MAPPING AND ANALYSIS OF PLEISTOCENE STRANDLINES IN THE LAKE ERIE BASIN USING 10M DEMS AND ARCGIS

Using ArcGIS and 10m resolution digital elevation models (DEMs), Pleistocene beach ridges and wave-cut scarps were traced along the Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York portion of Lake Erie in order to reconstruct former water planes. Wave-built ridges that form terraces are much more common than wave-cut scarps. Elevations were traced along the base of each strandline (the lower break in slope) and along the steepest slope of the terraces. Elevations along the base of the strandline terraces are less variable than the elevations along the steepest slopes and crests of the terraces. There are four prominent strandlines that can be continuously traced, which have been mapped as the Warren, Whittlesey, and an upper and lower Maumee. Three separate Warren strandlines have been mapped previously, but there is only one well developed and continuously traced Warren strandline visible in the DEMs. There is a discernable difference in post-glacial rebound between all strandlines, but the difference between the Warren and Whittlesey is subtle. In the southwestern region of the basin the Whittlesey strandline increases in elevation. The Warren strandline is poorly developed in the southwestern basin, probably due to shallow water. The mapped strandlines are used to develop 3D reconstructions of the basin and estimate lake volumes for the four lake phases.