Niagara Escarpment

[roadman65]

For those of you that know the topography of the land between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in Ontario, you know that it has to be slanted as the former is higher in elevation above sea level than the latter. Or so one would think.

However, if you drive the QEW between Niagara Falls and Hamilton you will notice to the south of the freeway a hill that remains the entire trip.  That hill is actually one sided, unlike typical hills that have two sides. In essence, it's a continuous cliff as once you climb it the land flattens out on top.  That is how Lake Erie is much higher than Lake Ontario due to that sudden change in elevation.

What I find interesting is that the escarpment continues westward along the eastern shore of Lake Huron and along the land between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan in the UP of Michigan into Wisconsin and eastward to Rochester, NY where it ends that way.

Maps show that the islands between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron have that escarpment as well which makes no sense considering both bodies of water peak at the same level.  So being the Bay and the Lake are the same level above sea level, there cannot be no escarpment separating both Lake Huron and Georgian Bay like wiki and other maps show.

So I am to assume those maps are wrong?  I mean they would have to be unless you have a waterfall between those large water bodies.

[SEWIGuy]

You are making the assumption that the escarpment is uniform throughout its length. At some parts it is "thin" and unconnected - like along the islands separating Lake Huron from the bay.  So erosion allows the Lake and Bay to be at the same elevation. At other parts, such as in Wisconsin, it is a more more prominent landform.

[webny99]

What I find interesting is that the escarpment continues ... eastward to Rochester, NY where it ends that way.

Where exactly is the escarpment located on the NY side of the border? I've never noticed it, and if it does exist, it's certainly a lot less prominent than it is between Hamilton and Niagara.

[mgk920]

IMHO, the Escarpment is the biggest impediment to a logical reroute of US 151 to follow what is now WI 23 between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan, WI.  It passes north-south through the far east side of the City of Fond du Lac, just east the US 151's current routing.

Mike

[roadman65]

I saw the cliffs on the Door Peninsula are considered part of that.  Some of its shoreline has a wall along it. Not sure which side it was the photo taken as the west side is Green Bay and the east is Lake Michigan.

I also saw a photo of a beach on Canada's Bruce Peninsula that has a 50 foot drop off into the water that's supposed to be that escarpment.

[mgk920]

I saw the cliffs on the Door Peninsula are considered part of that.  Some of its shoreline has a wall along it. Not sure which side it was the photo taken as the west side is Green Bay and the east is Lake Michigan.

I also saw a photo of a beach on Canada's Bruce Peninsula that has a 50 foot drop off into the water that's supposed to be that escarpment.

The Escarpment is near the Bayshore and passes north-south through the City of Green Bay's east side.

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

I saw the cliffs on the Door Peninsula are considered part of that.  Some of its shoreline has a wall along it. Not sure which side it was the photo taken as the west side is Green Bay and the east is Lake Michigan.

I also saw a photo of a beach on Canada's Bruce Peninsula that has a 50 foot drop off into the water that's supposed to be that escarpment.

The Escarpment is near the Bayshore and passes north-south through the City of Green Bay's east side.

Mike

When I lived in Green Bay, I lived on the far East side - and the neighborhood looked like no other in the city.

[mgk920]

I saw the cliffs on the Door Peninsula are considered part of that.  Some of its shoreline has a wall along it. Not sure which side it was the photo taken as the west side is Green Bay and the east is Lake Michigan.

I also saw a photo of a beach on Canada's Bruce Peninsula that has a 50 foot drop off into the water that's supposed to be that escarpment.

The Escarpment is near the Bayshore and passes north-south through the City of Green Bay's east side.

Mike

When I lived in Green Bay, I lived on the far East side - and the neighborhood looked like no other in the city.

The rise in Mason St a short distance east of Main St is the Escarpment.  Also, the WI 54/57 freeway climbs the Escarpment near/just east of the UWGB campus.

Mike

[SEWIGuy]

I saw the cliffs on the Door Peninsula are considered part of that.  Some of its shoreline has a wall along it. Not sure which side it was the photo taken as the west side is Green Bay and the east is Lake Michigan.

I also saw a photo of a beach on Canada's Bruce Peninsula that has a 50 foot drop off into the water that's supposed to be that escarpment.

The Escarpment is near the Bayshore and passes north-south through the City of Green Bay's east side.

Mike

When I lived in Green Bay, I lived on the far East side - and the neighborhood looked like no other in the city.

The rise in Mason St a short distance east of Main St is the Escarpment.  Also, the WI 54/57 freeway climbs the Escarpment near/just east of the UWGB campus.

Mike

Yep. I lived between Main (US-141) and I-43 - north of Mason.

[triplemultiplex]

Where exactly is the escarpment located on the NY side of the border? I've never noticed it, and if it does exist, it's certainly a lot less prominent than it is between Hamilton and Niagara.

The Escarpment in western New York roughly follows Route 31 to Rochester.  The Erie Canal famously climbs the Niagara Escarpment at Lockport. The Genesee River cuts a substantial gorge into the Niagara formation at Rochester.
East of Rochester, the escarpment disappears under glacial deposits.

The glaciers did a number on the Niagara Escarpment and are the primary reason it's not a continuous feature throughout its exposure.  They eroded out vast chunks of it, but also buried it other places.  Melt water as the glacier retreated also carved numerous notches thru the escarpment. Just as an example, every little bay on the Green Bay side of Door County is a place where melt water flowed over and eroded the escarpment while the glaciers were parked just north of each spot.

I think if one were to travel back 2 million years before the Pleistocene, the Niagara Escarpment probably was a more continuous feature.  And located dozens of miles away from its present location.  Further west in Wisconsin; further northeast in New York and central Ontario; further north up by The Soo.  Multiple rounds of ice carving it back over the last 2 million years.

[roadman65]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/FPuj3SSUvJEwdJUs7
Is this gorge north of Inner Loop part of the Escarpment?

To the south of the Loop there is no gorge.

[steviep24]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/FPuj3SSUvJEwdJUs7
Is this gorge north of Inner Loop part of the Escarpment?

To the south of the Loop there is no gorge.

Yes it is. That area is known as High Falls.