Big Stone Lake EarthCache
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In order to count this Earthcache as a find, you must complete the following tasks and email the answers to me.
1. Estimate the distance across the lake.
2. What is the elevation?
This Earthcache is located along the shores of Big Stone Lake, one of the largest lakes in the area. Enjoy!
Big Stone lake is one of the northernmost body of water in the Gulf of Mexico watershed. This lake was formed when the glacier that once covered this area retreated. The Wisconsin glaciation occurred somewhere between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago. During this last ice age, the northern part of North America was covered by a glacier. As the ice sheet started to break apart and melt, it sent strong and fast-moving streams of water southward. This water dammed up behind a barrier of glacial debris known as the Big Stone Moraine and pooled into a lake larger than all the Great Lakes combined.
About 13,000 years ago, this gigantic lake, once known as Lake Agassiz, covered present-day Manitoba, western Ontario, eastern Saskatchewan, northern Minnesota, and eastern North Dakota. This lake became an inland sea about 700 miles long and 300 miles wide. At its greatest extent, the lake covered up to 440,000 square kilometers--roughly the size of Uzbekistan or Iraq. Lake Agassiz was much larger than any current lake in the world, including the Caspian Sea, and held more water than contained by all lakes in the world today. At its maximum, Lake Agassiz was over 300 feet deep.
Eventually, the lake rose high enough to carve a channel through the Big Stone Moraine (the barrier of glacial debris). The outflow of Lake Agassiz carved a gorge through the moraine that was a mile wide and 130 feet deep. This gorge is now called the Traverse Gap. The spillway that flowed through this gap came to be known as Glacial River Warren. The river worked to drain the meltwater of Lake Agassiz to the Mississippi River Valley. As the glacial meltwater found other outlets, the current in River Warren began to slow and the formation of Big Stone Lake began.
The Traverse Gap on the northern end of Big Stone Lake marks the northern divide between the watersheds of the Arctic and the Atlantic Oceans. Lake Traverse, to the north of this divide, flows northward and drains into the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson Bay, while Big Stone Lake, to the south of the divide, flows southward to the Gulf of Mexico and into the Atlantic Ocean.
Today, Lake Agassiz and Glacial River Warren have completely drained. All 36 miles of Big Stone Lake’s length occupy the ancient river channel of the Glacial River Warren.
NOT A LOGGING REQUIREMENT: Feel free to post pictures of your group at the area or the area itself - I love looking at the pictures.
Additional Hints
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