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Lake Vermont, also called Glacial Lake Vermont, was a temporary lake created by the retreating glaciers during the close of the last
Map
Natural history of Vermont Natural history of New York (state) Natural history of Quebec Last Glacial Period Lake Champlain Glacial lakes of the United States {{Vermont-geo-stub
Lake Vermont, also called Glacial Lake Vermont, was a temporary lake created by the retreating glaciers during the close of the last ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
. The lake once included land in the Canadian province of Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and the American states Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and New York. It was a geographical predecessor of Lake Champlain
, native_name_lang =
, image = Champlainmap.svg
, caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed
, image_bathymetry =
, caption_bathymetry =
, location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada
, coords =
, type =
, ...
. Once the glacier retreated far enough north, it drained into Glacial Lake Candona, the geologic predecessor of the St. Lawrence River.
At one time, Lake Vermont may have reached nearly as far south as to what is now Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
. The surface of the lake was about above present day Lake Champlain, and was up to deep. The lake contained muddy water, and the sediment of Lake Vermont contains silt/clay varves, with silt being deposited during summer and clay during the less-energetic flow of winter.
The Laurentide
The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States, multiple times during the Quaternary glacial epochs, from 2.58 million years a ...
Ice Sheet retreated north of what is now Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...
, about 13,500 years ago, marking the beginning of Lake Vermont. The ice damming the water at the north end, at what is now Warwick, Quebec
Warwick is a small town north east of Montreal, located in Arthabaska county, Quebec, Canada. The town was incorporated in 1861 and named after a city of the same name in England.
Up until 2014 the town hosted Quebec's annual summer cheese fest ...
, failed catastrophically about 12,000 years ago. The lake dropped within hours or days. Eventually, when the glacier retreated far enough north, salt water swept in, replacing the larger, freshwater Lake Vermont with the smaller, saltwater Champlain Sea.
See also
*Lake Albany Glacial Lake Albany was a prehistoric North American proglacial lake that formed during the end of the Wisconsinan glaciation. It existed between 15,000 and 12,600 years ago and was created when meltwater from a retreating glacier, along with water ...
*Lake Hitchcock
Lake Hitchcock was a glacial lake that formed approximately 15,000 years ago in the late Pleistocene epoch. After the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, glacial ice melt accumulated at the terminal moraine and blocked up the Connecticut River, cre ...
*Lake Merrimack Lake Merrimack was a glacial lake that formed during the late Pleistocene epoch. After the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated, glacial ice melt accumulated at the terminal moraine and blocked up the Merrimack River, creating the narrow lake. The lake ex ...
* Lake Stowe
Notes
External links
Map
Natural history of Vermont Natural history of New York (state) Natural history of Quebec Last Glacial Period Lake Champlain Glacial lakes of the United States {{Vermont-geo-stub