GEOMORPHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR SMALL-SCALE CATASTROPHIC PERIGLACIAL FLOODING AT CONNEAUT LAKE, CONNEAUT LAKE, PENNSYLVANIA

Conneaut Lake, located in Crawford County, Northwest Pennsylvania, sits near the top of the drainage divide between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. The lake’s east side presents atypical erosional geomorphological features at odds with what might be considered typical of glacial sand and gravel deposits.

There is considerable research on Conneaut Lake and its drainage marsh in relation to glacial geology on a large scale. This presentation involves Conneaut Lake and its basin in greater detail. Geomorphological features gleaned from topographic maps, aerial photographs, and author experience are presented in support of small-scale catastrophic periglacial flooding along the east side of the lake. In addition, the existence of a larger periglacial lake within the Conneaut Lake basin, along with evidence of a proposed drainage system to the basin’s southwest, is postulated using similar types of evidence.