Glacial Envy

I feel cheated. Glaciers have a magical hold on the imagination. They are inert masses of water and ice that lumber blindly along, yet they also calve, give birth to smaller bits of themselves, and radically alter the landmasses under and around them. They are both behemoths and vulnerable; domineering and ephemeral. As John Larson Mitchell suggests in his book, Ceremonial Time , glaciers act as the hand of God, powerfully fashioning the surface of the earth.

But here's my beef: Maryland never had glaciers, at least not in the last glacial period which peaked a mere 20,000 years ago. They never made it this far. They just nipped to the north of us. Which is why most of America's lakes, especially our large ones, are in the northern part of the northern hemisphere. Because most lakes were carved out by glaciers. And we didn't have those big chunks of ice milling around down here.

We have no kames or drumlins or other geological features with cool, middle earth names. And no natural lakes.

There is nothing to be done. Laments won't help. But there it is. I just thought I would share.

Here is some information from the Maryland Geological Survey about lakes:

Q1: Is it true that Maryland does not have any natural lakes?
A1: Yes, there are no natural lakes in Maryland. All of Maryland’s lakes are man-made by damming rivers. Some have been named lakes (e.g., Lake Habeeb in Allegany County and Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County), but most have been named reservoirs (e.g., Loch Raven Reservoir in Baltimore County).

Q3: Why are there no natural lakes in Maryland?
A3: There are about a dozen major types of lakes, meaning there are about a dozen ways lakes form. None of those is found in Maryland. Some 74% of all lakes are glacial in origin, but glaciers never entered Maryland during the last Great Ice Age. Glacial lakes may form in bedrock depressions gouged out by glaciers or in areas where detached blocks of stagnant or retreating ice sheets are surrounded by other glacial deposits, such as sand and gravel outwash. When the blocks of ice melt away, the remaining depression, known as a kettle, may fill with water to form a “kettle lake.” Other major types of natural lakes include those that result from faulting, volcanic activity, and landslides blocking a river.

For more information about Maryland's land, visit http://www.mgs.md.gov/, Maryland Geological Survey.