The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States that starts from the south shore of Lake Ontario westward, circumscribes the top of the Great Lakes Basin running from New York through Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The escarpment is the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls, for which it is named.
The escarpment is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. The reserve has the oldest forest ecosystem and trees in eastern North America.[1]
The escarpment is not a fault line but the result of unequal erosion. It is composed of an outcrop belt of the Lockport Formation of Silurian age, and is similar to the Onondaga Formation, which runs in a parallel outcrop belt just to the south, through western New York and southern Ontario. The escarpment is the most prominent of several escarpments formed in the bedrock of the Great Lakes Basin. From its easternmost point just south of Lake Ontario, the escarpment shapes in part the individual basins and landforms of Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan.
In Rochester, New York, the Genesee River flows through the city in three waterfalls over the scarp face. The escarpment thence runs westward to the Niagara River, forming a deep gorge north of Niagara Falls, which itself cascades over the scarp face. In southern Ontario, it spans the Niagara Peninsula, closely following the Lake Ontario shore through the cities of St. Catharines and Hamilton, where it takes a sharp turn north in the town of Milton toward Georgian Bay. It then follows the Georgian Bay shore northwestwards to form the spine of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island, as well as several smaller islands in northern Lake Huron, where it turns westwards into the Upper Peninsula of northern Michigan, south of Sault Ste. Marie. It extends down the Garden Peninsula and Potawatomi Islands into Wisconsin following the Door Peninsula and then continues more inland from the western coast of Lake Michigan until ending in the southeastern corner of Dodge County.[2]
^Kelly, Peter (2007-05-31). The Last Stand: A Journey Through the Ancient Cliff-Face Forest of the Niagara Escarpment (1st ed.). Natural Heritage. ISBN 978-1-897045-19-0. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
^John Luczaj, "Geology of the Niagara Escarpment in Wisconsin"
and 25 Related for: Niagara Escarpment information
The NiagaraEscarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States that starts from the south shore of Lake Ontario westward, circumscribes...
upper Great Lakes emptied into the Niagara River, which followed the rearranged topography across the NiagaraEscarpment. In time, the river cut a gorge...
Pembina Escarpment (Manitoba, North Dakota) NiagaraEscarpment (east to west: New York, Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois) Eardley Escarpment (Mattawa...
the underlying layer. The NiagaraEscarpment, over which Niagara Falls flows, is an example of a scarp or escarpment. At Niagara Falls, the caprock is the...
The NiagaraEscarpment Biosphere Reserve (French: Réserve de biosphère de l'Escarpement du Niagara) (established 1990) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located...
Peninsula contains part of the geological formation known as the NiagaraEscarpment. The peninsula is a popular tourist destination for camping, hiking...
begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends downriver at the edge of the geological formation known as the NiagaraEscarpment near Queenston, Ontario...
border NiagaraEscarpment, the cliff over which the river forms the falls Niagara Whirlpool, a natural whirlpool downstream from the falls Niagara Gorge...
and includes Niagara Falls in its course. The falls have moved approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) upstream from the NiagaraEscarpment in the last 12...
The NiagaraEscarpment Commission (French: Commission de l'escarpement du Niagara), founded in June 1973 by the NiagaraEscarpment Planning and Development...
upstream erosion of the NiagaraEscarpment by the Niagara River. Niagara Falls is located along the boundary of the NiagaraEscarpment and has been retreating...
The property is located on the NiagaraEscarpment and classified as Escarpment Protection Area by the NiagaraEscarpment Commission, which limits use and...
communities. This village is at the point where the Niagara River began eroding the NiagaraEscarpment. During the ensuing 12,000 years the Falls cut an...
Harmer co-founded PERL (Protecting Escarpment Rural Land), an organization which campaigned to protect the NiagaraEscarpment from a proposed gravel development...
the moraine is known to have partially developed under water. The NiagaraEscarpment played a key role in forming the moraine in that it acted as a dam...
There are many natural features within these bounds; they include the NiagaraEscarpment, and the Bruce Trail. Many of these local features are protected by...
lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the NiagaraEscarpment, and has followed four different...
existed on the southern (upper) side of the NiagaraEscarpment east of the present course of the Niagara River between Early Lake Erie to the south and...
through the upland by the Niagara River. The NiagaraEscarpment has a relatively strong slope or enfacing escarpment on the side towards the upland, and a long...
and land speculator. Yet these men "carried the Erie Canal up the Niagaraescarpment at Lockport, maneuvered it onto a towering embankment to cross over...
continuation of the Bruce Peninsula and NiagaraEscarpment. This geological rock formation runs south into Niagara Falls and continues into New York. The...
approximately 0.4 square kilometers. The Badlands are considered part of the NiagaraEscarpment, which was designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1990. Acting...
The NiagaraEscarpment AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Niagara County, New York along the NiagaraEscarpment. Certified by the United States Department...
level, while Lake Ontario is significantly lower, and because the NiagaraEscarpment precludes all natural navigation, the four upper lakes are commonly...
urban development. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the NiagaraEscarpment. The Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and...