Paul F. Karrow

Stratigraphy, paleontology, and age of Lake Algonquin sediments in southwestern Ontario, Canada

Abstract Molluscs, ostracodes, diatoms, pollen, plant macrofossils, peat, and wood have been found in glacial Lake Algonquin sediments, and estuarine-alluvial sediments of the same age, in southern Ontario. Molluscs and ostracodes are particularly abundant and widespread. Pollen analysis of Lake Algonquin sediments, bogs on the Algonquin terrace, and upland bogs above the Algonquin terrace, indicate that Lake Algonquin was still in existence at the time of the spruce-pine pollen transition, previously dated at an average of 10,600 yr BP at a number of sites in Michigan, Ohio, and southern Ontario. Wood in estuarine-alluvial sediments graded to the Algonquin level is of similar radiocarbon age. Evidence from several sites in the eastern Great Lakes area suggests the presence of a preceding low-water stage (Kirkfield outlet stage); drowned and alluviated valleys and fining-upward sediment sequences have been identified in this study as further supporting evidence. Lake Algonquin drained from the southern sites by isostatic tilting and eventual opening of the “North Bay outlet” some time shortly after 10,400 yr BP. Our radiocarbon dates suggest the low-water stage has an age of about 11,000 yr BP, and that Lake Algonquin drained 10,000–15,000 y. a. Dates previously published for the Lake Michigan basin are generally too young in comparison with ours, and dates on the Champlain Sea are generally too old. More critical evaluation of all dating results is desirable. From fossil remains we suggest a rapidly expanding fauna in the waters of Lake Algonquin. The spruce pollen period was a time of rapid faunal and floral migration, when the ice front was retreating from Kirkfield to North Bay, Ontario. Diversity of some species and fossil numbers increased substantially at the transition from spruce to pine just before Lake Algonquin drained.

Changes in late Quaternary vegetation and insect communities in southwestern Ontario

Abstract The Gage Street site in Kitchener, Ontario, is a peat/marl sequence representing continuous lacustrine sedimentation from the time of deglaciation (ca. 13,000 yr B.P.) through 6900 yr B.P. Insect, pollen, and plant macrofossil remains isolated from the sediments indicate that from ca. 13,000 to 12,500 yr B.P. the region was characterized by parkland-tundra vegetation existing within thermal conditions more analogous to those today of the midboreal forest. The transition from parkland to coniferous forest at ca. 12,500 yr B.P. occurred within a climate that was only gradually warming. By the time of the spruce/pine transition at 10,500 yr B.P., an insect fauna had become established that is typical of southwestern Ontario today. The replacement of this fauna at ca. 8400 yr B.P. by one characteristic of the lowlands of the east-central United States represents the beginning of Hypsithermal conditions in southern Ontario. Vegetation and insects indicate that the climate continued to gradually warm through the mid-Holocene.

Evolution of lakes in the Huron basin: Deglaciation to present

Water bodies, ancestral to the present lakes including Lake Huron, first appeared in the southern Great Lakes basin about 15,500 14 C years (18,800 cal years) BP during the oscillatory northward retreat of the last (Laurentide) ice sheet from its maximum position south of the Great Lakes watershed. Glacial lakes, impounded by a retreating ice margin on their northern shores, were continuously present after 13,000 14 C (15,340 cal) BP for 3000 14 C (3900 cal) years. Drainage routings varied in time through the Erie and Michigan basins to the Mississippi River system, a probable source for colonizing aquatic organisms, then to the Ontario basin, and finally northeastward to the Ottawa River valley via the isostatically-depressed North Bay outlet by 10,000 14 C (11,470 cal) BP. Water levels were generally low between 10,000 and 7500 14 C (11,470 and 8300 cal) BP and may have risen several tens of metres for short periods due to overflow of meltwater from upstream subglacial reservoirs or from glacial lakes impounded by residual ice in the Hudson Bay watershed. About 8000 14 C (8890 cal) BP glacial runoff bypassed the Great Lakes, and Huron basin waters descended into hydrologic closure under the influence of the early Holocene dry climate. With increasing precipitation and water supply about 7500 14 C (8300 cal) BP the Huron water body again overflowed its North Bay outlet. Differential isostatic uplift (fastest to the north-northeast) raised this outlet and lake level relative to the rest of the basin. The lake finally overflowed southern outlets at Chicago and Port Huron-Sarnia by 5000 14 C (5760 cal) BP (during the Nipissing highstand). Enhanced erosion of the latter outlet and continued differential uplift of the basin led to the present configuration of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

Late-glacial paleoenvironment of Lake Algonquin sediments near Clarksburg, Ontario

Excavation below the Lake Algonquin gravel beach bar near Clarksburg, Ontario, exposed mollusc-bearing clay over a lens of plant debris. This is the northernmost and most deeply buried Lake Algonquin fossil site found thus far in Ontario. It is the first site to provide dates from directly below the Algonquin beach bar. Two radiocarbon dates of about 11 200 years confirm the age of isostatically transgressing Lake Algonquin. Plant macrofossils (21 taxa), pollen (39 taxa), molluscs (12 taxa), and ostracodes (18 taxa) indicate that the climate was colder than present by several degrees and the forest-tundra ecotone was nearby initially but retreated northward rather quickly. Upward increases in abundances and diversity of molluscs and ostracodes suggest it was a time of rapid migration and colonization of species.

Corry bog, pennsylvania: A case study of the radiocarbon dating of marl

Abstract New radiocarbon dates, carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of mollusks and marl, and palynologic analysis have clarified age relationships at the Corry kettle bog in northwestern Pennsylvania. A 4000-yr difference in radiocarbon dates between basal peat and marl top, previously interpreted as caused by the presence of an unconformity, is reinterpreted as due to “hard-water effects” from carbonate bedrock and glacial deposits. A radiocarbon date of 14,000 yr from basal marl, previously used as a minimum age for glacial deposition, is also likely too old; instead a similar age is estimated for the base of the underlying lake clay. Radiocarbon dates on marl should be used with caution and supported by isotopic and pollen analyses.

A Wisconsinan interstadial arctic flora and insect fauna from Clarksburg, southwestern Ontario, Canada

Abstract Radiocarbon dating and sedimentological, pollen, plant macrofossil, and insect analyses were performed on a subtill organic deposit in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Stratigraphic relationships and minimum radiocarbon dates suggest a Middle Wisconsinan age. The sedimentary sequence indicates a fluvial environment with a rising base level as an approaching ice-front dammed and produced a deepening proglacial lake. Eventually ice covered the site for much of Late Wisconsinan time. The fossil plants and insects indicate an open-ground, treeless landscape comparable to modern low to high arctic environments in Canada. The beetle fauna is dominated by members of the sub-genus Cryobius , and is associated with fossils of dwarf shrubs, Salix herbacea and Dryas integrifolia , and herbs such as Saxifraga oppositifolia .

Late Quaternary mollusks from glacial Lake Algonquin, Nipissing, and transitional sediments from southwestern Ontario, Canada

Abstract Mollusks were studied from six sites in Lake Algonquin deposits (12,000-10,000 yr B.P.), five transitional (Lake Stanley low stage; 10,000 – 6000 yr B.P.), and six Nipissing stage sites (6000-4000 yr B.P.) east of Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario. The sites represent a variety of near-shore, lagoonal, estuarine, and fluvial environments. Eighteen species were limited to occurrences in Algonquin stage deposits; 8 were found only in the transitional age sites; and 14 species were restricted to Nipissing stage localities. With the possible exception of Goniobasis livescens , which occurred at five of the six Nipissing stage sites, the remaining stratigraphically limited species were usually restricted to one or two localities and probably cannot be used as zone fossils. Some cold-tolerant species (e.g., Anodonta grandis simpsoniana ) were very early migrants into the study area, while others arrived later, apparently from eastern, southern, and western sources. Mollusks proved useful in paleoenvironmental reconstructions and to a lesser extent in biostratigraphic zonation.

Northernmost (?) Glacial Lake Algonquin Series Shorelines, Sudbury Basin, Ontario

ABSTRACT Shorelines of Lake Algonquin, the largest of the glacial lakes of the Great Lakes area, are well known in southern Ontario, but are sporadic and difficult to trace northward onto the Precambrian shield. Improved knowledge of the extent and uplift pattern for Algonquin shorelines is needed to support geophysical models of isostatic response, interpretation of glacial and glacial lake history, and the search by archeologists for evidence of Paleoindian activity, shown to be localized along its shoreline. The Sudbury basin is one of the few areas of mapping of Quaternary geology on the Canadian shield that provides a record of Algonquin lake phases. Meltwaters from the northward-receding ice front formed a series of deltas southward into the Sudbury basin in central Ontario around the time the Cartier I moraine was deposited. Instrumental surveys of deltas, bars, and shorebluffs carried out in the northern Sudbury basin delineate several discrete water planes. Correlation with previously surveyed and correlated shorelines on Manitoulin Island, southwest of Sudbury, indicates the presence of an upper Algonquin shoreline and features correlated to the Cedar Point, Payette, Sheguiandah, and Korah levels. Features southwest of the Sudbury basin at Nairn correlate with Korah and post-Korah water levels. Land between Nairn and Sudbury is too elevated to have been reached by the later Nipissing transgression. Similar shoreline sequences have been surveyed near North Bay, with results supporting the findings of this study.

Paleoecological analysis of molluscan assemblages in two marl deposits in Waterloo Region, southwestern Ontario, Canada

Mollusc assemblages were studied in two marl deposits at Kitchener and Cambridge, in southwestern Ontario. Lacking datable terrestrial plant material, a chronology was determined by pollen analysis. Similarities in mollusc assemblages and changes allowed five equivalent mollusc assemblage zones to be identified in the two deposits, spanning approximately 12 to 7 ka. In total, 34 mollusc taxa were identified, with 19 common to both sites. Overall, the most abundant taxa were Valvata spp., Gyraulus parvus, Pisidium casertanum, and P. ferrugineum. Terrestrial molluscs (four taxa) were rare. Overall, cool, shallow water with abundant vegetation and quiet conditions were indicated. At around 9 ka, a marked decrease in mollusc abundance and diversity, but relatively stable percentages, is noted at both sites. We speculate this was caused by an increase in sedimentation rate, perhaps caused by a brief warming.Inconsistencies in assemblages at marl sites may be partly attributable to sampling, but a chance factor in dispersal is also suggested. A minimum of two sampling sites at a given sedimentation basin, nearshore and mid-basin, are recommended to maximize assessment of assemblages. More detailed data from living molluscs are needed to enhance paleoenvironmental interpretations.

Pre-Late Wisconsinan Pleistocene biota from southeastern Michigan, U.S.A.

Abstract Fossiliferous sediments underlie the Late Wisconsinan Mill Creek and Fisher Road tills at the Mill Creek site northwest of Port Huron, Michigan. Fragmentary remains of 5 fish and 11 mammal taxa occur with 39 taxa of molluscs, 6 of ostracodes, and a pine-spruce pollen assemblage. While the fish are wide-ranging, the mammals include distinctly northern elements such as Dicrostonyx sp., Lemmus sp., Mictomys borealis, and Microtus xanthognathus. The molluscs include a mixture of cold (Vertigo alpestris oughtoni and V. modesta) and warm (Lioplax sulculosa) taxa. None of the vertebrates have been found at Michigan sub-till sites before, and Lioplax is new to Michigan, fossil or living. Vertigo hannai is known only as a Pleistocene fossil. At present the age of the biota is indeterminate. The stratigraphy indicates a Middle Wisconsinan or greater age. A finite 14C age of 48.3 ± 0.8 ka (QL-1215) was later supplemented by a TL date of 57 ± 9 ka, but perhaps as old as 300 ka. Two clusters of amino acid allo-isoleucine/isoleucine values obtained from six genera of molluscs are interpreted to represent the co-occurrence of early Sangamonian (AIle/Ile values ranging from approximately 0.15 to 0.25) and Illinoian (AIle/Ile values ranging from approximately 0.25 to 0.35) mollusc fossils at the Mill Creek site. These results highlight the need for more reliable Quaternary dating methods.