Initiation of Flood

The ice dam that caused glacial Lake Agassiz to form was probably penetrated by expansion of a subglacial leakage path. A huge volume of freshwater was released northward to Hudson Bay and ultimately to the North Atlantic Ocean. The flood is thought to have triggered the cold event that occurred 8,200 years ago.

Clarke, G. K. C., D.W. Leverington, J. T. Teller, and A. S. Dyke. 2004. Paleohydraulics of the last outburst flood from glacial Lake Agassiz and the 8,200 BP cold event. Quaternary Science Reviews, 23, 389-407.

Clarke, G. K. C., D. W. Leverington, J. T. Teller, and A. S. Dyke. 2003. Superlakes, megafloods, and abrupt climate change. Science, 301, 922-923.

Teller, J. T., D. W. Leverington, and D. W. Mann. 2002. Freshwater outbursts to the oceans from glacial Lake Agassiz and their role in climate change during the last deglaciation. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 879-887.