Glacial Lake Wisconsin

Alexander Zadrazil

Abstract

Glacial Lake Wisconsin was a short lived 19Ka-14Ka proglacial lake that covered land in what

today is Juneau Co Adams County southern Wood County and Columbia County. Roughly an

area 150 km long at the longest point and 60 km at the widest and 50m deep. It was formed as

the Green bay Lobe blocked the flow of the Wisconsin River forming a lake bounded by the

drained to the north by the glacier to the east and the Baraboo Hills to the south and the Driftless

area to the west. At 14Ka the Green Bay Lobe retreated the lake drained in a catastrophic

drainage event. After the glacier retreated eolian sand dunes formed what today is the Central

Sand Plain of Wisconsin.

Figure One this shows the extent of the Laurentide ice sheet

in Wisconsin
 Introduction

This paper is a literature review about the extent, drainage, and post glacial deposits of Glacial

Lake Wisconsin. Glacial Lake Wisconsin existed from about 19Ka-14Ka in the area of

Wisconsin known as the Central Sand Plains of Wisconsin. (Clayton and Attig 1989) It formed

when melt water from the green bay lobe and water from the Wisconsin River were impounded

as the glacier came into contact with the Baraboo Hills. (Clayton, 2000)

Glacial Lake Wisconsin existed if several different morphologies at one point as one large basin

another as two large basins called the Main basin and Lewiston basin with varying numbers of

smaller basins and south of the Baraboo Hills was Lake Merrimac. The southern part of the lake

was bound by the Precambrian Baraboo Hills to the west it was bound by the Wonewoc

escarpment of the Driftless area to the east the lake was bound by the Johnstown Moraine and

the Green Bay lobe of the Laurentide ice sheet. It had many outlets and several 100 km of

shoreline which are in a poor state of preservation. (Clayton and Attig 1989)

The lake likely drained in a large catastrophic outburst flood event with several different

estimates of flood discharge. (Knox 2007) This flood is helped to create the Wisconsin Dells and

affected the Wisconsin River and Alloa Delta. After the lake drained eolian dunes were deposited

forming the central sand plains that exist today. (Rawlings et al. 2008)

Shoreline

The shoreline of Glacial Lake Wisconsin is poorly due to the sand sized sediment being frozen in

permafrost making it dry and easily blown away. Furthermore, the crust would have been tilted

due to isostatic pressure on the mantle from the glacier further obscuring the shoreline requiring
several lines of evidence to approximate the shore line. Clayton and Attig used the presence of

shore terraces and deposits the presence of offshore sediment in the basins ice collapse trenches

ice rafted erratics, breaks in slope to create a shoreline-profile model for three phase within

glacial Lake Wisconsin life.

The first shore that existed was the Johnstown which occurred in the Almond phase of the west

side of the Green Bay lobe on with a shoreline tilted S60°W at a slope of .06m/km. This phase

occurred when the Green Bay lobe was closest to Glacial Lake Wisconsin and coved what

become the Lewiston Basin and deposited outwash plain sediment on the eastern shore of glacial

lake Wisconsin (Clayton and Attig 1989) which found in shore ice collapse trenches in Adams

county (Clayton and Attig 1987a). The lake level in the Almond phase would have varied from a

6m-25m.

The second shoreline is the Elderon shoreline during the Elderon phase of the Wisconsin

glaciation. It was tilted S50°or 55°W at a rate of .2m/km. This shoreline was reconstructed from

shore terraces in the Lewiston basin and the predicted stream morphology of the Northwest

outlet. At this point the Green Bay Lobe had retreated to the east leaving behind the Johnstown

moraine and the Almond moraine the Lewiston and the Eldeon moraines were now submerged

under the Lewiston basin as evidenced by the wave-planed crests. The green bay lobe still

impounded the lake which was at a level between 6-25m deep.

The last shoreline is the Wyeville occurred during the Bowler phase of the Wisconsin Glaciation

this shoreline was according to Clayton and Attig tilted S45°W at a slope of .17m/km the

evidence for this shoreline is limited to a few beach deposits and conjecture about the number of

outlets. At this point Lake Wisconsin had a single large basin and three smaller basins at the
southern end the lake depth varied from 24-50m deep this shoreline was most likely created

when the Devils Lake gorge was filled with 293m of till and the water and the water level was

above the Wisconsin Dells at its deepest point the lake level would have been about 50 m .This is

theorized to be the shoreline of glacial Lake Wisconsin when it drained as the ice dam of the

Green Bay lobe failed. (Clayton and Attig 1989)

Northern Outlet

The outlets of Lake Wisconsin were the main control on the lake’s stage. Several outlets existed

for Glacial Lake Wisconsin the extent of which controlled the water level of the lake at a given

moment in time. The main and sometimes sole outlets was in the northwest which emptied into

the Black River (Clayton and Attig 1989). Whenever the Wisconsin Dells or Alloa outlets were

blocked by ice or sediment the northwest outlet became the sole outlet of the lake. The northwest

outlet is proposed to exist in several locations. (Clayton and Attig 1989)

A few outlets in the northwest of Lake Wisconsin can only be inferred from scant field evidence

due to post glacial erosion and sedimentation. The South bluff outlet is theorized to exist around

Sec. 11, T21N., R.2E though any evidence for a channel that may exist was lost due to eolian

erosion and organic sedimentation. Another theorized outlet may have existed 3 km east of the

North Bluff channel the evidence for this is a sag that is presently obscured by swamp and sand

dunes. The final theorized outlet is the North Babcock outlet which currently exists as a low spot

in the terrain with sand buried below modern river sediment. (Clayton and Attig 1989)

Greater evidence exists for several other outlets but it would not be correct to infer that these are

necessarily more likely than the others to have been real outlets during the period of Lake

Wisconsin’s existence The East Fork Black River was about 500 m wide with several cutbanks
cut into the local bedrock of sandstone and crystalline rock the channel is poorly preserved due

to post drainage eolian and organic sediment. The North Bluff outlet is found near Sec.,5, T21N.,

R3E. This outlet is better preserved than the South Bluff by the presence of channel sag which

was drilled and found to have cross bedded sand on top of Cambrian sandstone and peat in other

places which the authors interpreted as evidence for a 8m deep channel. (Clayton and Attig 1989)

Which of these outlets in the northwest were used depended on two factors the geostatic tilt of

the crust due to the weight of the Green Bay Lobe and the fan of the Yellow River. At the

maximum extent of the glacier in this region the tilt of the earth was greatest the northwesterly

outlets (North Bluff and west Babcock)were favored as the glacier receded the favor the

northeasterly outlet of west Babcock would be favored.

Southern Outlets

At the height of the Johnstown phase of the Wisconsin the Wisconsin Dells formed an outlet that

drained the Lewiston basin to the west until the Alloa outlet opened which reversed the flow of

the Dells outlet. The Alloa outlet existed in the Elderon phase the glaciation when the glacier had

receded past the Johnstown Moraine… (Clayton and Attig 1989)

The south side of Lake Wisconsin had several outlets. The Mirror Lake outlet was created from a

pre-glacial creek which was then cut down to the present level of the gorge. The Lower Narrows

outlet was also a likely preglacial river which was cut down 55m when water did drain through

it. (Clayton and Attig 1989). Several outlets existed which moved water between the various

smaller basins during the Johnstown phase of the glaciation Baraboo outlet formed a channel

through the Johnstown moraine due the resistant Precambrian Baraboo quartzite. The Upper

Narrows carried water from the Reedsburg to west Baraboo basins through a channel cut in the
Baraboo quartzite. (Clayton and Attig 1989). The Devils Lake outlet existed as a gorge cut in the

Late Cambrian and drained to the south the drainage from Lake Wisconsin caused the gorge to

be deeped to 100 m.

Outburst Flooding

Glacial lakes are an important geomorphic feature but they are short-lived Glacial Lake

Wisconsin lasting only 5,000 years. (Clayton and Attig 1989) At the beginning of the recession

of the Green Bay Lobe in the late Wisconsian the ice dam that had held the lake water failed and

Glacial Lake Wisconsin drained in a brief one week period of time. (Clayton and Knox, 2007).

Various estimates exist for the rate of the discharge using the step back water modeling isostatic

depression estimates (Clayton and Knox, 2007) HEC-RAS models and DEM models. (Clayton,

JA., 2000 thesis) This large volume of water flooded the Alloa delta which deposited large

boulders and gravel, the Wisconsin Dells which formed several of the gorges still existing at

present and down the Wisconsin River (Clayton and Attig 1989). (Clayton and Knox, 2007)

The step-backwater modeling works by reconstructing the cross-section of the pre event river on

a 16 km section of the Wisconsin River. To reconstruct the cross section flood stage indicators in

the local area were observed and categorized as less constrained and more constrained; les

constrained gave answers of what was possible more constrained gave answers of what was

probable. The less constrained bounds looked at the location of forest beds, an un-eroded loess

and the presence of large quartzite erratic boulders this evidence gave an estimated minimum

height of 217.3 m ASL. The more constrained looked at the height of a different forest bed used

in (Knox and Attig 1988) the presence of angular clasts this gave a maximum stage estimate of
225.9 m ASL. Using the step-backwater method a peak discharge between 3.6 and 5.3 x 104 m3/s

were found. (Clayton and Knox, 2007)

The second method used by Clayton and Knox estimates the volume of the lake by looking at the

isostatic depression of the lakebed geomorphology and correcting for isostatic rebound to the

present. Using this method stage heights of 286,289, and 293 m ASl were determined they

decided to go with 289 m ASl which corresponded to a basin report from Clayton and Attig

(1989). Using the equation Qp= 3.8[H (V/106)].61 using a H height value of 40m given in Clayton

and Attig (1989) and Winguth et al. (2004) a V volume of 87 km3 a peak discharge of 1.5x105

m3/s was found.

The methods used by Jordon A. Clayton are HEC-RAS modelling and DEM modeling which

both use computer program models to estimate flood discharge. HEC-RAS is a floodplain

planning tool which can be used to estimate the extent of pervious floods. By looking at the

cross-sectional ‘paleo-geology’ of the area to estimate flood stage and channel shape determined

a. The estimates also depend upon how much down cutting occurred with minimum down

cutting peak discharge is in the range of 3.6x104 -5.66x 104 m3/s with medium downcutting the

estimate increases to the range of 1.215 x 105 -2.03x105 m3/s (Clayton, JA., 2000 thesis)

The Alloa flood occurred at the Alloa outlet were glacial lake Wisconsin emptied into glacial

Lake Merrimac forming the Alloa delta. Found within the deposits of the Alloa delta are several

crystalline 1m boulders within the Alloa till without any other associated outwash sediment

suggesting that these boulders were deposited by a flood that moved the boulders from Gregory

Valley to the Wisconsin dells. (Bretz 1950). The Alloa flood caused the drainage to go towards
the south east the flood of the Wisconsin Dells must have caused the drainage direction to change

to the southwest. (Clayton and Attig 1989)

The Wisconsin Dells is a series of gorges some containing under fit streams and others dry or

under a modern day reservoir. (Clayton and Attig 1989) The gorges of the Wisconsin Dells are

7.2 miles long and the river is between 52-100 miles wide the gorges were likely cut initially by

a drainage of 30m of lake level and then deepened by post-glacial rivers to the present due to the

fact that any trace of lake sediment has been lost and much of the softer sandstone of the Mt.

Simon Formation was lost. (Clayton and Attig 1989). Evidence for further erosion was found in

the potholes and joint planes found in the pattern of the gorges along the modern Wisconsin

River (Martin 1965)

The Wisconsin River Valley also shows evidence of flood discharge in the presence of ice rafted

boulders of Baraboo quartzite 1 m in size and the scoured loess of the Bridgeport terrace below

the highest flood stage of glacial Lake Wisconsin. The evidence of discharge down the

Mississippi river has been overprinted by floods from Lake Agassiz and ice marginal lakes of the

Superior Region (Clayton and Attig 1989)

 This figure shows the extent of Glaical lake

Wisconsin during the Wyeville phase

Permafrost

The preservation sediment around glacial Lake Wisconsin the preservation of was adversely

effected by the existence of permafrost around glacial Lake Wisconsin before and after its

existence till about 13 Ka. The most abundant evidence for permafrost is the ice wedge polygons

visible from aieral photography as varying light and dark colored bands. (Clayton

1986,1987,1989b) Other than that the exist of gullies is a classical piece of evidence for

permafrost as are the geomorphology of the area.

Lake Sediment [include stuff from other thesis if I can get it ]

At the present the sedimentary evidence for glacial lake Wisconsin is buried over and overburden

of sandy eolian sediment and poorly devolveped soil (DNR report)

 Eolian Deposits

After Glacial Lake Wisconsin drained eolian dunes began to form. These dunes were of the Big

Foot Formation of well-moderately sorted windblown quartz sand and silt. (Bowler 2008). The

dunes reached a maximum height of 6 m and an average height of 2 m and were 200m long at

the longest point throughout Wood Adams and Portage counties. (Clayton 1986, 1989, 1991)

Glacial Lake Wisconsin deposited fine silt and clay lake sediment as would be expected of a

large lake. However, this deposit is over the Central Sand Plain. The surface of this area is

dominated by eolian dunes and sand sheets and weakly developed soils.

The method of this study was to dig 11 sites to obtain samples for particle size distribution

analysis and for optical dating. At site 10 ground-penetrating radar was used to understand the

local stratigraphy. Optical dating showed and sediment 2m in depth gave age estimates of 12.3-

5.8 and from 2-7 m depth of 14.0-10.2 Ka.

Particle size analysis found a modal average of 200-300 µm medium sand near surface there is

an increase of silt and a decrease in fine sand for most sites. The age of the dunes and the ages of

the underlying sediment 19-18 Ka this sample is consistent with the age estimate of (Clayton and

Attig 1989).The optical dating showed that dunes were active in this area from 14-5.8 Ka.

The younger age estimates at shallow depth within the dune could be caused by three different

processes. One, experimental error with the optical dating method. Two, dune reactivation

sometime between 10.0-5.8 Ka. Three, perturbations after the dunes were deposited and

stabilized. Hypothesis two was ruled out because of the lack of buried soil and soil variability
within the dune’s crest. Field evidence for hypothesis three was that the upper 2m of exposed

sand lacked bedding which could be indicative of pedoturbation.

The age of the dunes indicate they were formed well after the drainage of glacial lake Wisconsin

17-15.5 Ka the authors proposed three theories for the dunes formation. One, aridity during the

period of 14-10 Ka. Two, deflation of the outwash from the Wisconsin River valley. Three,

melting of permafrost lowering the water table around 14-10 Ka. Theory one lacked support due

to the dunes being older in age than any period of aridity and the presence of vegetation cover at

that time. Theory two is supported by the position of the dunes orientated on the slip-face

moving east and south east with 10km of the Wisconsin River however the last meltwater pulse

occurred at 15.5 yrs BP. Some studies have questioned the effectiveness of permafrost melting

McKenna Neumann (1993) however permafrost may have acted to limit eolian deflation and the

presence of ice wedge polygons concurs with this evidence.

Conclusion and Recommendations for Further Research

Glacial Lake Wisconsin was created when the Green Bay lobe impounded the Wisconsin River

and existed from 19-14Ka in three different shapes it drained in a catastrophic flood that created

the Wisconsin Dells and was then eolian sand dunes were deposited . This lake had a great effect

on the Geomorphology of the mostly flat and sandy plains that form this area of Wisconsin

which has created groundwater quantity and soil quality problems for the regions agriculture

Several opportunities for research remain as the main work by Clayton and Attig was done in

1989 with only a few papers since. The nature of the shoreline is poorly preserved but could be

improved through the use of more and deeper sediment cores into the lake sediment. The nature

and extent of the erosion of the Wisconsin Dells has not been studied since 1989 and that was
when it was partially covered by a reservoir. Better modelling of this phase of the Wisconsin

glaciation would also improve understanding of the impounding of the Wisconsin River. Better

modelling of the outlets of the Lake Wisconsin would give better estimations of lake stage and

shoreline. One theory worth exploring is that Devil’s Lake was original channel of the Wisconsin

River under the glacier rerouted it this could be explored by taking sediment cores into the lake

bed. Glacial Lake Wisconsin was a short-lived proglacial lake that had an immense influence on

the geology of the central sand plains of Wisconsin through its deposition drainage and post

glacial eolian sediment.

Bibliography

Clayton, L., and Attig, J.W., 1989, Glacial Lake Wisconsin: Boulder, Geological Society of

America, Memoir, v. 173.

Clayton,J.A.,and Knox,J.C.,2007, Catastrophic flooding from glacial Lake

Wisconsin:Geomorphology,v.93,p.384-397,doi: 10./geomorph.2007

Clayton, L., 1986, Pleistocene geology of Portage County, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and

Natural History Survey Information Circular 56

Clayton, L., 1989a Pleistocene geology of Adams County Wisconsin Geological and Natural

History Survey Information Circular 59

Clayton, L., 1987 Pleistocene geology of Wood County, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and

Natural History Survey Information Circular 69

Clayton,L., 1989 Geology of Juneau County, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and Natural

History Survey Information Circular 66

Clayton, J.A., 2000, The drainage of Glacial Lake Wisconsin: reconstruction of a late Pleistocene

catastrophic flooding episode [thesis].

Martin, L., 1974, The physical geography of Wisconsin: Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin

Press. p.130, 337-353

Rawling, J., Hanson, P., Young, A., and Attig, J., 2008, Late Pleistocene dune construction in the

Central Sand Plain of Wisconsin, USA: Geomorphology, v. 100, p. 494–505, doi:

10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.01.017.

Syverson, K.M., Clayton, Lee, Attig, J.W., and Mickelson, D.M., eds., 2011, Lexicon of

Pleistocene Stratigraphic Units of Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

Technical Report 1, 180 p.

The ecological landscapes of Wisconsin: an assessment of ecological resources and a guide to

planning sustainable management. Chapter 10, Central Sand Plains Ecological Landscape.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, PUB-SS- 1131L 2015, Madison.