Overview: Reconstructing the history, timing, and magnitude of discharge from the outlets of Lake Agassiz. This data can be considered baseline information for a variety of scientific disciplines. Importantly, oceanographers and climate modelers require this data to understand past climate changes (e.g. Younger Dryas) that may have been triggered by outlet switching. Funding for the Lake Agassiz work has been from National Geographic Society (1997-96), NSF (2002-1999), and Comer Science & Education Foundation (2004-2006). Tom Lowell (University of Cincinnati) is a co-PI on the Comer Science & Education Foundation Grant.
Eastern Outlet
Livingstone sediment cores were collected from lakes during three field excursions (March 2004, July 2004, December-January 2004-2005) in northern Minnesota and northwest Ontario.
Preliminary results from the Thunder Bay area: Lowell, T.V., Fisher,T.G., Comer, G.C., Hajdas, I., Waterson, N., Glover, K., Loope, H.M., Schaefer, J.M., Rinterknecht, V., Broecker, W., Denton, G., and Teller, J.T. 2005. Testing the Lake Agassiz Meltwater Trigger for the Younger Dryas, EOS 86(40): 365-373. pdf
Summer Livingstone coring
Summer Livingstone coring - Tom Lowell at the helm
Winter Livingstone coring
Large channel cut into Proterozoic diabase west of Lake Nipigon (Nipigon eastern outlets)
Channels west of Lake Nipigon
Southern Outlet
Results from previous work on the southern outlet:
Fisher, T.G. 2005. Strandline Analysis in the southern basin of glacial Lake Agassiz, Minnesota and North and South Dakota, USA: Geological Society of America Bulletin, 117(11/12): 1481-1496. pdf
Fisher, T.G. 2004. River Warren Boulders: Paleoflow Indicators in the Southern Spillway of Glacial Lake Agassiz. Boreas 33:349-358. pdf
Fisher, T.G. 2003. Chronology of glacial Lake Agassiz meltwater routed to the Gulf of Mexico. Quaternary Research, 59(2):271-276. pdf
DEM of Agassiz southern outlet - strandlines north of the Big Stone Moraine are visible
Northwest Outlet
Nick Waterson (Ph.D. student at the University of Cincinnati) is currently working on the deglacial chronology of the Fort McMurray, Alberta area (the northwest outlet).
Preliminary results from the Fort McMurray area: Lowell, T.V., Fisher,T.G., Comer, G.C., Hajdas, I., Waterson, N., Glover, K., Loope, H.M., Schaefer, J.M., Rinterknecht, V., Broecker, W., Denton, G., and Teller, J.T. 2005. Testing the Lake Agassiz Meltwater Trigger for the Younger Dryas, EOS 86(40): 365-373. pdf
Results from previous work on the northwest outlet:
Fisher, T.G., in press, Abandonment chronology of glacial Lake Agassiz's northwestern outlet: In: Teller, J.T. and Lewis, C.F.M. (Eds.) Late Quaternary North American meltwater and floods to the Atlantic Ocean: evidence and impacts, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
Fisher, T.G. and Souch, C. 1998. Northwest outlet channels of Lake Agassiz, isostatic tilting and a migrating continental drainage divide, Saskatchewan, Canada. Geomorphology 25(1-2): 57-73. pdf
Fisher, T.G. and Smith, D.G. 1994. Glacial Lake Agassiz: its northwest maximum extent and outlet in Saskatchewan (Emerson Phase). Quaternary Science Reviews 13: 845-858. pdf
Smith, D.G. and Fisher, T.G. 1993. Glacial Lake Agassiz: The northwest outlet and paleoflood. Geology 21: 9-12. pdf
DEM of Fort McMurray, AB area - note Clearwater-Lower Athabasca Spillway (CLAS)
Looking south overtop the Birch Mts.
Looking north toward the confluence of the Athabasca and Clearwater Rivers at Fort McMurray, AB