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50-406: The Niagara Escarpment , over which Niagara Falls flows, is an example of a scarp or escarpment . At Niagara Falls, the caprock is the riverbed above the falls, and is what prevents the river from eroding the face of the falls very quickly. The Niagara caprock is made of dolomitic limestone . Other common types of caprock are sandstone and mafic rock . In processes such as scarp retreat ,

100-547: A Récollet missionary , Joseph Le Caron , who would live among the Huron in 1615–1616 and 1623–1624. Another Récollet missionary, Gabriel Sagard , lived there from 1623–34. The French Jesuit Jean de Brébeuf began a mission in Huronia in 1626. In 1639 he oversaw the building of the mission fort of Sainte-Marie, Ontario's first European settlement, at what is now the town of Midland . The reconstructed Jesuit mission, Sainte-Marie among

150-725: A concern for the lake's ecosystem. In southern Ontario, the Bruce Trail runs the length of the escarpment from Queenston on the Niagara River to Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula. Highway 401 , Canada's busiest, also crosses the Niagara Escarpment, beginning its long descent through rolling hills, farmland, and towns west of Milton. Rock exposed on the face of the escarpment can be seen along Highway 26 from Owen Sound eastwards towards Meaford, Ontario . Hamilton, Ontario

200-465: A distance inland, sites are geographically-temporally stratified in correspondence with water levels. For example, at two sites along Batteaux Creek near modern-day Collingwood adjacent to the south shore of Georgian Bay, the transitional Late Paleo-Indian– Early Archaic McKean site corresponds to the relatively low water ebb of Lake Hough, while the Middle Archaic Rentner site (likely

250-428: A grand celebration, and many women came. Kitchikewana met a woman named Wanakita here. He decided that this was the woman he wanted to marry, and started planning the wedding immediately after she left. But when she was invited back, she told Kitchikewana that she was already engaged. Enraged, Kitchikewana destroyed all the decorations, running to one end of Beausoleil Island and grabbing a large ball of earth. Running to

300-465: A parallel outcrop belt just to the south, through western New York and southern Ontario . The escarpment is the most prominent of several escarpments formed in the bedrock of the Great Lakes Basin . From its easternmost point just south of Lake Ontario, the escarpment shapes in part the individual basins and landforms of Lake Ontario , Lake Huron , and Lake Michigan . In Rochester, New York ,

350-714: A sharp turn north in the town of Milton toward Georgian Bay . It then follows the Georgian Bay shore northwestwards to form the spine of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island , as well as several smaller islands in northern Lake Huron, where it turns westwards into the Upper Peninsula of northern Michigan, south of Sault Ste. Marie . It extends down the Garden Peninsula and Potawatomi Islands into Wisconsin following

400-460: A true shoreline site) reflects the high water levels of the later Nipissing transgression. At the time of European contact , the Ojibwe and Ottawa First Nations , both of whom call themselves Anishinaabe (plural: Anishinaabeg ), lived along the northern, eastern and western shores of Georgian Bay. The Huron (or Wendat) and Petun inhabited the lands along the southern coast, having migrated from

450-590: Is a YMCA summer camp for youth located on Beausoleil Island, in southern Georgian Bay, named after Kitchikewana. YMCA Camp Kitchikewana, or Kitchi for short, has been located in Georgian Bay Islands National Park since 1919. Originally operated by the Midland YMCA, it is now the residential camp for youth from the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka. Wasaga Beach has now passed Collingwood as the largest town on

500-612: Is a prominent Wisconsin feature in Dodge County, southwest of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; it is known there as "The Ledge" and is in Ledge County Park between Horicon and Mayville, Wisconsin. Some local organizations take their name from it, including The Ledgers, the sports teams at St. Mary's Springs Academy , which is perched on the side of the escarpment. Many resorts and ski areas in Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New York are along

550-604: Is an eastern white cedar from 688 A.D. The oldest known tree in Wisconsin, a 1,300 year-old eastern white cedar, was found in Brown County. Georgian Bay Georgian Bay ( French : Baie Georgienne ) is a large bay of Lake Huron , in the Laurentia bioregion . It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario , Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island . To its northwest

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600-465: Is considered to be the second largest of the Great Lakes - if Georgian Bay were excluded, Lake Huron would be the third largest (after Lake Superior and Lake Michigan , but still ahead of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario). There are tens of thousands of islands in Georgian Bay. Most of these islands are along the east side of the bay and are collectively known as the " Thirty Thousand Islands ", including

650-427: Is more resistant and overlies weaker, more easily eroded shale as a weathering -resistant "cap". The escarpment formed over millions of years through a process of differential erosion of these rocks of different hardnesses. Through time the soft rocks weather away or erode by the action of streams. The gradual removal of the soft rocks undercuts the resistant caprock, leaving a cliff or escarpment. The erosional process

700-611: Is most readily seen at Niagara Falls , where the river has quickened the process. It can also be seen at the three waterfalls of the Genesee River at Rochester (additional resistant rock layers make more than one escarpment in some places). Also, in some places thick glacial deposits, such as the Oak Ridges Moraine , conceal the Niagara Escarpment, such as north of Georgetown, Ontario , where it actually continues under glacial till and reappears farther north. The dolomite cap

750-499: Is on the escarpment in such a way that the north end of the city is below and the south part above. Commonly referred to as "The Mountain" by its residents, many roads or "mountain accesses" join the urban core below with the suburban expansion above. From 1892 to 1936, the Hamilton Incline Railway transported people up and down "The Mountain." High Cliff State Park in Wisconsin shows how modern and prehistoric humans used

800-605: Is the North Channel . Georgian Bay is surrounded by (listed clockwise ) the districts of Manitoulin , Sudbury , Parry Sound and Muskoka , as well as the more populous counties of Simcoe , Grey and Bruce . The Main Channel separates the Bruce Peninsula from Manitoulin Island and connects Georgian Bay to the rest of Lake Huron. The North Channel, located between Manitoulin Island and the Sudbury District, west of Killarney ,

850-585: The Canadian Shield , granite bedrock exposed by the glaciers at the end of the last ice age , about 11,000 years ago. The granite rock formations and windswept eastern white pine are characteristic of the islands and much of the shoreline of the bay. The rugged beauty of the area inspired landscapes by artists of the Group of Seven . The western part of the bay, from Collingwood north, and including Manitoulin , Drummond , Cockburn and St. Joseph islands, borders

900-480: The Door Peninsula and then continues more inland from the western coast of Lake Michigan until ending in the southeastern corner of Dodge County. Study of rock exposures and drillholes demonstrates that no displacement of the rock layers occurs at the escarpment, which is not a fault line but the result of unequal erosion . The escarpment's caprock is dolomitic limestone , also known as dolostone , which

950-568: The Genesee River flows through the city in three waterfalls over the scarp face. The escarpment thence runs westward to the Niagara River, forming a deep gorge north of Niagara Falls , which itself cascades over the scarp face. In southern Ontario , it spans the Niagara Peninsula , closely following the Lake Ontario shore through the cities of St. Catharines and Hamilton , where it takes

1000-715: The Georgian Bay Littoral was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO . Archaeological records reveal an Aboriginal presence in the southern regions of the Canadian Shield dating from 11,000 years ago. Evidence of later Paleo-Indian settlements have been found on Manitoulin Island and near Killarney . During the period of deglaciation , a succession of prehistoric lakes in the Huron basin caused shoreline advance and retreat. The former shoreline of pro-glacial Lake Algonquin left behind high ridges which were attractive sites for human occupation. As shorelines retreated,

1050-600: The Niagara Escarpment . Because of its size and narrowness of the straits joining it with the rest of Lake Huron, which is analogous to if not as pronounced as the separation of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, Georgian Bay is sometimes called the "sixth Great Lake". If Georgian Bay were considered a lake in its own right, it would be the fourth largest lake located entirely within Canada (after Great Bear Lake , Great Slave Lake and Lake Winnipeg ). With Georgian Bay, Lake Huron

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1100-600: The Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls , for which it is named. The escarpment is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve . The reserve has the oldest forest ecosystem and trees in eastern North America. The escarpment is not a fault line but the result of unequal erosion . It is composed of an outcrop belt of the Lockport Formation of Silurian age, and is similar to the Onondaga Formation , which runs in

1150-583: The Ojibwe , it is known as "Spirit Lake". To the Huron-Wendat , it is known as Lake Attigouatan. Samuel de Champlain , the first European to explore and map the area in 1615–1616, called it " La Mer douce " (the sweet/calm/fresh sea), which was a reference to the bay's freshwater . It was named "Lake Manitoulin" by Royal Navy Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen. In 1822, after Great Britain had taken over

1200-471: The 1850s and are known collectively as the Imperial Towers. Some of the 32 can be toured by the public, some cannot, and some are accessible only by tour boats or private boat. Wyandot legend tells of a god called Kitchikewana, who was large enough to guard the whole of the Georgian Bay. Kitchikewana was known for his great temper, and his tribe decided the best way to calm him was with a wife. They held

1250-646: The British schooner HMS Nancy was sunk by three American vessels. Several weeks later, Nancy was avenged when British boarding parties in the De Tour Passage surprised and captured two of the three American vessels. The first nautical charts of Georgian Bay were made in 1815 by Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen , who called it Lake Manitoulin. Captain Henry Bayfield , who made more detailed charts of

1300-624: The Hurons , is now a historic park operated by Huronia Historical Parks, an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture . Also nearby is the Martyrs' Shrine , a Catholic church dedicated to the Canadian Martyrs , Jesuits who were killed during Iroquois warfare against the Huron around Georgian Bay in the 17th century. The Bay appears on maps of the time as "Toronto Bay". Penetanguishene ,

1350-506: The bay, not long after Collingwood had surpassed Owen Sound . Owen Sound served for a long time as a shipping and rail depot for the Upper Great Lakes . The towns of Midland and Penetanguishene and villages of Port Severn and Honey Harbour are at the southeastern end of the bay and are popular sites for summer cottages, as are the many bays and islands on the eastern coast. Collingwood, Meaford , and Wasaga Beach are located at

1400-562: The bay, renamed it in 1822 after King George IV. His charts are the basis for those in use today. The Canadian Hydrographic Service traces its history back to 1883, when it was originally established as the Georgian Bay Survey, tasked with charting and improving knowledge of the bay after a steamship wrecked there the previous year, killing 150 of its passengers. Over the years, 32 lighthouses were built on Georgian Bay. Six of them were designed with limestone towers; these were built in

1450-408: The caprock controls the rate of erosion of the scarp. As the softer rock is cut away, periodically the caprock shears off. Caprock is also found in salt domes and on the top of mesa formations. In the petroleum industry , caprock is any nonpermeable formation that may trap oil, gas or water, preventing it from migrating to the surface. This caprock can prevent hydrocarbons from migrating to

1500-438: The escarpment for not only cultural reasons, but economic gains, as well. A number of different animal and geometric effigy mounds and the remains of an early 20th-century limestone quarry and kiln are within the park. The relief and exposed edge are used by several wind farms stretching from Pipe to Brownsville in Wisconsin. Wind speeds average 18 mph (about 29 km/h) along this stretch. The Niagara Escarpment

1550-401: The escarpment. Niagara County, New York , near the eastern end of the escarpment, is the site of the 18,000 acres (7,284 ha) Niagara Escarpment AVA ( American Viticultural Area ). Wines produced in this region include traditional grape varieties such as Merlot , Cabernet Franc , Cabernet Sauvignon , Chardonnay , and Riesling , and fruit wines . Ontario's Niagara Peninsula is

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1600-577: The generalized sequence as sediments-calcite-gypsum-anhydrite-salt. Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment , or cuesta , in Canada and the United States that starts from the south shore of Lake Ontario westward, circumscribes the top of the Great Lakes Basin running from New York through Ontario , Michigan , and Wisconsin . The escarpment is the cliff over which

1650-426: The highly mobile Paleo-Indian groups of the period were able to migrate northward into this new land. Declining water levels created two distinct lakes in the Huron basin: Lake Stanley and Lake Hough , the latter of which corresponds to the modern Georgian Bay. Lake Stanley drained into Lake Hough through a spillway. While it is sometimes unclear whether some sites were contemporaneous with shorelines or were located

1700-488: The larger Parry Island . Manitoulin Island, lying along the northern side of the bay, is the world's largest island in a freshwater lake. The Trent–Severn Waterway connects Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario, running from Port Severn in the southeastern corner of Georgian Bay through Lake Simcoe into Lake Ontario near Trenton . Further north, Lake Nipissing drains into Georgian Bay through the French River . In October 2004,

1750-576: The location of an Ojibwe village located at the southern tip of the bay near present-day Midland, was developed as a naval base in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe , first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada . In 1814, during the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States, one of the battles was fought in southern Georgian Bay. On August 17, at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River near Wasaga Beach,

1800-461: The northern shores of Lake Ontario. Names of islands such as "Manitoulin" (from Gitchi Manitou , the Great Spirit who left the bay as a source of life for the first people) and "Giant's Tomb" are indicative of the richness of the cultural history of the area. Aboriginal communities continue to live on their territories and practise their cultural traditions. The first European to visit this area

1850-411: The other end, he tossed it into the Great Lakes. Thus, the 30,000 Islands were created. The indentations left behind by his fingers form the five bays of Georgian Bay: Midland Bay, Penetang Bay, Hog Bay, Sturgeon Bay, and Matchedash Bay . He then lay down to sleep and sleeps there still as Giant's Tomb Island . The town of Penetanguishene now has a large statue of Kitchikewana on its main street. There

1900-579: The same time another young interpreter trainee, a youth remembered only as Thomas, who was employed by the French surgeon and trader Daniel Boyer, also likely made it to Huronia, in the company of the Onontchataronon, another member of the confederacy. In 1615, Brulé's employer, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, made his own visit to Georgian Bay and overwintered in Huronia. He was preceded that summer by

1950-509: The site of the largest wine-producing appellation (region) in Canada. Cool-climate varieties such as Riesling, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc are among the more than 30 varietals produced across 13,600 hectares (33,606 acres). Three subappellations lie along the benchlands of the Niagara Escarpment: Short Hills Bench , Twenty Mile Bench , and Beamsville Bench . Northeastern Wisconsin, at

2000-484: The southern end of the bay, around Nottawasaga Bay . Owen Sound, Wiarton , and Lion's Head are located on the Bruce Peninsula along the southern and southwestern shores of the bay, while Tobermory is located at the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula on the Main Channel. The passenger ferry MS  Chi-Cheemaun travels from Tobermory across the Main Channel to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island. Parry Sound ,

2050-474: The summer. The presence of the lake produces a vacuum of sorts during the growing season: warm air over the lake rises, sucking colder air off the land and creating offshore breezes. Cold air cannot settle over the vineyards and a constant flow of warmer air makes the growing season here longer than in other parts of the state. The escarpment's glacial soils are made up of gravel, sand, and clay over limestone bedrock. An aquifer provides mineral-rich ground water to

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2100-562: The surface, allowing them to accumulate in a reservoir of oil, gas and water. These structures, also known as petroleum traps , are a primary target for the petroleum industry. The tops of salt domes such as in the Gulf of Mexico dissolve in a characteristic manner, and can range between 0–1500 ft thick. The halite (salt) is removed first, leaving behind gypsum and anhydrite . The anhydrite and gypsum react with organic material to form calcite . The classic Murray 1966 paper describes

2150-405: The territory, Lieutenant Henry Wolsey Bayfield of a Royal Navy expedition named it as "Georgian Bay" (after King George IV ). Georgian Bay is about 190 kilometres (120 mi) long by 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide. It covers approximately 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi), making it nearly 80% the size of Lake Ontario . Eastern Georgian Bay is part of the southern edge of

2200-510: The vines, encouraging deep root growth. In February 1990, the Niagara Escarpment was a designated World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO , making it one of 12 in Canada. Development and land use on and adjacent to the escarpment is regulated by the Niagara Escarpment Commission , an agency of the Ontario government. Cliffs along the scarp face have the oldest forest ecosystem in eastern North America. The oldest tree in Ontario

2250-533: The virtually lifeless landmasses, eventually formed a limestone layer. During the Silurian period, some magnesium substituted for some of the calcium in the carbonates, slowly forming harder dolomite layers in the same fashion. This dolomite basin contains Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie. Worldwide sea levels were at their all-time maximum in the Ordovician; as the sea retreated, erosion inevitably began. The escarpment

2300-515: The western end of the escarpment, is the site of the 3,800 sq mi (9,800 km ) Wisconsin Ledge AVA . Most of the region's vineyards lie upon the escarpment's eastern-facing slope that rises gently upward from the shores of Lake Michigan to the top of the Ledge, before dropping sharply off into Green Bay, and benefit greatly from constant air movement from Lake Michigan, which stores warmth during

2350-619: Was a major obstacle in the construction of the Erie Canal in New York and was traversed by a series of locks; the community which grew up at the site thus became known as Lockport, New York . The Welland Canal allows ships to traverse the escarpment between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario on the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. The canal also allowed Sea Lamprey , an invasive species native to Northern Atlantic Ocean, to enter Lake Erie and became

2400-445: Was laid down as sediment on the floor of a marine environment. In Michigan, behind (south of) the escarpment, the cuesta capstone slopes gently to form a wide basin , the floor of an Ordovician -Silurian-age tropical sea. (The escarpment is essentially the remnant shoreline of that sea.) There the constant deposition of minute shells and fragments of biologically-generated calcium carbonate , mixed with sediment washed in by erosion of

2450-685: Was likely Étienne Brûlé , who at age less than 20, in 1610 was sent to live as an interpreter trainee with the Onontchataronon , an Algonquian people of the Ottawa River . They travelled every winter to live with the Arendarhonon people of the Huron-Wendat Nation at the southern end of Georgian Bay, in the area now called Huronia . Brulé returned to the Arendarhonon the following year. At

2500-486: Was once a popular route for steamships and is now used by a variety of pleasure craft to travel to and from Georgian Bay. The shores and waterways of the Georgian Bay are the traditional domain of the Anishinaabeg First Nations peoples to the north and Huron - Petun (Wyandot) to the south. The bay was thus a major Algonquian - Iroquoian trade route. Georgian Bay has been known by several names. To

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