Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost
We identified, mapped, and characterized a widespread area (gt;1,020 km2) of patterned ground in the Saginaw Lowlands of Michigan, a wet, flat plain composed of waterlain tills, lacustrine deposits, or both. The polygonal patterned ground is interpreted as a possible relict permafrost feature, forme...
Published in: | Annals of the Association of American Geographers |
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ftqueensland:oai:eprints.qut.edu.au:217077 2024-02-04T10:01:06+01:00 Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost Lusch, David Stanley, Kristy Schaetzl, Randall Kendall, Anthony Van Dam, Remke Nielsen, Asger Bradley, Blumer Hobbs, Trevor Archer, Jonathan Holmstadt, Jennifer May, Christopher 2009 https://eprints.qut.edu.au/217077/ unknown Taylor and Francis Ltd. doi:10.1080/00045600902931629 Lusch, David, Stanley, Kristy, Schaetzl, Randall, Kendall, Anthony, Van Dam, Remke, Nielsen, Asger, Bradley, Blumer, Hobbs, Trevor, Archer, Jonathan, Holmstadt, Jennifer, & May, Christopher (2009) Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 99(3), pp. 445-466. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/217077/ Science & Engineering Faculty; School of Earth, Environmental & Biological Sciences Consult author(s) regarding copyright matters This work is covered by copyright. Unless the document is being made available under a Creative Commons Licence, you must assume that re-use is limited to personal use and that permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses. If the document is available under a Creative Commons License (or other specified license) then refer to the Licence for details of permitted re-use. It is a condition of access that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. If you believe that this work infringes copyright please provide details by email to qut.copyright@qut.edu.au Annals of the Association of American Geographers Contribution to Journal 2009 ftqueensland https://doi.org/10.1080/00045600902931629 2024-01-09T00:00:22Z We identified, mapped, and characterized a widespread area (gt;1,020 km2) of patterned ground in the Saginaw Lowlands of Michigan, a wet, flat plain composed of waterlain tills, lacustrine deposits, or both. The polygonal patterned ground is interpreted as a possible relict permafrost feature, formed in the Late Wisconsin when this area was proximal to the Laurentide ice sheet. Cold-air drainage off the ice sheet might have pooled in the Saginaw Lowlands, which sloped toward the ice margin, possibly creating widespread but short-lived permafrost on this glacial lake plain. The majority of the polygons occur between the Glacial Lake Warren strandline (~14.8 cal. ka) and the shoreline of Glacial Lake Elkton (~14.3 cal. ka), providing a relative age bracket for the patterned ground. Most of the polygons formed in dense, wet, silt loam soils on flat-lying sites and take the form of reticulate nets with polygon long axes of 150 to 160 m and short axes of 60 to 90 m. Interpolygon swales, often shown as dark curvilinears on aerial photographs, are typically slightly lower than are the polygon centers they bound. Some portions of these interpolygon swales are infilled with gravel-free, sandy loam sediments. The subtle morphology and sedimentological characteristics of the patterned ground in the Saginaw Lowlands suggest that thermokarst erosion, rather than ice-wedge replacement, was the dominant geomorphic process associated with the degradation of the Late-Wisconsin permafrost in the study area and, therefore, was primarily responsible for the soil patterns seen there today. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Ice Sheet permafrost Thermokarst wedge* Queensland University of Technology: QUT ePrints Glacial Lake ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) Annals of the Association of American Geographers 99 3 445 466 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Queensland University of Technology: QUT ePrints |
op_collection_id |
ftqueensland |
language |
unknown |
description |
We identified, mapped, and characterized a widespread area (gt;1,020 km2) of patterned ground in the Saginaw Lowlands of Michigan, a wet, flat plain composed of waterlain tills, lacustrine deposits, or both. The polygonal patterned ground is interpreted as a possible relict permafrost feature, formed in the Late Wisconsin when this area was proximal to the Laurentide ice sheet. Cold-air drainage off the ice sheet might have pooled in the Saginaw Lowlands, which sloped toward the ice margin, possibly creating widespread but short-lived permafrost on this glacial lake plain. The majority of the polygons occur between the Glacial Lake Warren strandline (~14.8 cal. ka) and the shoreline of Glacial Lake Elkton (~14.3 cal. ka), providing a relative age bracket for the patterned ground. Most of the polygons formed in dense, wet, silt loam soils on flat-lying sites and take the form of reticulate nets with polygon long axes of 150 to 160 m and short axes of 60 to 90 m. Interpolygon swales, often shown as dark curvilinears on aerial photographs, are typically slightly lower than are the polygon centers they bound. Some portions of these interpolygon swales are infilled with gravel-free, sandy loam sediments. The subtle morphology and sedimentological characteristics of the patterned ground in the Saginaw Lowlands suggest that thermokarst erosion, rather than ice-wedge replacement, was the dominant geomorphic process associated with the degradation of the Late-Wisconsin permafrost in the study area and, therefore, was primarily responsible for the soil patterns seen there today. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lusch, David Stanley, Kristy Schaetzl, Randall Kendall, Anthony Van Dam, Remke Nielsen, Asger Bradley, Blumer Hobbs, Trevor Archer, Jonathan Holmstadt, Jennifer May, Christopher |
spellingShingle |
Lusch, David Stanley, Kristy Schaetzl, Randall Kendall, Anthony Van Dam, Remke Nielsen, Asger Bradley, Blumer Hobbs, Trevor Archer, Jonathan Holmstadt, Jennifer May, Christopher Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost |
author_facet |
Lusch, David Stanley, Kristy Schaetzl, Randall Kendall, Anthony Van Dam, Remke Nielsen, Asger Bradley, Blumer Hobbs, Trevor Archer, Jonathan Holmstadt, Jennifer May, Christopher |
author_sort |
Lusch, David |
title |
Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost |
title_short |
Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost |
title_full |
Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost |
title_fullStr |
Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost |
title_full_unstemmed |
Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost |
title_sort |
characterization and mapping of patterned ground in the saginaw lowlands, michigan: possible evidence for late-wisconsin permafrost |
publisher |
Taylor and Francis Ltd. |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://eprints.qut.edu.au/217077/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-129.463,-129.463,58.259,58.259) |
geographic |
Glacial Lake |
geographic_facet |
Glacial Lake |
genre |
Ice Ice Sheet permafrost Thermokarst wedge* |
genre_facet |
Ice Ice Sheet permafrost Thermokarst wedge* |
op_source |
Annals of the Association of American Geographers |
op_relation |
doi:10.1080/00045600902931629 Lusch, David, Stanley, Kristy, Schaetzl, Randall, Kendall, Anthony, Van Dam, Remke, Nielsen, Asger, Bradley, Blumer, Hobbs, Trevor, Archer, Jonathan, Holmstadt, Jennifer, & May, Christopher (2009) Characterization and Mapping of Patterned Ground in the Saginaw Lowlands, Michigan: Possible Evidence for Late-Wisconsin Permafrost. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 99(3), pp. 445-466. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/217077/ Science & Engineering Faculty; School of Earth, Environmental & Biological Sciences |
op_rights |
Consult author(s) regarding copyright matters This work is covered by copyright. Unless the document is being made available under a Creative Commons Licence, you must assume that re-use is limited to personal use and that permission from the copyright owner must be obtained for all other uses. If the document is available under a Creative Commons License (or other specified license) then refer to the Licence for details of permitted re-use. It is a condition of access that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. If you believe that this work infringes copyright please provide details by email to qut.copyright@qut.edu.au |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/00045600902931629 |
container_title |
Annals of the Association of American Geographers |
container_volume |
99 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
445 |
op_container_end_page |
466 |
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1789966756823957504 |