Portage Escarpment

The Portage Escarpment forms the northern and western boundary between the Appalachian Plateau and the Till Plains of the Central Lowland physiographic section of the United States.{{sfn|Bolsenga|Herdendorf|1993|page=12}}{{sfn|White|2004|page=413}}{{sfn|Szabo|Angle|Eddy|2011|page=513}}

The escarpment begins in eastern New York. Nevin Fenneman placed its starting point between Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake, where the Onondaga Escarpment transitions to the sandstone of the Portage Escarpment.{{sfn|Fenneman|1917|page=55}} But New York state officials concluded that it began east of Auburn, New York.{{sfn|Water Pollution Control Board|1953|page=15}} As it approaches Buffalo, New York, it turns to the southwest and hugs the shore of Lake Erie.{{sfn|Fisher|1981|page=7}} The escarpment moves across northwest Pennsylvania, continuing close to the shoreline.{{sfn|Water Pollution Control Board|1953|page=15}}

In Ohio, the escarpment gradually moves further away from shore. At Cleveland, Ohio, it turns sharply southward.{{sfn|Bolsenga|Herdendorf|1993|page=12}}{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=12}} It proceeds in an undulating south-southwest direction across Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=13}}{{sfn|Ellis|Shogren|1966|page=11}} In these latter two states it is known as the Highland Rim.{{sfn|Stout|Ver Steeg|Lamb|1943|page=49}}

The landform's name is derived from attempts by the French to establish a portage over the escarpment in the 1750s which would link their Great Lakes forts with their fort at Pittsburgh.{{sfn|Wilson|Boria|1999|page=Sat. E4}}

File:Portage escarpment - new york.jpg

In New York state, the Portage Escarpment (also known as the "Finger Lakes sedimentary deposit"){{sfn|von Engeln|1988|pages=18–19}} consists of sandstone interbedded with shale.{{sfn|Oglesby|1978|page=9}} The base is almost all black and gray soft shale, while the upper portion is interbedded sandstone and shale.{{sfn|Pearson|Johnsgard|Secor|Kerr|1956|page=5}} Because the more durable sandstone is not a capstone,{{sfn|von Engeln|1988|page=19}} the escarpment does not have a sharp, defined cliff or crest.{{sfn|Oglesby|1978|page=9}} This geologic makeup gives it a slope instead, and it often appears as two or more parallel terraces.{{sfn|von Engeln|1988|page=19}}

The Portage Escarpment's eastern end is in the Finger Lakes region, where it is the dominant topographic feature.{{sfn|von Engeln|1988|page=19}} Prior to the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), roughly 24 major rivers flowed north over the escarpment.{{sfn|Freeman|Freeman|2002|pages=22–23}} The Wisconsin glaciation began about 85,000 years ago, and the ice reached its southernmost point approximately 25,000–21,000 years ago during the last glacial maximum.{{sfn|Dawson|2016|page=45}} The ice sheet could not overcome the Portage Escarpment. Instead, the ice scoured downward, creating 11 long gouges in the earth. When the ice age ended about 10,000 years ago, these gouges filled with water coming down the escarpment and became the 11 Finger Lakes.{{sfn|Freeman|Freeman|2002|pages=22–23}} The Portage Escarpment essentially runs along the southernmost tips of each finger lake. The glacial gouging and subsequent erosion by rivers and streams has led to the creation of deep valleys which extend southward as far as the southern tip of the Finger Lakes.{{sfn|von Engeln|1988|pages=19–20}} This makes the escarpment appear to weave north and south in deep loops.{{sfn|von Engeln|1988|pages=19–20}}{{sfn|Water Pollution Control Board|1953|page=15}} The Wisconsin glaciation's scouring of the land in front of the escarpment in the Finger Lakes area has left the escarpment with a steeper slope than elsewhere in New York state.{{sfn|Oglesby|1978|page=9}} Here, the escarpment can be {{convert|900|to|1000|ft|m}} in height.{{sfn|Oglesby|1978|page=9}}{{sfn|von Engeln|1988|page=19}}

West of the Finger Lakes region, the Portage Escarpment is relatively straight.{{sfn|Water Pollution Control Board|1953|page=15}} The interbedded sandstone and shale here has suffered extensive erosion.{{sfn|von Engeln|1988|page=19}} In Livingston County, New York, this has left it much less well-defined.{{sfn|Pearson|Johnsgard|Secor|Kerr|1956|page=5}}

The Tonawanda Plain lies along the north side of the escarpment from its eastern terminus to Lake Erie. This lacustrine plain is bounded on the north by the Niagara Escarpment.{{sfn|Fisher|1981|page=7}} Although quite wide at the eastern end of Lake Erie, the plain narrows considerably along the lake's southern shore.{{sfn|White|2004|page=413}} Here, the plain continues to be bounded by the Portage Escarpment, which turns southwest in a series of indefinite hills at Hamburg, Orchard Park, and East Aurora.{{sfn|Fisher|1981|page=7}}

The Portage Escarpment continues to hug the southern shoreline of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. It passes solely through Erie County, where it is {{convert|2|to|4|mi|km}} from the lake.{{sfn|Wilder|Maynadier|Shaw|1911|page=200}} Here, Mississippian sandstone predominates over shale,{{sfn|Bolsenga|Herdendorf|1993|page=27}} and the escarpment rises to between {{convert|200|and|300|ft|m}} in height.{{sfn|Bolsenga|Herdendorf|1993|page=12}}

From Erie, Pennsylvania, to Cleveland, the escarpment is a little further from the shore, about {{convert|4|to|6|mi|km}}.{{sfn|New York State Department of Transportation|1983|page=22}}

File:Looking E down Woodland Avenue - Cleveland.jpg

The Portage Escarpment also largely controlled where the Wisconsin glaciation stopped in Ohio.{{sfn|Szabo|Angle|Eddy|2011|page=513}} The lacustrine Erie Plain lies beyond it to the northwest and west.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|pages=2–3}}{{Efn|Lake Erie occupies a depression in the middle of the Erie Plain.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|pages=2–3}}}}

The escarpment continues to hug Lake Erie until it reaches Cleveland.{{sfn|Bolsenga|Herdendorf|1993|page=12}} In this portion, the escarpment rises in three distinct terraces: A first terrace, which is about {{convert|100|to|150|ft|m}} above the plain; a second terrace, about {{convert|50|ft|m}} higher than the first terrace; and a third terrace, about {{convert|300|ft|m}} higher than the second terrace.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|pages=13–14}} In total, it ranges from {{convert|440|to|540|ft|m}} in height, and is {{convert|2|to|4|mi|km}} wide,{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=12}} giving it a slope of {{convert|40|to|80|ft|m}} per {{convert|1|mi|km}}.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=13}} East of Cleveland, much of the lower portions of the escarpment are covered in glacial moraine.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=13}} Both the upper and lower parts are cut by numerous dry ravines, rivers, and streams.{{Efn|The Wisconsin glaciation is primarily responsible for the drainage patterns in Ohio. At first, the glaciers extended southward across most of Ohio. As they retreated, water shed from the glaciers carved channels southward to the Ohio River. When the glaciers retreated beyond the Portage Escarpment, water was trapped between the glaciers and the Portage Escarpment, creating ever-larger lakes. As the glaciers retreated northward again, the water found an outlet through the St. Lawrence River, carving new drainage valleys through the lake-facing side of the escarpment and the Erie Plain.{{sfn|Hubbard|Stauffer|Bownocker|Prosser|1915|pages=18–19}}}} This makes the escarpment somewhat discontinuous. The upper terrace of the escarpment is difficult to distinguish from the Appalachian Plateau beyond, because both are eroded so deeply by water. Where the escarpment meets the Erie Plain, it is much more well-defined.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=12}}

Where the escarpment meets the valley of the Cuyahoga River, it bends southward{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=12}} and begins moving even further away from the shore. It is {{convert|4|to|5|mi|km}} distant from the shore between the Cuyahoga River and the Rocky River, and {{convert|17|mi|km}} distant from the shore west of the Rocky River.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=15}} Here, the escarpment rises between {{convert|200|and|300|ft|m}}{{sfn|Bolsenga|Herdendorf|1993|page=12}} in a single step.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=14}} The much lower height of the escarpment has allowed glacial till to build up and cover much of the escarpment's topography.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=14}} This part of the escarpment is extremely discontinuous,{{sfn|Water Pollution Control Board|1953|page=15}} as it is broken by the broad river valleys of the Great Miami and Scioto rivers.{{sfn|Waller|1921|page=48}}{{sfn|Hubbard|Stauffer|Bownocker|Prosser|1915|pages=10–11}} Southwest of the Scioto River, the escarpment forms the western boundary of the Shawnee–Mississippian Plateau region, the most rugged area in Ohio.

That portion of the Erie Plain between Lake Erie and the Portage Escarpment connects the Central Lowland of the Midwest with the Mohawk Valley in the east, and provides the only natural, low-lying route north of the Gulf Coast to the North American interior from the Atlantic seaboard. Consequently, this area is heavily populated.{{sfn|Cushing|Leverett|Van Horn|1931|page=10}} Settlement of Ohio largely occurred along the Erie Plain, following the natural route created adjacent to the Portage Escarpment barrier.{{sfn|Whitney|1994|page=154}}

• List of escarpments

;Notes

{{notelist}}

;References

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last1=Bolsenga|first1=Stanley J.|last2=Herdendorf|first2=Charles E.|chapter=Introduction|title=Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair Handbook|editor-last1=Bolsenga|editor-first1=Stanley J.|editor-last2=Herdendorf|editor-first2=Charles E.|location=Detroit|publisher=Wayne State University Press|date=1993|isbn=9780814324707|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nndmmFTWkVEC}}
• {{cite book|last1=Cushing|first1=Henry Platt|last2=Leverett|first2=Frank|last3=Van Horn|first3=Frank R.|title=Geology and Mineral Resources of the Cleveland District, Ohio. Bulletin 818|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Geological Survey|date=1931|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pacLAAAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book|last=Dawson|first=A.G.|title=Ice Age Earth: Late Quaternary Geology and Climate|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|date=2016|isbn=9781138171794|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPVOBMRQXAYC}}
• {{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=William Donohue|last2=Shogren|first2=Kinley T.|title=The Cuyahoga|location=New York|publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston|date=1966}}
• {{cite book|last=Fenneman|first=Nevin Melancthon|chapter=Huron|title=Physiographic Divisions of the United States|location=Albany, N.Y.|publisher=Association of American Geographers|date=1917|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPtPAAAAYAAJ}}
• {{cite book|last=Fisher|first=Donald W.|chapter=Introduction|title=Colossal Cataract: The Geologic History of Niagara Falls|editor-last=Tesmer|editor-first=Irving H.|location=Albany, N.Y.|publisher=State University of New York Press|date=1981|isbn=0873955226|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_IFDxu0oGQMC}}
• {{cite book|last1=Freeman|first1=Rich|last2=Freeman|first2=Sue|title=200 Waterfalls in Central and Western New York: A Finders' Guide|location=Fishers, N.Y.|publisher=Footprint Press|date=2002|isbn=9781930480018|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X4KcJU8f4MYC}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hubbard|first1=George D.|last2=Stauffer|first2=Clinton R.|last3=Bownocker|first3=John Adams|last4=Prosser|first4=Charles Smith|last5=Cumings|first5=Edgar Rosecoe|title=Geologic Atlas of the United States, Issue 197|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. Geologic Survey|date=1915|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KllGAQAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite report|author=New York State Department of Transportation|title=Southern Tier Expressway Study, Project Report II, Hinsdale, N.Y. to Erie, Pa|location=Albany, N.Y.|publisher=N.Y. State Department of Transportation|date=1983}}
• {{cite book|last=Oglesby|first=Ray T.|chapter=The Limnology of Cayuga Lake|title=Lakes of New York State. Volume 1: Ecology of the Finger Lakes|editor-last=Bloomfield|editor-first=Jay A.|location=New York|publisher=Academic Press|date=1978|isbn=9780121073015|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1holBQAAQBAJ}}
• {{cite book|last1=Pearson|first1=C.S.|last2=Johnsgard|first2=J.A.|last3=Secor|first3=Wilber|last4=Kerr|first4=H.A.|last5=Westgate|first5=P.J.|last6=Kirby|first6=R.H.|last7=Goodman|first7=R.B.|last8=Cline|first8=M.G.|last9=Simmons|first9=C.S.|last10=Granville|first10=J.M.|title=Soil Survey: Livingston County, New York. Series 1941, No. 15|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture|date=August 1956|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvrwAAAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book|last1=Stout|first1=Wilber|last2=Ver Steeg|first2=Karl|last3=Lamb|first3=George Franklin|title=Geology of Water in Ohio|location=Columbus, Ohio|publisher=Geological Survey of Ohio|date=1943}}
• {{cite book|last1=Szabo|first1=John P.|last2=Angle|first2=Michael P.|last3=Eddy|first3=Alex M.|chapter=Pleistocene Glaciation of Ohio, USA|title=Quaternary Glaciations: Extent and Chronology: A Closer Look|editor-last1=Ehlers|editor-first1=Jurgen|editor-last2=Gibbard|editor-first2=Philip L.|editor-last3=Hughes|editor-first3=Philip D.|location=Oxford, U.K.|publisher=Elsevier|date=2011|isbn=9780444534477|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pUjRgq7zyVcC}}
• {{cite book|last=von Engeln|first=O.D.|title=The Finger Lakes Region: Its Origin and Nature|location=Ithaca, N.Y.|publisher=Cornell University Press|date=1988|isbn=9780801495014|url=https://archive.org/details/fingerlakesregio0000enge_x4r4|url-access=registration}}
• {{cite book|last=Waller|first=Adolph Edward|title=The Relation of Plant Succession to Crop Production, a Contribution to Crop Ecology|location=Columbus, Ohio|publisher=The Ohio State University|date=1921|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqfPAAAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book|author=Water Pollution Control Board|title=The Lake Erie (East End)—Niagara River Drainage Basin Series. Issue 3|location=Albany, N.Y.|publisher=New York State Department of Health|date=1953}}
• {{cite book|last=White|first=Marian E.|chapter=Huron|title=Handbook of North American Indians: Northeast. Volume 15|editor-last=Trigger|editor-first=Bruce G.|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|date=2004|isbn=9780160723001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHXIeG6JyKEC}}
• {{cite book|last=Whitney|first=Gordon Graham|title=From Coastal Wilderness to Fruited Plain: A History of Environmental Change in Temperate North America, 1500 to the Present|location=New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1994|isbn=9780521576581|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fqxv-wB0ZwIC}}
• {{cite book|last1=Wilder|first1=Henry J.|last2=Maynadier|first2=Gustavus B.|last3=Shaw|first3=Charles F.|chapter=A Reconnaissance Survey of Northwest Pennsylvania|title=Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, 1908|editor-last=Whitney|editor-first=Milton|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Government Printing Office|date=1911|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uB8pAAAAYAAJ}}
• {{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Michael P.|last2=Boria|first2=William T.|chapter=Quaternary Geology and Water Supply Issues|title=Field Trip Guide for the 71st Annual Meeting of the New York State Geological Association|location=Albany, N.Y.|publisher=New York State Geological Association|date=1999|url=http://www.nysga-online.net/download/1990s-nysga-guidebooks/?wpdmdl=94&ind=NaUAB2S4UEeI5eGAsMfzh9GcorpX1auCJ67m31nnSKUuHIbXPuPEvs6euafoDNr7UHSdOWzWstiFJzQsszK2YZs2ugRZk7LucEUw1G_deIvlgqJjIjQncQnk4ASI6abq}}

Category:Escarpments of the United States

Category:Landforms of New York (state)

Category:Landforms of Ohio

Category:Landforms of Pennsylvania