Lake Warren was a

proglacial lake In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around t ...

that formed in the

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

basin around 12,700 years before present (YBP) when Lake Whittlesey dropped in elevation. Lake Warren is divided into three stages: Warren I , Warren II , and Warren III , each defined by the relative elevation above sea level.Publication 9. Geological Series 7; Surface Geology and Agricultural Conditions of the Southern Peninsula of Michigan; Frank Leverett with a Chapter on Climate by C. F. Schneider;Michigan Geological and Biological Survey Lansing Michigan; 1911

Origin

Lake Warren followed Lake Wayne. It covered the basin of

, part of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

, including Saginaw Bay and the lowland, which separates Lake Huron from Lake Erie. It included a part of the

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

basin and the lowland between Lakes Ontario and Erie. Lake Warren included the Saginaw basin and the Huron-Erie basin. Its outlet was through the Grand River to

Lake Chicago Lake Chicago was a prehistoric proglacial lake that is the ancestor of what is now known as Lake Michigan, one of North America's five Great Lakes. Formed about 13,000 years ago and fed by retreating glaciers, it drained southwest through the ...

. The beach stands at above sea level west of the hinge line, unaffected by the

isostatic rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...

. It is marginally above the outlet, at . Lake Warren was preceded by a lower stage, which had its outlet through the

Mohawk valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...

. Lake Warren came into existence when its waters were raised from Lake Wayne by an advancing ice front. The ice both compacted the area where the melt water could be held, raising the water level, while blocking the lower outlet from Lake Wayne.Chapter XIX, Glacial Lake Warren; Frank B. Taylor; Glacial Formations and Drainage Features Erie and Ohio Basins; Chapter XIX, Glacial Lake Warren; Frank B. Taylor; Government Printing Office; Washington, D.C.; 1902; pg 741-757

Size

Lake Warren was about half the size of the present day Lake Erie, lying in the southern half of the basin.

Beach

The beach rises to the north of the Grand River outlet at per mile until it reaches near Gladwin. It is also nearly on the point of the "Thumb" in Huron county north of Bad Axe. The beach is horizontal from Lenox, in St. Clair county, around the west end of

, then along the south shore through

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

to the

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

line, a distance of . Between there and

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is located near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population, as of the 2020 census, ...

, it rises in the next . The beach marks a lake level which lasted a considerable period of time, shorter than either the Arkona or the Lake

Whittlesey Whittlesey (also Whittlesea) is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England. Whittlesey is east of Peterborough. The population of the parish was 17,667 at the 2021 Census. Toponymy W ...

durations. The delta deposits are not as extensive as Lake Arkona. Its shore deposits vary, where the lakebed was till or gravelly material, a gravelly beach was formed. Where the lakebed was sandy it is a sandy ridge.

Lakes Warren and Wayne

The relatively strong but discontinuous multiple sand and gravel beach ridges occurring as close as 40 feet and as much as 100 feet below the Whittlesey strand line in western New York (between are correlated with Glacial Lake Warren. These ridges occur at the foot of the

Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau ( ) is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is divided into the unglacia ...

. They are frequently associated with deltas. The ridges are well developed in a few areas well beyond the Plateau in the Lakes Erie and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

lowlands. In many cases, the ridges and deltas are underlain by silts of Lake Whittlesey lakebed.Strand Lines and Chronology of the Glacial Great Lakes in Northwestern New York; Parker E. Calkin; Department of Geological Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo; The Ohio Journal of Science 70(2): 78, March, 1970

References

* Strand Lines and Chronology of the Glacial Great Lakes in Northwestern New York; Parker E. Calkin; Department of Geological Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo; The Ohio Journal of Science 70(2): 78, March, 1970 * Chapter XIX, Glacial Lake Warren; Frank B. Taylor; Glacial Formations and Drainage Features Erie and Ohio Basins; Frank Leverett and Frank B. Taylor; Government Printing Office; Washington, D.C.; 1902; pg 741-757 * Moraines of the Maumee Lobe; Glacial Formations and Drainage Features of the Erie and Ohio Basins; Monograph XLI; Frank Leverett; Government Printing Office; Washington, D.C.; 1902 * Publication 9. Geological Series 7; Surface Geology and Agricultural Conditions of the Southern Peninsula of Michigan; Frank Leverett with a Chapter on Climate by C. F. Schneider;Michigan Geological and Biological Survey Lansing Michigan; 1911 *Bull. Geol. Soo. America, vol. S, 1897, pp. 274–297; also vol. 10, 1899, pp. 27–68. *Mon. U. S. Geol. Survey, vol. 41, 1902, pp. 760–771. *Correlation of Erie-Huron beaches with outlets and moraines of southeastern Michigan: Bull. Geol. Soc. America, vol. S, 1897, pp. 56–57. {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren Former lakes of the United States Geology of Ohio Geology of Michigan Geology of New York (state) Geology of Pennsylvania Geological history of the Great Lakes Proglacial lakes Lake Erie Glacial lakes of the United States

Origin

Size

Beach

Lakes Warren and Wayne

See also

References