A Glacier Runs Through It: Effects of Late Wisconsinan Glaciation on Stream Drainage Near the Terminal Moraine Boundary in North Central Pennsylvania

• Main Author: Heinlen, Krista
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: ScholarlyCommons 2008
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://repository.upenn.edu/mes_capstones/21; https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=mes_capstones

Stream morphology in north central Pennsylvania has been influenced by the passage of multiple glaciers during the Quaternary period, and most recently by the Late Wisconsinan ice sheet which began to recede just 10,000 years ago. While glaciers can take a heavy erosive toll on the landscape, the Late Wisconsinan and previous glaciers stopped when they reached Pennsylvania, and as such were not as thick and did not cover the ground as long as in regions to the north. This paper examines current morphology in an area along the north central part of the state that contains both glaciated and non-glaciated regions. The research is intended to show the degree of impact from Wisconsinan glaciation on stream drainage, as well as the extent to which this impact can be spatially seen.