A Closer Look at the Great Lakes

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A Closer Look at the Great Lakes St. Lawrence
Lowlands
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• The Landforms of our region were basically formed
  by glaciers during the last ice age
• The Glacial period ended 10 000 years ago
• How do we know it was a glacier? They Leave
  tracks!
• Glaciers create unique landforms from sediment
  and erosion patterns.
• They also carry rocks of all sizes for great
  distances
• eg. Many of the large rocks found around here
  came from the Canadian Shield

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• Glaciers form when snow accumulates year after
  year without melting
• The snow compresses and forms ice
• When the ice is 20 m thick it begins to slowly
  flow under the force of its own weight
• As the ice moves it scraps the land and picks up
  rocks and sediment

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• The Great Lakes started to form 14 500 years
  ago
• 14 000 years ago the glaciers started to melt and
  retreat north
• As they retreated they scraped giant low spots in
  the land and melted ice filled in the holes
• 11 000 years ago Lake Superior, Michigan and
  Huron were all one lake
• By 6000-4000 years ago all of the lakes had formed

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• Many areas of the Great Lakes Lowland have very
  fertile soil
• This is great for growing crops
• Other areas are dominated by clay soil
  (especially lambton county)

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• The major landform feature of the Great Lakes
  Lowlands is the Niagara Escarpment
• This is a rocky ridge that runs from Niagara
  Falls to Manitoulin Island

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The Niagara Escarpment
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