The Geography of the Region about Devil's Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin: With Some Notes on Its Surface GeologySalisbury, Rollin D.
Science
The Geography of the Region about Devil's Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin: With Some Notes on Its Surface Geology
Salisbury, Rollin D.
Physical geography; Wisconsin -- Description and travel
_C. Deposits at and beyond the edge of the ice in standing water._--The
waters which issued from the edge of the ice sometimes met a different
fate. The ice in its advance often moved up river valleys. When at the
time of its maximum extension, it filled the lower part of a valley,
leaving the upper part free, drainage through the valley stood good
chance of being blocked. Where this happened a marginal valley lake was
formed. Such a lake was formed in the valley of the Baraboo when the
edge of the ice lay where the moraine now is (Plate II). The waters
which were held back by the ice dam, reinforced by the drainage from the
ice itself, soon developed a lake above the point of obstruction. This
extinct lake may be named Baraboo lake. In this lake deposits of
laminated clay were made. They are now exposed in the brick yards west
of Baraboo, and in occasional gullies and road cuts in the flat
bordering the river.
At the point marked s (Plate XXXVII) there was, in glacial
times, a small lake having an origin somewhat different from that of
Baraboo lake. The former site of the lake is now marked by
a notable flat. Excavations in the flat show that it is made up of
stratified clay, silt, sand and gravel, to the depth of many
feet,--locally more than sixty. These lacustrine deposits are well
exposed in the road cuts near the northwest corner of the flat, and in
washes at some other points. Plate XXXVIII shows some of the silt and
clay, the laminæ of which are much distorted.
_Deltas_ must have been formed where well-defined streams entered the
lakes, and _subaqueous overwash plains_ where deltas became continuous
by lateral growth. The accumulation of stratified drift along the
ice-ward shores of such lakes must have been rapid, because of the
abundant supply of detritus. These materials were probably shifted about
more or less by waves and shore currents, and some of them may have been
widely distributed. Out from the borders of such lakes, fine silts and
clays must have been in process of deposition, at the same time that the
coarse materials were being laid down nearer shore.
[Illustration: WISCONSIN GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. BULLETIN NO. V.,
PL. XXXVIII.
Distorted laminae of silt and clay.]
Good examples of deltas and subaqueous overwash plains do not appear to
exist in the region, although conditions for their development seem to
have been present. Thus in the lake which occupied the valley of the
Baraboo, conditions would seem to have been ideal for the development of
such features; that is, the overwash plains previously described should,
theoretically, have been subaqueous overwash plains; but if this be
their character, their distinctive marks have been destroyed by
subsequent erosion.
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