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Spits formed in Glacial Lake Algonquin indicate strong easterly winds over the Laurentian Great Lakes during late Pleistocene

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Abstract

We report on a unique, new dataset: 49 spits that formed in the various phases of Glacial Lake Algonquin in the northern Great Lakes region, between approximately 13,200 and 11,500 years BP. The spits, which are now subaerially exposed well above the level of the current Great Lakes, trail off from former Lake Algonquin islands and headlands. Several exceed 10 km in length. Steep, eroded headlands coupled with their coarse-textured sediments, suggest that spit development was driven by large waves and strong longshore currents. The lake’s islands and exposed headlands are usually strongly eroded on their eastern margins. Additionally, spits within ≈150–200 km of the former ice margin, and especially the very large spits in northern Michigan, trail to the west, particularly the WNW and SW. Some small spits that lie farther south trail to the east, and others, within confined bays, better reflect the localized littoral circulation systems. Together, these features provide on-the-ground evidence for persistent, easterly, summertime winds in the late Pleistocene in the northern Great Lakes region, supporting paleoclimate models that show southeasterly to easterly air flows, originating from a glacial anticyclone above the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Our research suggests that strong, anticyclonically driven, easterly winds were a key part of the regional circulation within ≈150–200 km of the southern ice margin, while acknowledging that winds may have been more dominantly westerly at locations farther south. The latter conclusion reconciles with the record of loess transport and dune formation on westerly winds during this (and earlier) time periods in the south-central Great Lakes region and the Great Plains of North America.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Scott Drzyzga for reviewing a draft of the paper, Jay Strahan for his work on the Delta Island spit, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts of the paper. Donald Forbes and Bob Taylor, both of the Geological Survey of Canada Atlantic, also reviewed the paper as a contribution of the Earth Sciences sector of Natural Resources Canada. Andrew McMahan and Ha-Jin Kim assisted with graphics and GIS analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1117, USA

    Randall J. Schaetzl, Michael D. Luehmann & Michael J. Michalek

  2. GIS and Spatial Analysis, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, U.S. Forest Service, Fort Collins, CO, 80525-1891, USA

    Frank J. Krist Jr.

  3. Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada – Atlantic, 1 Challenger Drive, Dartmouth, NS, B2Y 4A2, Canada

    C. F. Michael Lewis

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  1. Randall J. Schaetzl
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  2. Frank J. Krist Jr.
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  3. C. F. Michael Lewis
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  4. Michael D. Luehmann
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  5. Michael J. Michalek
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Correspondence to Randall J. Schaetzl.

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Schaetzl, R.J., Krist, F.J., Lewis, C.F.M. et al. Spits formed in Glacial Lake Algonquin indicate strong easterly winds over the Laurentian Great Lakes during late Pleistocene. J Paleolimnol 55, 49–65 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-015-9862-2

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