THE KARST GEOMORPHOLOGY OF MANITOULIN ISLAND THE KARST GEOMORPHOLOGY OF MANITOULIN ISLAND By SUSAN ROSE ENYEDY-GOLDNER, B.Sc. (Honours) A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science McMaster University September 1994 MASTER OF SCIENCE (1994) McMASTER UNIVERSITY (Geography) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: The Karst Geomorphology of Manitoulin Island AUTHOR: Susan Rose Enyedy-Goldner, B.Sc. Honours, (McMaster University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. D.C. Ford NUMBER OF PAGES: XV, 312 ii ABSTRACT Manitoulin Island is formed of glacially-abraded dolomite and limestone bedrock widely exposed across the island. The dominant karst landform is dolomite pavement, its form strongly controlled by lithology and classified according to appearance and karren characteristics. Pavement was found to be most extensive and well developed on the Amabel Formation, which also featured a pitted littoral zone along the southern Lake Huron shore. The Fossil Hill Formation featured good pavement only on a limited number of sites .. Other carbonates had only very shallow, limited pavement due to presence of clay or silica rich insolubles, thin beds and frequent shale interbeds. Clint and grike karren forms were the most common on Manitoulin Island pavements. Grikes on these pavements were found to be on average 13 cm wide, 83 cm deep and 367 cm in length, with much variation across pavement types. Grike orientations were dominated by a 90° regional set, with sets 0 0 at 60°, 120 , 30 and 150° of secondary importance Investigation of the island's hydrogeology revealed that the main karst aquifer is divided in half by the Cabot Head Shale aquiclude. The northern aquifer is formed of less soluble carbonates and is dominated by fluvial surface drainage. The southern aquifer has developed in highly soluble dolomites and is dominated by holokarstic drainage, mainly diffuse, and several internally draining lakes. A lack of fluvial karst except some immature systems is attributed to few streams crossing the border between the two extremes of drainage type. There is little macro-karst except Mindemoya Cave, indicating there are limiting fa.ctors to karst development on Manitoulin including age since deglaciation, rock solubility and physiography. Tree density on alvars, a sparsE! parkland type vegetation, was examined on the pavemen.ts. Density was directly related to pavement type as a function of amount of debris in grikes which allows trees to take root. The impacts of deforestation likely enhanced erosion, resulting in the development of this type of vegetation. The relationship between hardness and specific conductivity for Manitoulin Island surfac4= and subsurface waters was established in this study. The wat.ers were found to have high hardness, similar to values on the Bruce Peninsula. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe thanks to many who assisted and supported me during the completion of this thesis. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Derek Ford. He has given me encouragement and advise throughout this study. In addition he has granted me many wonderful travel opportunities over the years which allowed me to experience the "karst geomorphology" of North America. Also at McMaster, I would like to thank Amos Frumkin and Craig Malis, who were members of my initial reconnaissance trip to Manitoulin Island. I also thank Craig for his help with my rock analysis. Others who have helped me include Bob Bignell who developed my many photos, and Brian McCann who proof-read this thesis, and gave me valuable advice throughout my undergraduate and graduate career. I greatly appreciate the countless hours Steven Reader and Clarence Woodsma spent assisting me in the GIS lab, and for their patience when "impossible problems" arose with my maps and coverages. Thanks to my field assistant Tanya Kohler, for her company during our explorations of Manitoulin. I thank her for her part of this study: the water chemistry, and for helping with digitizing in the GIS lab. I also owe thanks to Daryl Cowell, whose Bruce Peninsula study gave inspiration for this research, and for his advise on matters ranging from potential study sites to GIS analysis. Finally, I would like to thank my husband Rob. He assisted me in the field and greatly helped me put this project together. Without his love and support through these years, I could not have accomplished it. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT . .. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................... i v TABLE 0 F CONTENTS ...................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................ x LIST OF TABLES xiv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose 1 1.2 Karstic Solution Processes ....... 5 1.3 Methodology ...................... 9 CHAPTER II BACKGROUND OF MANITOULIN ISLAND 2.1 General Physiography and Climate 14 2.2 Palaeozoic Geology 16 2.2.1 Introduction 16 2.2.2 Stratigraphy 21 2.2.3 Sedimentary Environments ... 33 2.3 Quaternary Geology ................ 36 2.3.1 Quaternary Deposits ........ 36 2.3.2 Quaternary Lake Level Change. 41 2.4 Soils ............................. 43 2.4.1 Introduction 43 v 2.4.2 Soil Series ................. 44 2.5 Settlement and Landuse ............. 47 2.5.1 History 47 2.5.2 Natural Vegetation .......... 49 CHAPTER III KARST PAVEMENT ON MANITOULIN ISLAND 3.1 Classification of Dolomite Karst Forms .............................. 51 3.2 Manitoulin Island Pavement ......... 58 3.2.1 Amabel Pavement ............. 58 3.2.2 Fossil Hill Pavement 85 3.2.3 Manitoulin Formation Pavement .................... 96 3.2.4 Other Pavements ............. 109 3.3 Regional Jointing in the Michigan Bas in .............................. 110 3.4 Insoluble Residue Analysis ......... 114 3.5 Coastal Pitted Zone ................ 124 3.6 Discussion ......................... 132 CHAPTER IV HYDROLOGY, HYDROGEOLOGY AND MACROKARST 4.1 Introduction ........................ 138 4.2 Field Methods ....................... 144 4.3 Fluvial Drainage........ .. 146 4.4 Holokarstic Drainage 148 vi 4.4.1 Overview .................... 148 4.4.2 Spring Systems .............. 151 4.4.3 Karstic Lakes ............... 155 4.5 Fluvial Karst and Immature Fluvial Karst .............................. 162 4.6 Meso and Macrokarst: Subsurface Features ........................... 167 4.7 Discussion ......................... 173 CHAPTER V WATER CHEMISTRY 5.1 Introduction 176 5.2 Sampling Methods ................... 180 5.3 Data Analysis ...................... 181 5.4 Sources of Error ................... 185 5.5 Discussion 187 5.6 Pollution Potential ................ 191 CHAPTER VI ALVARS ON MANITOULIN ISLAND PAVEMENTS 6.1 Methods 194 6.2 History of Vegetation on Manitoulin Island ............................. 195 6.3 Impacts of Vegetation Change ....... 200 6.4 Vegetation Change and the spread of Al vars ............................. 202 6.5 Vegetation Density on Manitoulin Island Pavements ................... 207 vii 6.5.1 Field Research .............. 207 6.5.2 Vegetation Density .......... 209 6.5.3 Significance Testing ........ 218 6.5.4 Alvars on other formations .. 222 6.6 Discussion ......................... 223 6.6.1 Interpretation .............. 223 6.6.2 Conclusions ................. 225 CHAPTER VII GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM ANALYSIS 7.1 Why use Geographic Information S ys terns? ........................... 232 7.2 Steps in the Database Creation ..... 233 7.2.1 Deciding on needs of the analysis ....... .............' 233 7.2.2 Creation of the database .... 236 7.3 Sources of Data ..................... 240 7.4 Analysis ...............,............ 240 7.5 Sources of Error ................... 243 7.6 Discussion of Results .............. 246 7.7 Conclusions ........................ 247 CHAPTER VIII CONCLUSIONS 8.1 Review of the karst landforms on Manitoulin Island .................. 249 8.2 Future research needs ............... 257 viii APPENDIX 1 Rosette Diagrams for Individual Pavement Sites ......................... 260 APPENDIX 2 Histograms for Joint Width, Depth and Length: Individual Pavement Sites ...... 269 APPENDIX 3 Techniques for Insoluble Residue Analysis ............................... 289 APPENDIX 4 Significance Values for Table 3.18 291 APPENDIX 5 Methods for Hydraulic Gradient Calculation ............................ 293 APPENDIX 6 Stream Discharge Data for Blue Jay Creek .................................. 298 APPENDIX 7 Semi-diurnal Air Temperature Records and Set 1 Values for Regression Analysis ............................... 300 APPENDIX 8 Titration Techniques for Total and Calcium Hardness ........................ 304 APPENDIX 9 Significance Values for Table 6.6 ...... 306 REFERENCES •••••••••••• I) ••••••••••••••••••••••••• •• 308 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1.1 Location of Study Area in Ontario ................ 2 2.1 Paleogeography of North America in the late Ordovi c ian ...................................... 18 2.2 View of northern scarp on the North Channel...... 19 2.3 The Niagara Escarpment at the "Cup and Saucer" ... 19 2.4a Map of Palaeozoic geology 20 2 .4b Contour Map ...................................... 20 2.5 Vertical stratigraphy............................ 20 2.6 Kagawong Formation outcrop ........................ 24 2.7 Outcrop of normal bedded Manitoulin Formation .... 25 2 . 8 Mani toul in bioherm ............................... 27 2.9 Fossil Hill Formation at roadcut ................. 30 2.10 Amabel Formation outcrop 31 2.11 Hypothesized sedimentary environment of Niagaran carbonates ......................................