1 geologic history_2
Post on 19-May-2015
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How did the Gulf of Maine form? The geologic story of the Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine began forming when the supercontinent Pangea started to break up.
190 million years ago
The Early Years
190 million years ago
190 million years ago
The Early Years
By roughly 50 million years ago, Pangea had broken up entirely and the Gulf of Maine had settled into its current location.
190 million years ago
The Early Years
By roughly 50 million years ago, Pangea had broken up entirely and the Gulf of Maine had settled into its current location.
Still, a major turning point that shaped the Gulf of Maine as we know it today had yet to occur….
190 million years ago
Roughly 18,000 years ago, during the last ice age, the Laurentide Ice Sheet approached the Gulf of Maine.
18,000 years ago
The Glacial Years
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
The Glacial Years
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
The Glacial Years
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
The Glacial Years
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
By the time the ice sheet advanced onto Maine, it had grown to be 1 mile thick!
1 MILE
The Glacial Years
Laurentide Ice Sheet
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
The glacier had picked up many rocks along its path, traveling all the way across northern North America. As it bulldozed into the Gulf of Maine, it dropped many of these rocks into the ocean.
1 MILE
The Glacial Years
Laurentide Ice Sheet
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
The ice sheet retreated completely from the Gulf of Maine roughly 13,000 years ago…
The Glacial Years
Laurentide Ice Sheet
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
…revealing the landscape and seafloor we see today!
13,000 years ago
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
13,000 years ago
The bulldozed rocks that the glacier left behind became the banks that shape the Gulf’s floor and drive the pattern of local ocean currents.
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
13,000 years ago
For example, nutrient-rich water from the Arctic tends to swell over George’s Bank, flooding the area with nutrients and making it one of the most important commercial fisheries in New England.
What two major geologic events helped shape the Gulf of Maine?
The Gulf of Maine began forming when the supercontinent Pangea started to break up.
190 million years ago
What two major geologic events helped shape the Gulf of Maine?
The Gulf of Maine began forming when the supercontinent Pangea started to break up.
190 million years ago
18,000 years ago
North American glaciers encroached on the Gulf of Maine during the last ice age, revealing the modern underwater landscape that shapes the Gulf of Maine today.
What two major geologic events helped shape the Gulf of Maine?
The Gulf of Maine today.
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