A
kettle (
kettle hole) is a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters.
Kettles are
fluvioglacial landformFluvioglacial landforms are landforms moulded by glacial meltwater. This discharge of glacial streams, both supraglacial and subglacial, is higher in the warmer summer months. As the water often flows under pressure, it has a high velocity and is very turbulent...
occurring as the result of blocks of ice
calvingCalving may refer to:*Calving, the process of giving birth to a calf*Ice calving, the process by which an iceberg breaks off from an ice shelf or glacier...
from the front of a receding
glacierA glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years...
and becoming buried partially to wholly by glacial outwash. Glacial outwash is generated when streams of meltwater flow away from the glacier and deposit sediment to form broad outwash plains called
sandurA sandur is a glacial outwash plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier.- Formation :Sandur are found in glaciated areas, such as Svalbard, Kerguelen Islands, and Iceland...
s.
A
kettle (
kettle hole) is a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters.
Overview
Kettles are
fluvioglacial landformFluvioglacial landforms are landforms moulded by glacial meltwater. This discharge of glacial streams, both supraglacial and subglacial, is higher in the warmer summer months. As the water often flows under pressure, it has a high velocity and is very turbulent...
occurring as the result of blocks of ice
calvingCalving may refer to:*Calving, the process of giving birth to a calf*Ice calving, the process by which an iceberg breaks off from an ice shelf or glacier...
from the front of a receding
glacierA glacier is a perennial mass of ice which moves over land. A glacier forms in locations where the mass accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation over many years...
and becoming buried partially to wholly by glacial outwash. Glacial outwash is generated when streams of meltwater flow away from the glacier and deposit sediment to form broad outwash plains called
sandurA sandur is a glacial outwash plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier.- Formation :Sandur are found in glaciated areas, such as Svalbard, Kerguelen Islands, and Iceland...
s. When the ice blocks melt, kettle holes are left in the
sandurA sandur is a glacial outwash plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier.- Formation :Sandur are found in glaciated areas, such as Svalbard, Kerguelen Islands, and Iceland...
. When the development of numerous kettle holes disrupt sandur surfaces, a jumbled array of ridges and mounds form, resembling
kameA kame is a geological feature, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier...
and kettle topography. Kettle holes can also occur in ridge shaped deposits of loose rock fragments called
tillthumb|right|Glacial till with tufts of grassTill is unsorted glacial sediment. Glacial drift is a general term for the coarsely graded and extremely heterogeneous sediments of glacial origin. Glacial till is that part of glacial drift which was deposited directly by the glacier. It may vary from...
.
Kettle holes can form as the result of
floodA flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide....
s caused by the sudden drainage of an ice-dammed lake. These floods, called
JokulhlaupA jökulhlaup is a subglacial outburst flood. The name is an Icelandic term that has been adopted by the English language. It originally referred to the well-known subglacial outburst floods from Vatnajökull, Iceland which are triggered by a volcanic subglacial eruption, but now it may describe any...
s, often rapidly deposit large quantities of sediment onto the sandur surface. The kettle holes are formed by the melting blocks of sediment rich ice that were transported and consequently buried by the Jokulhlaups. It was found in field observations and laboratory simulations done by Maizels in 1992 that
rampartA defensive wall is a fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
s form around the edge of kettle holes that are generated by Jokulhlaups. The development of distinct types of ramparts depends on the concentration of rock fragments contained in the melted ice block and on how deeply the block was buried by sediment.
Most kettle holes are less than two kilometers in diameter, although some in the U.S. Midwest exceed ten kilometers.
Puslinch LakePuslinch Lake is a kettle lake located in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest kettle lake in North America. The lake provides many recreational activities, including swimming, fishing, sailing, motor boating, and water skiing...
in Ontario, Canada, is the largest kettle lake in Canada spanning 160 hectares (380 acres). Fish Lake in the North Central Cascade Mountains of Washington State, U.S.A., is 200 hectares (~550 acres).
The depth of most kettles is less than ten meters. In most cases kettle holes eventually fill with water, sediment, or vegetation. If the kettle is fed by surface or underground rivers or streams it becomes a
kettle lake. If the kettle receives its water from precipitation, the groundwater table, or a combination of the two, it is termed a kettle pond or kettle wetland, if vegetated. Kettle ponds that are not affected by the groundwater table will usually become dry during the warm summer months, in which case they are deemed
ephemeralEphemeral things are transitory, existing only briefly. Typically the term is used to describe objects found in nature, although it can describe a wide range of things....
.
http://www.slackpacker.com/glacial.html
If water in a kettle becomes acidic due to decomposing organic plant matter, it becomes a kettle
bogA bog or mire is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—usually mosses, but also lichens in Arctic climates....
or kettle peatland, if underlying soils are
limeLime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
-based and
neutralizepH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations...
the acidic conditions somewhat. Kettle bogs are closed ecosystems because they have no water source other than precipitation.
Both acidic kettle bogs and fresh water kettles are important ecological niches for some symbiotic species of flora and fauna
http://www.kmoraine.com/interest.htm.
The
Kettle MoraineKettle Moraine is a large moraine in the state of Wisconsin stretching from Walworth County in the south to Kewaunee County in the north. It has also been referred to as the Kettle Range and, in geological texts, as the Kettle Interlobate Moraine....
is a region of
WisconsinWisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
, covering an area from Green Bay to south-central Wisconsin, and has numerous kettles,
moraineA moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past ice age. This debris may have been plucked off the valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
s and other glacial features. It has many kettle lakes, some of which are 100 to deep. Kettle Point, Ontario, a First Nation community on
Lake HuronLake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the east by Ontario, Canada and on the west by Michigan, USA. The name of the lake is derived from early French explorers who named it based on the Huron people inhabiting the region.-Geography:Lake Huron is the second...
in
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
has many examples of kettles, hence the name.
Pothole lakes dot the landscape of the
Northern HemisphereThe Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
in the
AmericanPrairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
and
CanadianThe Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in Western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are much covered by...
prairies, the Russian
steppeIn physical geography, a steppe is a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude...
s, and throughout northern
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
. Some of these lakes are far from agricultural land and settled areas, so they have fairly clear and unpolluted waters. Scientists use satellite images of these glacial kettle lakes to measure water clarity and to make environmental assessments. These lakes are monitored to study climate change.
ScienceScience is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals. The peer-reviewed journal, first published in 1880 is circulated weekly and has a print subscriber base of around 130,000...
reported that over the past 30 years, some glacial kettle lakes in northern Siberia have drained as the region has warmed and the
permafrostIn geology, permafrost or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of the ground...
beneath the lakes has "cracked," allowing lake water to drain.
In September 2008 workers preparing a new foundation at the
World Trade Center siteThe World Trade Center site sits on 16 acres in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The World Trade Center complex stood on the site until the September 11 attacks; Studio Daniel Libeskind, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Silverstein Properties, and the Lower Manhattan Development...
discovered a deep pothole.
Examples of kettle lakes
- Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
- Ontario
Ontario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
- Kettle Point
- Lake Wilcox
Lake Wilcox is both a kettle lake and a community within Oak Ridges, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. The lake measures 1.5 kilometers across and covers 55.6 hectares, making it the largest kettle lake on the Oak Ridges Moraine. Lake Wilcox, Lake St. George and their associated wetlands...
- Puslinch Lake
Puslinch Lake is a kettle lake located in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest kettle lake in North America. The lake provides many recreational activities, including swimming, fishing, sailing, motor boating, and water skiing...
- Great Britain
Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
- England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
- Aqualate Mere
Aqualate Mere is the largest natural lake in the English Midlands and is managed as a National Nature Reserve by Natural England. It is a remnant of the prehistoric Lake Lapworth....
- Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
- Loch Morlich
Loch Morlich is a freshwater loch in the Badenoch and Strathspey area of Highland, Scotland near Aviemore. The loch is home to a watersports center with kayaking, sailing and windsurfing among the activities available. There is also a yacht club and cycling routes around the loch...
- United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Indiana
- Pinhook Bog
Indiana’s only true bog is a special geologic feature of this region which preserves a large variety of plants with extraordinary adaptations for survival. See insect eating plants and tamarack trees; walk on a boardwalk that is placed upon a floating mat of sphagnum moss. Pinhook Bog is about 580...
- Iowa
- Clear Lake
Clear Lake is the name of a natural body of water located in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa near Clear Lake, Iowa. It is approximately in size. It is a popular fishing destination, with walleye, bullhead, yellow bass and channel catfish. People from Des Moines, IA and The Twin Cities, Minnesota have...
- Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
- Fresh Pond
Fresh Pond is a reservoir and park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prior to the Pond's use exclusively as a reservoir, its ice had been harvested by Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, and others, for shipment to North American cities and to tropical areas around the world.Fresh Pond Reservation...
- Jamaica Pond
Jamaica Pond is a kettle pond, part of the Emerald Necklace of parks in Boston designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The pond and park are in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, close to the border of Brookline...
- Spy Pond
Spy pond is a kettle hole pond located near the heart of Arlington, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway. Spy Pond has one island, Elizabeth Island.-History:-Geological history:...
- Walden Pond
Walden Pond is a 102-foot deep pond. It is in area and around, located in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. A famous example of a kettle hole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000 - 12,000 years ago....
- Michigan
Michigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
- Heart Lake
Heart Lake may refer to the following places:In Canada:*Heart Lake , located in the northern end of Brampton, Ontario**Heart Lake Secondary School, in Brampton, OntarioIn the United States:*Heart Lake...
- Walled Lake
- Thumb Lake
Thumb Lake, also known as Lake Louise, is a kettle lake located in Hudson Township, Charlevoix County, Michigan. The epithet Thumb Lake derives from the lake's bathymetry. An islet protrudes from the lake's west basin...
- New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
- Spruce Hole Bog
The Spruce Hole Bog is a complete ecological community occupying a true kettle hole in Strafford County in New Hampshire. It has been designated a National Natural Landmark since 1972; there were five similar sites, but they have been destroyed. It is located two miles west-southwest of Durham,...
- New York
New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Lake Ronkonkoma
Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island's largest freshwater lake, is in Suffolk County, New York, and has a circumference of about , and is across on average....
- Mendon Ponds
Mendon Ponds Park is a county park located southeast of Rochester, New York near the town of Mendon. At over 2500 acres , it is the largest park in Monroe County. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1967 because of its unique glacial geology.-Wildlife:Mendon Ponds is known locally as...
- Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
- Brady Lake
This article is about the lake. For the village of the same name, see Brady Lake, Ohio.Brady Lake is a natural lake located in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is a kettle lake and has no tributaries or outlets...
- Stage's Pond State Nature Preserve
Stage's Pond State Nature Preserve is a nature preserve located in Pickaway County, Ohio, United States, northeast of the county seat of Circleville. The pond is an example of a kettle lake: a lake created by a melted piece of ice cut off from a glacier. It is a resting point for large numbers of...
- Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
- Conneaut Lake
Conneaut Lake is the largest natural lake in Pennsylvania. It is located in western Crawford County near a town with the same name. During the summer season, it is heavily populated with people vacationing to the lake area, some from the area spending time in their houses on the lake, and many...
- Rhode Island
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
- Ell Pond
Ell Pond is a kettle hole in Washington County, Rhode Island. It is surrounded by a swamp of red maple and Atlantic white cypress, and by steep granitic monadnocks. The small area contains communities of both hydrophytic and xeric plants, which makes it ideal for ecological research and...
- Washington
Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
- Fish Lake
Fish Lake may refer to:* Fish Lake, Idaho* Fish Lake, Indiana, USA, a small town* Fish Lake Township, Minnesota, USA* Fish Lake , USA...
- Wisconsin
Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
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