1259 Paleotopographic reconstructions of the eastern outlets of glacial Lake Agassiz David W. Leverington and James T. Teller Abstract: Paleotopographic reconstructions of the eastern outlets of glacial Lake Agassiz provide a foundation for understanding the complex manner in which terrain morphology controlled the routing of overflow through the eastern outlets during the lake's Nipigon Phase (ca. 9400-8000 ''^C years BP) and for understanding the causes of outlet-driven declines in lake level during that period. Although flow paths across the divide between the Agassiz and Nipigon basins were numerous, eastward releases from Lake Agassiz to glacial Lake Kelvin (modern Lake Nipigon) were channeled downslope into a relatively small number of major channels that included the valleys of modern Kopka River, Ottertooth Creek, Vale Creek, Whitesand River, Pikitigushi River, and Little Jackfish Riven From Lake Kelvin, these waters overflowed into the Superior basin. The numerous lowerings in lake level between stages of the Nipigon Phase, controlled by topography and the position of the retreating southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, had magnitudes of between 8 and 58 m, although some of these drawdowns may have occurred as multiple individual events that could have been as small as several metres. The total volumes of water released in association with these drops were as great as 8100 km^, and for all Nipigon stages were probably between about 140 and 250 km^ per metre of lowering. The topographic reconstructions demonstrate that Lake Agassiz occupied the area of glacial Lake Nakina (located northeast of modern Lake Nipigon) by the The Pas stage (ca. 8000 '*C years BP) and that Lake Agassiz drainage through the Nipigon basin to the Great Lakes ended before the succeeding Gimli stage. Resume : Des reconstructions pal?otopographiques des chenaux du c?t? est du lac glaciaire Agassiz fournissent une base pour comprendre la fa?on complexe selon laquelle la morphologie de terrain contr?lait le cheminement du d?bordement par les d?versoirs vers l'est durant la phase Nipigon du lac (9400-8000 ann?es '"^C avant le pr?sent) et pour comprendre les causes des baisses du niveau de lac caus?es par les d?versoirs durant cette p?riode. M?me s'il existait de nombreux chemins d'?coulement traversant la ligne de partage des eaux entre les bassins d'Agassiz et de Nipigon, l'eau sortant ? l'est du lac Agassiz vers le lac glaciaire Kelvin (le lac Nipigon actuel) ?tait canalis?e vers le bas de la pente dans un nombre relativement restreint de chenaux majeurs qui comprenaient les vall?es actuelles de la rivi?re Kopka, du ruisseau Ottertooth, du ruisseau Vale, de la rivi?re Whitesand, de la rivi?re Pikitigushi et de la rivi?re Little Jackfish. ? partir du lac Kelvin, ces eaux se d?versaient dans le bassin du Sup?rieur. Les nombreux abaissements de niveau de lac entre les ?tages de la phase Nipigon, contr?l?s par la topographie et la position de la bordure sud, en retrait, de l'inlandsis Laurentien, avaient des amplitudes de 8 ? 58 m, bien que quelques-uns de ces abaissements aient pu ?tre des ?v?nements multiples individuels de quelques m?tres seulement. Les volumes totaux d'eau rel?ch?e, associ?s ? ces abaissements, ont atteint jusqu'? 8100 km^ et, pour tous les ?tages Nipigon, les abaissements ?taient probablement de 140 ? 250 km^ par m?tre d'abaissement. Les reconstructions topographiques d?montrent que le lac Agassiz occupait la r?gion du lac glaciaire Nakina (situ? au nord-est du pr?sent lac Nipigon) ? l'?poque de l'?tage The Pas (vers 8000 ann?es '*C avant le pr?sent) et que le drainage du lac Agassiz ? travers le bassin de Nipigon vers les Grands Lacs a cess? avant l'?tage suivant de Gimli. [Traduit par la R?daction] Introduction decreased in elevation toward the north; thus, as the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated northward during During the Nipigon Phase of glacial Lake Agassiz (ca. the Nipigon Phase, progressively lower outlets were opened 9400-8000 '"^C years BP; 10400 - 8800 cal years BP), overflow to glacial Lake Kelvin (modern Lake Nipigon), and, corre- was routed into the Nipigon basin through a complex system spondingly, the level of Lake Agassiz declined, known collectively as the eastern outlets (Elson 1957, 1967; Field studies have provided the basis for understanding Zoltai 1965a, 1967; Teller and Thorleifson 1983, 1987). These the nature of the eastern outlets and their role in the late outlets consisted of a series of eastward flow paths that Quaternary history of central North America (e.g., Zoltai Received 16 January 2003. Accepted 15 May 2003. Published on the NRC Research Press Web site at http://cjes.nrc.ca on 25 September 2003. Paper handled by Associate Editor R. Gilbert. D.W. Leverington.^ Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0315, U.S.A. J.T. Teller. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada. 'Corresponding author (e-mail: leveringtond@nasm.si.edu). Can. J. Earth Sei. 40: 1259-1278 (2003) doi: 10.n39/E03-043 ? 2003 NRC Canada 1260 Can. J. Earth Sei. Vol. 40, 2003 1965a, 1965^, 1967; Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983, 1987; Teller and Mahnic 1988; Lemoine and Teller 1995). Interpretations have been hindered, however, by the paucity of preserved Lake Agassiz shoreline features in the region around the divide between the Agassiz and Nipigon basins, the generally low topographic relief along the divide, the lack of easy ground access to the region, and the absence of detailed topographic data. The purpose of this research is to generate and interpret high-resolution digital topographic models of the eastern outlet region for all recognized stages of the Nipigon Phase of Lake Agassiz, to increase understanding of the eastern outlet system, and to provide an improved framework for guiding future field-based investigations. For each investigated stage, the corresponding topographic reconstruction was used to (/) approximate the position and configuration of the Lake Agassiz shoreline in the vicinity of the eastern outlets, (//) determine the position and morphology of the drainage divide separating the Lake Agassiz basin from the Nipigon basin, (///) identify major drainage routes from Lake Agassiz to Lake Kelvin, and (iv) further quantify aspects of the overflow and outburst history of Lake Agassiz. Lake Agassiz overview During d?glaciation, the retreating southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) gradually exposed large expanses of the North American continent, including the structural and topographic basin of north-central North America, the central part of which today contains the waters of Hudson Bay (Teller 1987). Located within this basin, the LIS acted to impede northward drainage, at times causing waters draining from surrounding regions to pool against the ice, forming proglacial lakes. Although many of these lakes were relatively small and short-lived, the largest. Lake Agassiz, was a major feature of late-glacial North America for most of its 5000 calendar year existence (e.g., Upham 1895; Elson 1967; Teller 1987) (Fig. 1). Glacio-isostatic rebound and changing ice-sheet configurations caused the size of Lake Agassiz to vary con- siderably during its history (e.g., Elson 1967; Teller 1985; Leverington et al. 2000, 2002a; Teller and Leverington, in preparation^), and numerous catastrophic releases of water occurred when lake levels dropped after lower outlets were deglaciated (e.g.. Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Teller 1985; Leverington et al. 2002a). Lake Agassiz overflows and out- bursts were important influences on the rivers and lakes that received them (e.g., Clayton 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Teller 1985, 1987, 1990a; Teller and Mahnic 1988; Lewis et al. 1994), and both outbursts and major reroutings of overflow from Lake Agassiz may have influenced the North Atlantic ocean-climate system (e.g., Broecker et al. 1989; Teller 1990fo; Barber et al. 1999; Clark et al. 2001; Teller et al. 2002; Fisher et al. 2002). The history of Lake Agassiz, which extended from about 11 700 to 7700 '''^C years BP, has been divided into five major phases: Lockhart, Moorhead, Emerson, Nipigon, and Ojibway (Fenton et al. 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983) (Fig. 2). During the Lockhart Phase (about 11 700 to 10 800 "^C years BP) (Fenton et al. 1983; Fisher 2003), drainage was through the lake's southern outlet to the Gulf of Mexico, via the Minnesota and Mississippi river valleys (Elson 1967) (Fig. 1, outlet S). The Lockhart Phase was terminated when the Kaministikwia route to Lake Superior was deglaciated, causing a rapid drop in lake level and the abandonment of the southern outlet (e.g., Fenton et al. 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983) (Fig. 1, outlet K). During the Moorhead Phase, Lake Agassiz gradually expanded and transgressed southward due to a combination of differential glacio-isostatic rebound and a readvance of the LIS across drainage routes to the east (Elson 1967; Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Thorleifson 1996; Teller 2002). By the end of the Moorhead Phase, the southward-transgressing waters of Lake Agassiz reached the southern outlet for a brief time (Fig. 2), and outflow was once again south to the Gulf of Mexico (Thorleifson 1996; Fisher and Souch 1998; Teller 2001). During the Emerson Phase (about 10 100 to 9400 '"^C years BP), Lake Agassiz drainage was mainly through the deglaciated northwestern outlet (the Clearwater Spillway) to the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River valley (Smith and Fisher 1993; Fisher and Smith 1994; Fisher and Souch 1998; Thorleifson 1996; Teller 2001) (Fig. 1, outlet NW; Fig. 2). By about 9400 '''^C years BP, both the southern and north- western outlets had been abandoned (Fig. 2), and for the next -1400 '"*C years drainage was east through progressively lower and more northerly outlets to the Nipigon basin (defining the Nipigon Phase) (Elson 1967; Zoltai 1967; Thorleifson 1983, 1996; Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Fisher 2003) (Fig. 1, outlet E). Lake Agassiz gradually shifted northward during this phase, as it followed the receding southern margin of the LIS. At the beginning of the Ojibway Phase (about 8000 "^C years BP), Lake Agassiz merged with glacial Lake Ojibway to the east (e.g.. Hardy 1977; Vincent and Hardy 1979; Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Veillette 1994), forming a water body that extended from northern Manitoba to western Quebec. Associated with this merger was the abandonment of the outlets to the Nipigon basin, and the southeastward drainage of lake waters through the Angliers outlet (and, later, the nearby Kinoj?vis outlet) to the Ottawa River (Hardy 1977; Vincent and Hardy 1977, 1979; Veillette 1994) (Fig. 1, outlet KIN). By the end of the Ojibway Phase, Lake Agassiz-Ojibway extended as much as 1500 km along the southern margin of the LIS. At about 7700 '''^C years BP (Barber et al. 1999), the stagnant remains of the confining ice margin were breached, causing the lake to catastrophically drain northward into the Tyrrell Sea (Hudson Bay) (Hardy 1977; Vincent and Hardy 1979; Klassen 1983; Dredge 1983; Veillette 1994; Barber et al. 1999; Leverington et al. 2002a; Teller et al. 2002; Clarke et al. 2003) (Fig. 1, HB). By the end of the 5000 calendar year existence of Lake Agassiz, its waters had covered a total surface area of 1.5 million km^. Tlie eastern outiets to thie Nipigon basin The location and form of routes of overflow from Lake Agassiz were primarily controlled by two factors: (/) the position of the LIS; and (ii) terrain morphology, which was ^ Glacial Lake Agassiz: A 5000-year history of change and its relationship to the isotopic record of Greenland. In Preparation. 2003 NRC Canada Leverington and Teller 1261 Fig. 1. Map showing the 1.5 million km^ total area that Lake Agassiz occupied over its 5000 calendar-year history (shaded); the lake gradually shifted from south to north, following the retreating southern margin of the LIS, with the earliest lake stages confined to the southernmost portion of the indicated area and the final stages occupying the lowlands south of modern Hudson Bay. Primary routes of overflow are labeled as follows: E, region of eastern outlet systems to the Superior basin via the Nipigon basin, shown in Fig. 3; HB, general outburst direction of the final release of Lake Agassiz waters into the Tyrrell Sea (modern Hudson Bay); K, Kaministikwia route to the Superior basin; KIN, Angliers and Kinoj?vis outlets to the St. Lawrence River valley via the Ottawa River; NW, north- western outlet to the Arctic Ocean via the Clearwater and Mackenzie river valleys; S, southern outlet to the Gulf of Mexico via the Minnesota and Mississippi river valleys. 80? itself influenced over time by dynamic processes such as fluvial erosion and differential glacio-isostatic rebound. During the Nipigon Phase, drainage from Lake Agassiz was routed through increasingly northern (and lower) outlets that crossed the Continental Divide in northwestern Ontario, carrying outflow eastward into the Nipigon and Great Lakes basins, and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River valley (Elson 1967; Zoltai 1967; Clayton 1983; Teller 1985) (Fig. 1, 3). Most drainage paths of the eastern outlet complexes have been recognized through extrapolation of Lake Agassiz Strandlines to cols on the drainage divide (Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983). Although the eastern outlet overflow routes are today mainly occupied by streams and lakes, widespread coarse sand units and extensive cobble and boulder lags that extend across the floors of some of these valleys attest to their past history as channels for high-volume flows from Lake Agassiz (e.g.. Zoltai 1965a, 1965^, 1967; Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Schlosser 1983; Lemoine and Teller 1995). The recognized outlets into the Nipigon basin have been arbitrarily divided into five main channel complexes: from south to north, the Kaiashk, Kopka, Pillar, Armstrong, and Pikitigushi (Zoltai 1965a; Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983, 1987) (Fig. 3). The topography of the region containing these channel complexes is mainly bedrock controlled (Zoltai 1965a). Archean rocks are exposed in the area west of the region's drainage divide, and the associated relief is generally subdued, rarely exceeding 30 m (Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983). Channels crossing the divide are relatively shallow and poorly defined in the area immediately east of the drainage divide. Farther to the east of the divide, where Proterozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks overlie Archean materials, many channels merge and become deeper, with Proterozoic diabase units commonly forming mesas and ? 2003 NRC Canada 1262 Can. J. Earth Sei. Vol. 40, 2003 Fig. 2. Schematic depiction of Lake Agassiz lake-level fluctuations as a function of time (after Thorleifson 1996; Teller 2001). Routing of overflow of Lake Agassiz waters is indicated, and both stage and phase names for the lake are shown. 1 Alice , Trail . Herman ^Herman < Herman + 12ka 11 ka lOka Upper Campbell Lower Campbell McCauleyvllle Blanchard Hlllsboro Emerado Ojata Gladstone Burnslde Pssawa Stonewall The Pas GImll Grand Rapids Drunken Point Ponton (-"KInoj?vIs") Fidler Sea Level 1 9 ka 8 ka 7 ka ^"^CBP + + Lake Phase: Lockhart Moorhead Emerson Nipigon DD : D: Ojibway Drainage Gulf of Mexico H Atlantic Ocean Arctic Ocean ? Hudson Bay cuestas in between them with a relief that typically exceeds 100 m and can be as much as 300 m (Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983). The morphologies of the eastern- outlet drainage routes were in many cases strongly influenced by the dichotomy in near-surface bedrock geology: near the divide, overflow routes typically consist of anastomosing channels shallowly incised into Archean granite, whereas closer to the Nipigon basin these channels converge and can be incised 50 to >100 m into Proterozoic diabase units, in places forming relatively narrow channels with near-vertical walls, in some cases following faults and other lines of structural weakness (Teller and Thorleifson 1983). Associated with some eastern outlet channels are 50-100 m deep plunge basins and extensive blankets of large (>0.5 m) rounded boulders (Teller and Thorleifson 1983). Some channels are associated with deltaic or subaqueous fan deposits where they are interpreted to have emptied into the Nipigon basin (e.g., Zoltai 1967; Teller and Thorleifson 1983). Today, channels from the divide to Lake Nipigon have overall gradients of up to about 7 m per kilometre (Teller and Thorleifson 1983). Varved clay deposits, in places covered by sand units, are distributed across a number of regions surrounding modern Lake Nipigon, including most notably the areas to its north and northeast (Zoltai 1965a, 1965^?; Thorleifson and Kristjansson 1993; Lemoine and Teller 1995) (Fig. 4). To the west of Lake Nipigon, the varved clay is restricted to a narrow coastal strip and to river valleys (Zoltai 1965a; Lemoine and Teller 1995). The varved clay deposits proximal to Lake Nipigon are interpreted to have been deposited in Lake Kelvin during the Holocene (Lemoine and Teller 1995). Extensive sand and coarse gravel deposits occur in the Lake Nipigon basin, and those found to the west of mod- ern Lake Nipigon (Fig. 4) have been interpreted to be related to Lake Agassiz overflow and subsequent reworking in a glaciolacustrine environment (e.g., Zoltai 1965a; Lemoine and Teller 1995). Large interlobate and end moraines have been identified in the region of the eastern outlets (e.g., Zoltai 1965a; Dyke and Prest 1986) (Fig. 4). Numerous mi- nor moraines are distributed through much of the region (Fig. 4) and are oriented at right angles to the latest direction of ice flow indicated by local striae and eskers (Zoltai 1965a). The d?glaciation and opening of each new outlet into the Nipigon basin may have been accompanied by a rapid drop in lake level and a corresponding catastrophic re- lease of water from Lake Agassiz (Teller and Thorleifson 1983, 1987); previous studies have shown that the largest of these releases may have had a volume of more than 7000 km^ (Leverington et al. 2000, 2002a; see also Teller and Thorleifson 1987). Although these outbursts, as well as the sustained levels of overflow that followed them, must have had a major impact on the evolution of the morphology of the eastern channels, it is not yet clear to what extent events prior to those of the most recent d?glaciation influenced the formation and evolution of these channels. Flow from Lake Agassiz would have been directed southward from Lake Kelvin to the Superior basin through a separate ? 2003 NRC Canada Leverington and Teller 1263 Fig. 3. The eastern outlets of Lake Agassiz (after Teller and Thorleifson 1983). The locations of the five main eastern outlet systems (from south to north: Kaiashk, Kopka, Pillar, Armstrong, and Pikitigushi), which extended eastward from the Continental Divide (dotted line), are shown. The approximate extents of gla- cial lakes Kelvin, Nakina, and Kam are also given. Major mod- ern water bodies are shown in black. 0 25 50 southern complex of outlets (Fig. 3) (Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Mahnic 1988). These outlets consist of channels with widths of up to several kilometres and are typically bounded by vertical diabase walls with relief of 50-200 m. Topographic models of the eastern outlets Methodology The paleotopography of a region affected by differential glacio-isostatic rebound can be determined by establishing the magnitude of rebound across that region and subtracting it from modern elevations (Mann et al. 1999; Leverington et al. 2002?>). The magnitude of rebound varies both spatially and temporally and is often established in a region by measuring the elevations of raised beaches formed at a particular time of interest and in association with an extensive body of water (e.g., Andrews 1970). Isobases (contours of equal isostatic rebound) can be drawn from the elevations of raised beaches and can be used to define the regional rebound (or rebound surface) since the beaches formed. Databases of paleoto- pography generated by subtracting rebound data from modern elevations can be used for the quantitative characterization of past terrain morphology and surface processes (Lambeck 1996; Mann et al. 1999; Leverington et al. 2000, 2002a, 2002?>; Teller et al. 2002; Schaetzl et al. 2002). In this research, databases of paleotopography were generated for the eastern outlet region by subtracting rasterized (gridded) rebound surfaces from a database of modern elevations for each of 11 stages of Lake Agassiz that together span the lake's Nipigon Phase, as well as the stage that immediately preceded and the one that followed this phase. The grid spacing utilized for the topographic reconstructions was 1/4800 of a degree, or about 15 m in the east-west direction and 24 m in the north-south direction. The database of modern elevations for the eastern outlet region (Fig. 5) was generated through interpolation from modern topographic contours and associated stream vectors extracted from 35 digital National Topographic System (NTS) 1 : 50 000 scale maps (Centre for Topographic Information 2002) using the TOPOGRID algorithm for generating hydrologically enhanced models (Environmental Systems Research Institute 2001; see also Hutchinson 1988, 1989). The rebound surfaces used in this research were interpolated from the regional isobases and associated rebound curves of Thorleifson (1996) (modified after Teller and Thorleifson 1983) using the triangulated irregular network (TIN) algorithm (Peuker et al. 1978); isobase values were expressed in metres above modern sea level. For each lake stage, topographically determined drainage properties in the area of the drainage divide were determined using the ArcGIS GRID application and the ArcGIS Hydrology Modeling tool (Environmental Systems Research Institute 2001). Models of the eastern outlet region Figures 6a-6m are paleotopographic maps of the northern region of the Nipigon basin and the area of the drainage divide separating it from the Lake Agassiz basin (see Table 1 for names of modern geographic features). Included are the 11 recognized stages of the Nipigon Phase of Lake Agassiz from the Lower Campbell stage to the The Pas stage (Fig. 2), as well as the stages that immediately preceded (Upper Campbell stage) and followed (Gimli stage) the Nipigon Phase. If the preserved Lake Agassiz beach sediments to the west of the study area represent transgressive Strandlines for stages that were associated with relatively stable outlet con- figurations (with shoreline sediments being stranded at the transgressive maximums of these lake stages just before lower outlets were opened; Teller 2001), the paleotopographic models approximately represent the topography and lake level associated with each respective lake stage immediately prior to the termination of the stage. In each map, elevations are given with respect to the named lake level, represented within the Lake Agassiz basin by a Strandline, with elevations above the level of Lake Agassiz given in shades of green, elevations between the levels of lakes Agassiz and Kelvin given in shades of red, and elevations below the level of Lake Kelvin given both in shades of blue (for Lake Kelvin itself) and red (for non-Kelvin areas, if present in this elevation range). Where ice-free, the red-green contacts west of the outlet divide represent the shoreline of Lake Agassiz. The levels of Lake Kelvin during the Nipigon Phase are uncertain. For the purposes of this study, lake levels were estimated by assuming that the location of the lake's southern ? 2003 NRC Canada 1264 Can. J. Earth Sei. Vol. 40, 2003 Fig. 4. Map of eastern outlet study area, showing the positions and extents of major interlobate and end moraines (Zoltai 1965?; Dyke and Prest 1986) and selected surficial sedimentary units (simplified after Zoltai 19650). The orientations of minor moraines are indi- cated (simplified after Zoltai 19650), as are the positions of major modern topographic divides (after Canada Centre for Remote Sensing 1994). Major moraines are labeled as follows: a, Kaiashk; b, Nipigon; c. Crescent; d, Onaman; e, Sioux Lookout. Local con- centrations of cobbles and boulders in valleys located between the Continental Divide and modern Lake Nipigon (e.g., Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983; Schlosser 1983) are not shown. Boxes defined by lines of longitude and latitude match the extents of corresponding 1 : 50 000 scale National Topographic System (NTS) map sheets. orientation of minor moraines major interiobate or end moraine major modern divide 20 ^ varved or massive clay and silt lacustrine sand outwosh sand to boulders 40 kilometres A 2003 NRG Canada Leverington and Teller 1265 Fig. 5. Map of modern topography for the eastern outlet study area, generated through spatial interpolation from 1 : 50 000 scale con- tour and drainage vectors derived from 35 NTS digital maps (Centre for Topographic Information 2002). Modern water bodies are given in white. Map extent is identical to that of Fig. 4. Boxes defined by lines of longitude and latitude match the extents of corre- sponding 1 : 50 000 scale NTS map sheets. ffl>"3?'0"w wav'w e9"30'?-w es'w-w ee-aora-w es"0'o-w 40 kilometres A drainage divide was in the region of modern Black Sturgeon Creek, which is today at an elevation of about 270 m above sea level (asl). Extensive sand and clay deposits located west of modern Lake Nipigon (e.g., Zoltai 1965a, 1965^; Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983, 1987; Teller and Mahnic 1988; Lemoine and Teller 1995) (Fig. 4) suggest that the western margins of Lake Kelvin may have extended more than 30 km west of the margins of modern Lake Nipigon. A 2003 NRC Canada 1266 Can. J. Earth Sei. Vol. 40, 2003 Fig. 6. Stage-specific topograpliic models of the eastern outlet region on both sides of the drainage divide separating Lake Agassiz from the basin of glacial Lake Kelvin (modern Lake Nipigon). Maps corresponding to 13 stages of Lake Agassiz are given, including 11 Nipigon Phase stages (approximately corresponding to the time range between 9400 and 8000 ''^C years BP) and the non-Nipigon stages that immediately preceded and followed the Nipigon Phase. Note that there is a general northeastward shift in area shown by successively younger maps (compare to modern regional map. Fig. 5). Areas of modern water bodies are given in white. Selected modem drainage routes are labeled by numbers within circles, and selected modern valleys are labeled by letters within squares (see Table 1 for names); the location of the town of Armstrong is indicated by the letter A within a triangle in Figs. 6; and 6k-6m. Elevations are specified with respect to the level of Lake Agassiz; elevations above the level of Lake Agassiz are given in shades of green, elevations between the levels of lakes Agassiz and Kelvin in shades of red, and elevations below the level of Lake Kelvin in shades of blue (for Lake Kelvin itself) and red (for non-Kelvin areas, if present in this elevation range). Except where ice margins are not located in the mapped area, each map uses two broken lines to indicate positions of the northward-retreating ice margin at the beginning and end of lake drawdown. Outlet paleodivides are indicated by yellow semitransparent shapes. The major segments of eastern-outlet overflow routings are given in each map for the period of lake drawdown and are indicated by blue arrows; arrow segments are solid where flow would have been well constrained by topography and broken where flow direction is generalized due to irregular topography or pooling. Areas where significant pooling of Lake Agassiz outflow likely occurred are indicated by purple wave symbols. Boxes deflned by lines of longitude and latitude match the extents of corresponding 1 : 50 000 scale NTS map sheets. lake of such an extent, however, would have required a southern divide with a modern elevation of about 330 m asi, which is about 60 m higher than can be accounted for by modern topography. Because there is no clear evidence that the divide elevations necessary to produce a very extensive Lake Kelvin were attained during the Nipigon Phase (see Discussion section), the blue-shaded extents of Lake Kelvin shown in Fig. 6 were based on the lower (topographically determined) outlet level. The positions of outlet paleodivides during the Nipigon Phase were a function of terrain geometry along the drainage corridor (defined by the southern margin of the LIS and the northern margin of land above the level of Lake Agassiz) that connected lakes Agassiz and Kelvin. The positions of outlet paleodivides were determined in this study through analyses of the geometry of subbasins in the paleotopographic databases and are indicated for relevant regions in Fig. 6 by yellow semitransparent shapes. Outlet paleodivides often roughly coincided with the locations of modern drainage divides, including the Continental Divide (see Fig. 4). The major segments of eastern-outlet overflow routings are given in each map by blue arrows for the full period of lake drawdown (thus, in some cases both early and late routings are shown). Arrow segments are solid where flow would have been well constrained by topography and broken where flow direction is generalized due to irregular topography or pooling. Relatively large areas of pooling are indicated by purple wave symbols. The southern margins of the LIS were constrained in this study by (/) the orientations of the minor moraines located north and west of modern Lake Nipigon (Fig. 4), and (?') knowledge that certain outlets had to have been closed in order for specific stages of Lake Agassiz to have existed. In the paleotopographic maps, positions and orientations of the ice margin for each stage are shown by broken black lines. Figures 6a-6k each include two broken lines that indicate possible positions of the ice margin at the beginning and end of lake drawdown. Upper Campbell stage (Fig. 6a) The reduction in the level of Lake Agassiz between the end of the Upper Campbell stage and the end of the subsequent Lower Campbell stage would have been about 20 m (Table 2). The initial opening of eastern drainage at the end of the Upper Campbell stage probably occurred in the area of Kashishibog Lake (5, Fig. 6a), the main divide feature of the Kaiashk Outlet (Fig. 3) (see also Zoltai 1965a; Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorleifson 1983, 1987). Initial Lake Agassiz overflow to Lake Kelvin would have occurred through segments of the Roaring River (A) and Gull River (B) valleys to the area east of Kabitotikwia Lake (3). As the ice retreated north, flow would likely have followed parts of the Pantagruel Creek valley (C). Subsequent flow would have followed Ottertooth Creek (D) directly from the area of Kashishibog Lake (5), reaching Lake Kelvin southeast of modern Obonga Lake (8). After a drop in lake level of -10 m, the drainage route across the Kashishibog Lake (5) area would have closed, with drainage first occurring through the area of Siesse Lake (6) and subsequently through the Uneven Lake (7) area. Lower Campbell stage (Fig. 6b) During the Lower Campbell stage, eastward drainage to the Nipigon basin was temporarily halted in the eastern-outlet region (e.g.. Teller 2001), and the waters of Lake Agassiz transgressed toward and ultimately drained through the lake's southern outlet (Fig. 1) until eastward drainage was again opened at the end of the Lower Campbell stage. The reduction in the level of Lake Agassiz between the end of the Lower Campbell stage and the end of the subsequent McCauleyville stage would have been about 11 m (Table 2). The initial opening of eastern drainage at the end of the Lower Campbell stage occurred in the area northeast of Uneven Lake (7, Fig. 6b). Although initial drainage may have been constrained by the ice margin to flow through the lower reaches of the Kaiashk System (with flow along the area of Wig Creek (F) into Lake Kelvin in an area southeast of modern Obonga Lake (8)), subsequent retreat of the ice margin would have allowed flow to the Obonga (8) and Kopka (9) lake areas along a route within the Kopka System (Thorleifson 1983; Teller and Thorieifson 1983, 1987), from Scalp Creek (G) to the lower reaches of the Kopka River valley (E). By the end of lake drawdown, the outlet divide in the area of Uneven (7), Lookout (10), and North Whalen (11) lakes would have become closed, with overflow instead being routed north of the areas of Aldridge (12) and North Whalen (11) lakes, and east along segments of the Kopka River valley (E) to the Kopka Lake (9) area. 2003 NRC Canada Leverington and Teller 1267 ?'??OTN- ?* ??0I1V? is-ao'crvv BSTTO-m ^^^^DMXrv, 10 5 0 10 kilQ[T)Btes N A a) Upper Campbell M"C'0-'A' Ea-so'o-w 35-i-0"W b) Lower Campbell 2003 NRC Canada 1268 Can. J. Earth Sei. Vol. 40, 2003 Fig. 6 {continued). c] McCauleyville d) Blanchard 2003 NRC Canada Leverington and Teller 1269 Fig. 6 {continued). e) Hillsboro fj Emerado 2003 NRC Canada 1270 Can. J. Earth Sei. Vol. 40, 2003 Fig. 6 {continued). Ql Ojata h) Gladstone 2003 NRC Canada Leverington and Teller 1271 Fig. 6 {continued). i) Burnside fiflr^i^?rw lOssawa 2003 NRC Canada 1272 Can. J. Earth Sei. Vol. 40, 2003 Fig. 6 {continued). k) Stonewall BS"3