Lake Great Falls

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Short description: Prehistoric lake in what is now central Montana
Lake Great Falls
Map of Region of Great Falls, Montana (pg 88).jpg
Glacial Lake Great Falls.
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LocationCascade, Montana
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 47°30′14″N 111°17′11″W / 47.503784°N 111.286353°W / 47.503784; -111.286353[1]
Lake typeGlacial lake (former)
rivers, streams, precipitation">Primary inflowsLaurentide Ice Sheet
rivers, streams, evaporation">Primary outflowsAlong the face of the Ice sheet.
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. lengthabout 26 miles (42 km)
Max. widthabout 7.8 miles (12.6 km)
Surface areavaried
Surface elevation3,500 m (11,500 ft)
References[2]

Lake Great Falls was a prehistoric proglacial lake which existed in what is now central Montana in the United States between 15,000 BCE and 11,000 BCE.[3][4][5] Centered on the modern city of Great Falls, Montana, Glacial Lake Great Falls extended as far north as Cut Bank, Montana, and as far south as Holter Lake.[6] At present-day Great Falls, the Glacial Lake Great Falls reached a depth of 600 feet (183 metres).[7]

Approximately 1.5 million years ago, the Missouri River, the Yellowstone River and Musselshell River all flowed northward into a terminal lake.[8][9] During the last glacial period, the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets pushed these lakes and rivers southward.[3][8] Between 15,000 BCE and 11,000 BCE, the Laurentide Ice Sheet blocked the Missouri River and created Glacial Lake Great Falls.[3][4][5]

About 13,000 BCE, as the glacier retreated, Glacial Lake Great Falls emptied catastrophically in a glacial lake outburst flood.[5] The meltwater poured through the Highwood Mountains and eroded the hundred mile-long, 500-foot-deep (150 m) Shonkin Sag—one of the most famous prehistoric meltwater channels in the world.[10]

Map of Montana showing glacial lakes.

Bibliography

  • Alden, W. C., 1958, Physiography And Glacial Geology Of Eastern Montana And Adjacent Areas, U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 174.
  • Colton, R. B., Lemke, R. W., and Lindvall, R. M., 1961, Glacial map of Montana East of the Rocky Mountains, U. S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geological Investigations Map I-327.
  • Lindvall, R. M., 1962, Geology Of The Eagle Buttes Quadrangle, Chouteau County, Montana, U. S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Geological Investigations Map I-349.
  • Thornbury, W. D., 1965, Regional Geomorphology Of The United States, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.

See also

  • List of prehistoric lakes
  • Proglacial lakes of the Missouri River Basin
    • Lake Cut Bank
    • Lake Chouteau
    • Lake Great Falls
    • Lake Musselshell
    • Lake Jordan.
    • Lake Circle
    • Lake Glendive
    • Lake McKenzie

References

  1. ↑ dewiki
  2. ↑ Physiography and Glacial Geology of Eastern Montana and Adjacent Areas; William C. Alden; United States Government Printing Office: Washington, D.C.; 1932
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Montagne J.L. "Quaternary System, Wisconsin Glaciation." Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region. Denver: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, 1972.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hill, Christopher L. and Valppu, Seppo H. "Geomorphic Relationships and Paleoenvironmental Context of Glaciers, Fluvial Deposits, and Glacial Lake Great Falls, Montana." Current Research in the Pleistocene. 14 (1997); Hill, Christopher L. "Pleistocene Lakes Along the Southwest Margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet." Current Research in the Pleistocene. 17 (2000); Hill, Christopher L. and Feathers, James K. "Glacial Lake Great Falls and the Late-Wisconsin-Episode Laurentide Ice Margin." Current Research in the Pleistocene. 19 (2002); Reynolds, Mitchell W. and Brandt, Theodore R. Geologic Map of the Canyon Ferry Dam 30' x 60' Quadrangle, West-Central Montana: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2860, scale 1:100,000. Scientific Investigations Map 2860. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Geologic Survey, 2005.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Feathers, James K. and Hill, Christopher L. "Luminescence Dating of Glacial Lake Great Falls, Montana, U.S.A." XVI International Quaternary Association Congress. Stratigraphy and Geochronology Session. International Quaternary Association, Reno, 2003.
  6. ↑ Kidston, Martin J. "Prehistoric Find." Helena Independent Record. June 20, 2004.
  7. ↑ Alt, David and Hyndman, Donald W. Roadside Geology of Montana. Missoula, Mont.: Mountain Press Publishing, 1986. ISBN:0-87842-202-1; Stickney, Michael C. "Quaternary Geology and Faulting in the Helena Valley." In 1987 Guidebook for the Helena Area, West-Central Montana: Guidebook for the 12th Annual Field Conference. Richard B. Berg and Ray H. Breuninger, eds. Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication 95. Helena, Mont.: Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, 1987.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Clawson, Roger and Shandera, Katherine A. Billings: The City and the People. Helena, Mont.: Farcountry Press, 1998. ISBN:1-56037-037-8
  9. ↑ McRae, W.C. and Jewell, Judy. Moon Montana. 7th ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: PublicAffairs, 2009. ISBN:1-59880-014-0
  10. ↑ Axline, Jon and Bradshaw, Glenda Clay. Montana's Historical Highway Markers. Rev. ed. Helena, Mont.: Montana Historical Society, 2008. ISBN:0-9759196-4-4; Bowman, Isaiah. "Forest Physiography: Physiography of the United States and Principles of Soils in Relation to Forestry." American Environmental Studies. Reprint ed. Charles Gregg, ed. New York: Arno Press, 1970. ISBN:0-405-02659-5



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Categories: [Proglacial lakes]

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