post-glacial environments in western Lakes Research, 12th Conference, Proceedings, p. 170-180. New York: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, v. 288, p. Dreimanis, A., and Goldthwait, R. P., 1973, Wisconsin glaciation in the 223-233. Huron, Erie, and Ontario lobes: Geological Society of America 1977b, Quaternary geology of Niagara, New York, Niagara Sheet: Memoir 136, p. 71-105. New York State Museum and Science Service Albany. Map and chart Dreimanis, A., and Karrow, P. F., 1972, Glacial history of the Great Lakes series No. 28. — St. Lawrence region, the classification of the Wisconsin(an) stage, Philbrick, Shailer S., 1970, Horizontal configuration and the rate of erosion and its correlatives: International Geological Congress, 24th, Sec. 12, of Niagara Falls: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 81, Quaternary Geology, p. 5-15. p. 3723-3732. Fairchild, H. L., 1907, Glacial waters in the Lake Erie basin: New York 1974, What future for Niagara Falls?: Geological Society of America State Museum Bulletin 106. Bulletin, v. 85, p. 91-98. Gilbert, G. K., 1891, The history of the Niagara River: Annual Report of Pohlman, Julius, 1889, The life history of Niagara: American Institute of the Smithsonian Institution, v. 6, p. 231-257. Mining Engineers Transactions, v. 17, p. 322—338. Grabau, A. W., 1901, Guide to the geology and paleontology of Niagara Prest, V. K., 1970, Quaternary geology of Canada, in Geology and eco- Fails and vicinity (with a chapter on post-Pliocene fossils of Niagara nomic minerals of Canada: Geological Survey of Canada, Economic by E. J. Letson): New York State Museum Bulletin 45, v. 9, 284 p. Geology Report 1, 5th ed., p. 675-764. Hall, James, 1838, Second annual report on the Fourth Geological District Robertson, I.C.S., and Blakeslee, C. L., 1948, The Mollusca of the Niagara of New York: New York Geological Survey Annual Report 3, Frontier region: Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences Bulletin, v. 19, p. 287-339. no. 3. 1842, Niagara Falls, their physical changes and the geology and topog- Rubin, M., and Alexander, C., 1960, U.S. Geol. Survey radiocarbon dates raphy of the surrounding country: Boston Journal of Natural History, V: American Journal of Science Radiocarbon Supplement 2, p. 129- v. 4, p. 206-234. 185. 1843, Geology of New York Part 4, comprising the survey of the Sanford, B. V., 1956, Welland County: Geological Survey of Canada, Paper Fourth Geological District: Albany, Natural History of New York, 55-20 (2 maps). 683 p. Spencer, J. W., 1907, Falls of the Niagara: Their evolution and varying re- Hayes, G. E., 1839, Remarks on the geology and topography of western lations to the Great Lakes; characteristics of the power and effects of New York: American Journal of Science, v. 35, no. 1, p. 86-105. its diversion: Geological Survey of Canada, Publication 970, 490 p. Hobson, G. D., and Terasmae, J., 1969, Pleistocene geology of the buried 1910, Relationship of Niagara River to the glacial period: Geological St. Davids Gorge, Niagara Falls, Ontario: Geophysical and palynolog- Society of America Bulletin, v. 21, p. 433-440. ical studies: Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 68-67, 16 p. Stoll, Ulrich, 1968, Report on soil investigation, proposed wastewater Hough, J. L., 1958, Geology of the Great Lakes: Urbana, University of Il- treatment plant additions, city of Lockport, New York: Ann Arbor, linois Press, 310 p. Mich., Ulrich Stoll, Consulting Engineer. 1963, The prehistoric Great Lakes of North America: American Scien- Taylor, F. B., 1933, Niagara Falls and gorge: Washington, D.C., Interna- tist, v. 51, p. 84-109. tional Geological Congress, 16th, Guidebook 4 — Excursion A-4, 1966, Correlation of glacial lake stages in the Huron — Erie basins: p. 78-103. Journal of Geology, v. 74, p. 62-77. Upham, W. E., 1898, Niagara Gorge and Saint Davids Channel: Geological International Joint Commission, 1953, Preservation and enhancement of Society of America Bulletin, v. 9, p. 101-110. Niagara Falls: Washington, D.C., 354 p. Wall, R. E., 1968, A sub-bottom reflection survey in the central basin of Karrow, P. F., 1969, Stratigraphic stuides in the Toronto Pleistocene: Lake Erie: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 79, p. 91-106. Geological Association of Canada Proceedings, v. 20, p. 4-16. 1973, Bedrock topography in southwestern Ontario: A progress re- MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED BY THE SOCIETY FEBRUARY 22, 1977 port: Geological Association of Canada, Proceedings, v. 25, p. 67-77. REVISED MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED AUGUST 30, 1977 Karrow, P. F., Anderson, T. W., Clarke, A. H., Delorme, L. D., and MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED SEPTEMBER 9, 1977 Printed in U.S.A. Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/89/8/1140/3444147/i0016-7606-89-8-1140.pdf by guest on 30 September 2021