Lake Devlin and Pinedale glacial history, front range, Colorado

Abstract

Glacial Lake Devlin was an ice-margin lake that formed during Pinedale time when the North Boulder Creek valley glacier blocked the mouth of a tributary near the downvalley limit of glaciation. The lake was about 2 km long and as much as 60 m deep, and was fed by meltwater from small valley glaciers. It accumulated sediment, apparently without interruption, for about 10,000 yr. The inception of Lake Devlin between 23,500 and 21,000 yr B.P. provides a limiting date for the maximum expansion of Pinedale ice, because the lake could not form until the North Boulder Creek glacier had advanced to within 2 km of its downvalley limit. The maximum lowering of timberline, which occurred about 19,000 yr B.P., is assumed to coincide with the Pinedale glacial maximum. Apparent timberline elevations determined from Picea/Pinus pollen ratios suggest that ice-front positions during the time between 23,000 and 19,000 yr B.P. may have been only slightly less extensive than at the Pinedale maximum. Lake Devlin drained catastrophically about 13,000 yr B.P., which was after ice had receded from the outlet area. Pinedale glaciation in the Front Range began about or after 30,000 yr B.P. and final deglaciation occurred between 15,000 and 12,000 yr B.P. ?? 1986.