Clouds float over Lake Drummond in The Great Dismal Swamp. (D. Kevin Elliott | The Virginian-Pilot)
See before and after photos of Mountain Lake at Before and After or visit http://www.sivtac.org/mtlake/mtlake.php/
Posted on 05/03/2009 5:56:47 AM PDT by csvset
Clouds float over Lake Drummond in The Great Dismal Swamp. (D. Kevin Elliott | The Virginian-Pilot)
See before and after photos of Mountain Lake at Before and After or visit http://www.sivtac.org/mtlake/mtlake.php/
The Appalachian Mountain range was more recently glaciated "upslope" just like every other mountain range in America.
What hasn't happened is the movement of a 2 mile high sheet of ice over top everything bringing in a load of glacial till (dirt, rocks, stuff) to fill in the low spots.
WV, like MD, has no natural lakes....only impoundments. (resevoirs)
This is utterly fascinating. Thanks for the wonderful post. How sad to see their lake this way. It’s still beautiful but I love water and I’d be crying.
It really has much less to do with climate, and everything to do with geology. There's a crack in the underlying sandstone that drains the lake...when the crack widens, or becomes less silted up, the drainage exceeds the rainfall and the lake drains...sometimes remaining that way for years.
Very interesting read...thanks.
And why does the lake level fluctuate, you ask? Because earthquakes are common in this region. Just little earthquakes, but those who have studied Mountain Lake believe that the joints between the sandstone formations are loose and that they shift to open and close the drain at the north end. On top of that is a 30-year trend of declining precipitation, which affects the 60 springs that feed the lake, many of which pop up between the Martinsburg and Juniata formations, on the south end.
Diane Tennant is a heck of a writer. Excellent.
I was just trying to punctuate the same point you made and ensure that it was clear that it is not climate related.
Yes, they do mention reduced rainfall. That should be pretty easy to prove. However, it looks like the eastern seaboard is about to get four or five days of rainy weather. Blech!
As an aside, in all of the state of Texas, there is only one small natural lake. That is Caddo Lake in east Texas.
I have always found that to be a bit staggering, but it is true.
That's very fascinating how a lake of that size and depth can just drain out and disappear. I hope it fills back up sometime, because that was a very beautiful place.
Texas has one.
Great article, thanks for sharing.
Fascinating. We in Texas have only one natural lake, Caddo Lake. We share it with Louisiana.
“One theory says a meteorite formed the lake bed”
Very interesting read
Couldn't one just insert a giant rubber stopper like one would have in one's lavatory?
After all, this is America damit.
It will barely catch up. We are short a dozen or so hurricanes!
Try Churubusco Indiana Lake Fulk.
I took a college geology field trip to the lake once. The guide said during one draining episode, the hotel staff tried stuffing pillows into the hole.
It would probably be a good and inexpensive investment for the hotel.
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