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Geologic History of the Black River Watershed Chris Ebey, PhD Ninth Annual Black River Watershed Conference June 4, 2019

Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

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Page 1: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Geologic History of the Black River Watershed

Chris Ebey, PhD

Ninth Annual Black River Watershed Conference

June 4, 2019

Page 2: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Geologic Time Scale

Page 3: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Earth Has a Story

• Earth has gone through tremendous change in its 4.5 billion year history• Formation and breakup of continents; creation and

destruction of oceans• Rise, diversification, and extinction of life• Rise of oxygen and changes in the oceanic and atmospheric

chemistry• Greenhouses, ice ages, and Snowball Earth

Page 4: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 5: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

This Talk

• Evidence for many of the most important events in Earth’s history are found in the Black River basin

• Events from more than one billion years ago through to today have shaped the watershed we know

Page 6: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Geologic Time Scale

Page 7: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Geologic Time Scale

Eon Era Period

Page 8: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Where we’ll be hanging

out today ☺

Page 9: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 10: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Kayuta Lake

Stillwater Reservoir

Mouth of the Black River

Page 11: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Kayuta Lake

Stillwater Reservoir

Mouth of the Black River

Page 12: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Watershed East of the Black River

Page 13: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Watershed East of the Black River

Page 14: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Watershed East of the Black River

Page 15: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Watershed East of the Black River

• Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago)

• Later, Proterozoic events became visible during the relatively recent (10 to 5 million years ago) formation of the Adirondack dome

• Almost all the events we see in the Adirondack region are present in all parts of the watershed• Buried under more recent rock

Page 16: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Proterozoic

• Proterozoic = early life.

• Around 2.5 Ga to 542 Ma.

• Continental crust finished forming

• Atmospheric oxygen rose

• From ~0% to ~12%

• Snowball Earth

• A lot of Proterozoic

history in the Adirondacks!

Page 17: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 18: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Proterozoic Eon

2.5

Ga

0.5

Ga

0% O2

15% O2

30% O2

Page 19: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Proterozoic Eon

2.5

Ga

0.5

Ga

0% O2

15% O2

30% O2

Great Oxygenation Event

Page 20: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 21: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 22: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

At the end of the Proterozoic, the Earth becomes a very busy and exciting place…

Page 23: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Welcome to beautiful, sunny

Rodinia

Page 24: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Welcome to beautiful, sunny

Rodinia

Page 25: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 26: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 27: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 28: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 29: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 30: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

When the rocks that form the Adirondacks were formed

When the rocks that form the Adirondacks were made visible through uplift and glaciations

Page 31: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

When the rocks that form the Adirondacks were formed

When the rocks that form the Adirondacks were made visible through uplift and glaciations

HALF A BILLION YEARS!!!

Page 32: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Geology – Quick 101 Review

Page 33: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Formation of the Adirondack Dome

• Many details poorly understood

• What we know:• Adirondacks is a very different type of mountain range from

Appalachians, Rockies, Alps, Himalayas, etc.• Adirondacks are NOT from continental collision

• A type of phenomenon called a “hot spot”

• Adirondacks have more in common with Hawaii than the Appalachians (at least geologically! ☺)

Page 34: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Formation of the Adirondack Dome

• Many details poorly understood

• What we know:• Adirondacks is a very different type of mountain range from

Appalachians, Rockies, Alps, Himalayas, etc.• Adirondacks are NOT from continental collision

• A type of phenomenon called a “hot spot”

• Rising about 1-3 mm per year

• The Adirondack Mountains have more in common with Hawaii than the Appalachians (at least geologically! ☺)

Page 35: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Formation of the Adirondack Dome

Yang et al, American Geophysical Union, 2018

Page 36: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Formation of the Adirondack Dome

Yang et al, American Geophysical Union, 2018

Page 37: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Geologic Time Scale

0.001%

Page 38: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Earth’s Cenozoic Climate (65 million years ago to today)

Prelude to the Big Chill

• Climate for the last 65 million years has been complex but trend was cooling

Formation of ice sheet in Antarctica

Formation of Isthmus of Panama

Page 39: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

• Antarctica broke off from the southern tip of South America about 34 million years ago

• Created the Drake Passage• Antarctica was now completely

surrounded by ocean• The Antarctic Circumpolar

Current formed, isolating Antarctica from the warmth of the global oceans

Diagrams from Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute

Page 40: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

• Before the closing of the Isthmus, the Gulf Stream was weak or did not exist

• After the closing, the Gulf Stream brought humid air to Europe, providing water for glaciers to form

Panama changed global ocean currentsDelivered water to the glaciers forming in the Northern Hemisphere

Diagrams from Wood’s Hole Oceanographic Institute

Page 41: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Milankovitch cycles Earth’s position relative to the sun changes in cycles of 1,000-100,000 years

Page 42: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Diagrams from NASA’s Conceptual Image Laboratory and Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Ice Reflects SunlightSpeeds up and stabilizes cooling

Page 43: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

There were at least 14 major glaciations and 14 interglacials

Glaciation: when glaciers grow and cover large areas of land mass

Interglacial: time between glaciations

Page 44: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Source image: UCSD

Page 45: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 46: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

• Erratics: large rocks dropped by glaciers

• Glacial cobbles: larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder dropped by glaciers

Page 47: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Source image: Carlton College Science Education Resource Center (SERC)

Maximum extent of Lake Iroquois (ca. 13,438–12,793 calendar years before present)

Page 48: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,
Page 49: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Summary

• Eastern Black River watershed dominated by Adirondack geology

• Rocks formed by continental formation and collision during Rodinia

• Uplift via a hotspot

• Glaciers exposed deeper bedrock, carved valleys

Page 50: Geologic History of the Black River Watershed · Watershed East of the Black River •Much of the geology is shaped by Proterozoic events (2.5 billion to 540 million years ago) •Later,

Thank you – Questions?

Thank you to my college, SUNY Jefferson, and to the NYS Tug Hill Commission and DEC for inviting me to speak today


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