Basin-Wide Reconstruction of Glacial Lake Iroquois Using Lidar

Hydrogeology of sand and gravel aquifers in the Owasco Inlet watershed, Cayuga and Tompkins Counties, New York

“…Thus, ice retreat across the watershed was toward the Cayuga trough-nearly due west in the south, and more northwestward to the north as indicated by traces of moraines (fig. 2, plate 1; Carney, 1909;Bird and Kozlowski, 2014). This orientation is best illustrated by the upland moraines that can be traced to the small valley tongue associated with the ice-contact delta about 3.7 mi south of Locke (fig.…”

“…Randall (2001) conceptualized and described the hydrogeologic framework of glacial aquifers within the local hydrophysiographic region as part of a larger report on the glaciated northeastern United States. Bird and Kozlowski (2014) and Bird (2014) used lidar elevation data to refine the extent of proglacial lakes described by Fairchild in the Cayuga County part of the study area. Bird andKozlowski (2016a, 2016b) produced surficial geology maps of the Moravia and Sempronius 7.5-minute quadrangles.…”

“…As the ice margin advanced or retreated through the Finger Lake troughs, the natural northward drainage was blocked, such that meltwater ponded in a series of proglacial lakes with initial outlets to the south, controlled by spillways at through-valley drainage divides at the heads of the Seneca and Cayuga valleys (Fairchild, 1934;Muller and Prest, 1985;Bird and Kozlowski, 2014;Bird, 2014). Karig (2015) and Karig and Miller (2020) have questioned that the ice margin acted as a dam after the Brooktondale Readvance (approximately [~] 16,300 calendar years ago) and suspect drainage into the ice, citing a lack of outlet channels at within-valley divides of some valleys and indications of northward drainage within the Six Mile Creek and Cayuga Inlet valleys.…”

“…Both Carney (1909) and Bird and Kozlowski (2014) depict ice margins oriented southwest to northeast across the watershed, with small ice tongues in the main valleys. Ice margins in this and other valleys of the Finger Lakes basin impounded water in a series of proglacial lakes as proposed by Fairchild (1934) and subsequently refined by Muller and Prest (1985) and Bird and Kozlowski (2014). Thick fine-grained lacustrine deposits make up most of the valley fill in the Owasco Inlet valley (fig.…”

“…Pauses in retreat of the ice margin allowed buildup of coarse sediments from subaqueous or ice-marginal meltwater drainage into ice-contact deltas and development of lacustrine deltas from tributary streams (MacNish and Randall, 1982), which mark proglacial lake levels (Bird and Kozlowski, 2014). The most significant pause in ice retreat was at Groton, where the bedrock floor of the valley rises abruptly (fig.…”