Traverse Gap

[
Lake Traverse (top) and Big Stone Lake, cut through the Big Stone Moraine (NW to SE on this image).] The Traverse Gap is an ancient river channel occupied by Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake and the valley connecting them at Browns Valley, Minnesota. [As discussed below, Browns Valley is both the name of the valley and the town located at its northern end.] It is located on the border of the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota. Traverse Gap has an unusual distinction for a valley: it is crossed by a continental divide, and in some floods water has flowed across that divide from one drainage basin to the other.

Geological history

The Traverse Gap was cut at the end of the last ice age. The Laurentide Ice Sheet decayed and receded as the Wisconsonian glaciation drew to a close, and Glacial Lake Agassiz formed from its meltwaters. Outlets to the north were blocked by the glacier, and the outlet to the south was dammed by the Big Stone Moraine which had been left by the retreat of the ice sheet. Lake Agassiz filled until it overtopped the moraine about 11,700 years ago. The resulting enormous outflow of the lake carved a natural spillway through the moraine, through which cascaded Glacial River Warren.cite journal
last = Upham
first = Warren
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Glacial Lake Agassiz
journal = Monographs of the United States Geological Survey
volume = XXV
issue =
pages = 14–16
publisher = United States Geological Survey/University of North Dakota
date = 1896/2002
url = http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/govdocs/text/lakeagassiz/chapter2.html
doi =
id =
accessdate = 2007-05-05 ] This great river not only created the gap, it also cut the valleys of the present-day Minnesota and Upper Mississippi Rivers. River Warren drained Agassiz in two or more intervals over the next 2300 years,cite journal
last = Fisher
first = Timothy G.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Chronology of glacial Lake Agassiz meltwater routed to the Gulf of Mexico
journal = Quaternary Research
volume = 59
issue = 2
pages = 271–76
publisher = Academic Press
date = March 2003
url = http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Faculty/Fisher/Fisher-%20Chronology%20of%20glacial%20Lake%20Agassiz%20meltwater%20routed%20to%20the%20Gulf%20of%20Mexico.pdf
doi = 10.1016/S0033-5894(03)00011-5
id =
accessdate = 2007-05-20 ] separated by times when the ice sheet receded sufficiently to uncover other outlets for Lake Agassiz.cite book
last = Ojakangas
first = Richard W.
authorlink =
coauthors = Charles L. Matsch
title = Minnesota's Geology
publisher = University of Minnesota Press
date = 1982
location = Minneapolis
pages = 109-10
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-8166-0953-5 ] About 9400 years ago, Agassiz found a permanent outlet to the north. With its former source now draining elsewhere, the River Warren ceased to flow, and the spillway gorge became the Traverse Gap.

Topography and hydrology

Despite the low elevation and flat topography of its floor, the Traverse Gap marks the Northern Divide between the watersheds of the Arctic and the Atlantic Oceans. On the north, Lake Traverse is the source of the Bois des Sioux River, a source stream of the Red River of the North, which drains via Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River to Hudson Bay in the Arctic Ocean. To the south, Big Stone Lake is the source of River Warren's remnant, the Minnesota River, tributary to the Mississippi, which drains to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. Big Stone Lake is now fed by the Little Minnesota River, the headwaters of which are in South Dakota. The Little Minnesota enters the gap from the west and meanders south through the old channel to Big Stone Lake. The Little Minnesota, part of the Mississippi watershed, is less than one mile (1.6 km) from Lake Traverse in the drainage basin of Hudson Bay.cite book
last = Sansome
first = Constance Jefferson
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Minnesota Underfoot: A Field Guide to the State's Outstanding Geologic Features
publisher = Voyageur Press
date = 1983
location = Stillwater, MN
pages = 174-79
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-8965-8036-9 ] [Northwest of the gap, the Little Minnesota runs within one-half mile (800 m) of Lake Traverse, but is separated from it by the Big Stone Moraine.]

The floor of Browns Valley is flat, which allows the waters of one basin to flood across the continental divide into the other basin in times of high water. The maximum elevation on the floor of the valley is 987 feet (300.8 m) above sea level. The "Browns Valley Dike" at the south end of Lake Traverse is at the same elevation; this structure was built to reduce the likelihood of flooding south across the continental divide. At 983.9 feet (299.9 m), [ A [http://plantsci.sdstate.edu/woodardh/Geology/Eastern/Geographical_Features_%20Fossils/continental_divide.htm sign] at the dike however gives the elevation of the continental divide as 977 feet (297.8 m).] that divide is lower than the level of the dike, and flooding at Lake Traverse has the potential to drain over the Big Stone Dike into the Minnesota River watershed. At the south end of the gap, the Big Stone Lake reservoir pool is maintained at 967 feet (294.7 m), and it has recently flooded to over 975 feet (297.2 m). The Little Minnesota River upstream and at a higher elevation near the divide has flooded to a level where it drained across that divide into Lake Traverse.cite web
last = Spading
first = Kenton
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = History and Potential for Interbasin Flow
work = Browns Valley Dike, Lake Traverse Project
publisher = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
date = January, 2000
url = http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/Districts/MVP/Reports/projects/docs/BrownsValleyDike.pdf
format = PDF
doi =
accessdate = 2007-05-04 ] While the natural state of the area has been altered by the dike and control structures on the two lakes, interbasin flooding did occur prior to construction of those improvements. The Traverse Gap therefore allows waters which would naturally flow to the Atlantic Ocean to flow to the Arctic instead,cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Background on the March 13-14, 2007 Flooding in Browns Valley (Traverse County), Minnesota
work =
publisher = Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources
date = April 20, 2007
url = http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/publications/brownsvalley042007.pdf
format = PDF
doi =
accessdate = 2007-05-04 ] and in the past has allowed water from Lake Traverse to flow in the other direction to Big Stone Lake in the Atlantic basin.cite web
last = Spading
first = Kenton
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Memorandum for Record: Interbasin Flow, Browns Valley Dike, Browns Valley, Minnesota, 2001 Flood and Historical Information
work = Memorandum for Record
publisher = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
date = 23 August 2001
url = http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/WaterControl/Districts/MVP/Reports/projects/docs/BrownsValleyMFR2001.pdf
format = PDF
doi =
accessdate = 2007-05-06 ]

Geography

The ancient channel at Browns Valley is a mile (1.6 km) wide and some 130 feet (40 m) deeper than the surrounding terrain through which it was carved. The distance from Lake Traverse to Big Stone Lake is about five miles (8 km).cite web
last = U.S. Geological Survey
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Topographical map, Browns Valley, MN
work =
publisher = terraserver.microsoft.com
date = 1984-07-01
url = http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=14&Z=14&X=209&Y=1577&W=1&qs=%7cBrowns+Valley%7cMinnesota%7c
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-05-04]

The continental divide crosses the gap transversely at its northern end. The Minnesota-South Dakota border longitudinally bisects the old channel. Roberts County is on the South Dakota side. To the east is Traverse County, Minnesota and the community of Browns Valley near the continental divide. The southeast part of the gap is in Big Stone County, Minnesota.

Human settlement

The area has seen human presence for thousands of years. A Paleo-Indian skeleton now know as "Browns Valley Man" was unearthed in 1933, under circumstances which suggested death or internment after deposition of the gravel but before creation of significant topsoil. Found with tools of the Clovis and Folsom types, the human remains have been dated approximately 9,000 years b.p. [cite book |last = Anfinson | first = Scott F. | title = Southwestern Minnesota Archaeology: 12,000 years in the Prairie Lakes Region | publisher = Minnesota Historical Society | date = 1997 | location = Saint Paul | pages = 30-32 | id = ISBN 0-8735-1355-X ] The Traverse Gap was used by Native Americans, who recognized its geographic significance. Two buffalo skulls were placed on the continental divide, where travelers would stop to smoke a pipe to mark the place where the waters divided. The native trails were later used by fur traders who had posts at Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake, and then by Red River ox carts on the earliest of the Red River Trails.cite book
last = Gilman
first = Rhoda R.
authorlink =
coauthors = Carolyn Gilman & Deborah M. Stultz
title = The Red River Trails: Oxcart Routes Between St. Paul and the Selkirk Settlement, 1820-1870
publisher = Minnesota Historical Society Press
date = 1979
location = Saint Paul
pages = 44-46
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-8735-1133-6]

The rural part of the valley floor contains pastures, cropland, and marshes along the Little Minnesota River. The vale was named "Browns Valley" after one of its pioneer residents, which in turn gave its name to the incorporated community near its northern end. The valley floor is is crossed by Minnesota State Highway 28, which becomes South Dakota Highway 10 at the south end of Lake Traverse.

Natural Landmark designation

Under the name of "Ancient River Warren Channel", the Traverse Gap has been designated as a National Natural Landmark under the Historic Sites Act.cite web | title = Ancient River Warren Channel | work = NNL Guide-Minnesota | publisher = National Park Service | url = http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/Registry/USA_Map/States/Minnesota/NNL/AR/index.cfm | accessdate = 2008-09-26 ] It received this designation in April 1966 from the United States Secretary of the Interior, giving it recognition as an outstanding examples of a geological feature of the United States' natural history. [cite web | title = Overview, National Natural Landmarks | work = Nature & Science | publisher = National Park Service | url = http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/ | accessdate = 2008-09-26] The designation describes it as "a channel cut by the Ancient River Warren during the Ice Age, containing the Hudson Bay-Gulf of Mexico divide, with a lake on each side as evidence of the irregularities in Ice Age sedimentation".

ee also

*Geology of Minnesota
*Glacial history of Minnesota
*Laurentide ice sheet
*Proglacial lakes of Minnesota
*Wisconsin glaciation
*Kensington Runestone

References

External links

* cite web
title =Browns Valley, MN Spring 2007
work =Flooding
publisher =JOR Engineering, Inc.
date = 2007-03-14
url = http://www.joreng.com/f_bv_3_07.htm
accessdate = 2007-05-10 Additional photographs of March 2007 flooding of Traverse Gap, including interbasin flooding across the continental divide.
* cite journal
title = Geology of the Southern Outlet of Glacial Lake Agassiz - Field Trip
journal = Minnesota Groundwater Association Newsletter
volume = 23
issue = 4
pages = 15
publisher = MGWA
date =
url = http://www.mgwa.org/newsletter/backissues/mgwa2004-4.pdf
accessdate = 2007-05-04 Photograph across Traverse Gap, showing flat valley floor and adjacent terraced uplands.
* cite web
title = Browns Valley Flood Mitigation Plan
publisher = Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission
location = Appleton, MN
date = February 2008
url = http://www.umvrdc.org/site/pages/getObject.php?ID=97
accessdate = 2008-10-05