Lake Minong was a proglacial lake that formed in the

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

basin during the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated ...

around 10,000 B.P. This was the last glacial advance that entered Michigan and covered only part of the upper peninsula. Lake Minong occurred in the eastern corner of the Lake Superior basin while Lake Duluth was in the western end. The lakes became separated when the glacier reached the upper peninsula. Lake Minong expanded to the north as the ice retreated after 9,800 B.P. When the ice retreated from the

Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Part of the greater landmass of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula, the Keweenaw Peninsula projects about northeasterly into Lake Superior, forming Keweena ...

, Lake Duluth merged into Lake Minong."Post-Valders Lake Stages in the Lake Superior Basin", in Glacial and Postglacial Geologic History of Isle Royale National Park, Michigan by N. King Huber, USGS Geological Survey Professional Paper 754-A

Chronology

*11,400 B.P. Lake Minong covered only Whitefish Bay with the Laurentian glacial mass lying across the central Lake Superior basin.A late Lake Minong transgression in the Lake Superior basin as documented by sediments from Fenton Lake, Ontario; Andy Breckenridge, Thomas V. Lowell, Timothy G. Fisher, & Shiyong Yu; Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Lake Duluth existed in the lowlands of St. Louis Bay and Spirit Lake on the St. Louis River. *10,600 B.P. The glacial ice had receded northward, opening a link between the eastern and western basins of Lake Superior. *9,500 B.P. Lake Minong expands to cover the entire lake basin as the glacial front moves northward from the basin. At this time, Lake Minong is an intermediary basin with waters from

Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz ( ) was a large proglacial lake that existed in central North America during the late Pleistocene, fed by meltwater from the retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet at the end of the last glacial period. At its peak, the lake's area wa ...

flowing in through the Nipigon River valley and further east through the Aquasabong valley. *8,500 B.P. Lake Superior forms as the Lake Agassiz basin joins with the Lake Ojibway, shifting its drainage into the headwaters of the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

. The Lake Superior basin becomes the headwaters of the Great Lakes system.

References

External links

"Post-Valders Lake Stages in the Lake Superior Basin"
i

by N. King Huber, USGS Geological Survey Professional Paper 754-A {{DEFAULTSORT:Minong Former lakes of North America Geology of Wisconsin Geology of Minnesota Geology of Michigan Proglacial lakes Glacial lakes of the United States Glacial lakes of Canada

Chronology

See also

References

External links