REMARKS: The shape of the land within a series of meanders in Little Elk Creek resembles a "backbone"; a unique topographic feature created by stream erosion.
REMARKS: Drumlins, very common to the glaciated northwestern area of Pennsylvania, are low, smoothly rounded, elongate hills, mounds, or ridges of compact glacial till, built under the margin of the ice and shaped by its flow, or carved out of the older moraine by readvancing ice. The drumlin's longer axis is parallel to the direction of ice movement; the drumlin has a blunt nose pointing in the direction from which the ice approached, and gentler slope tapering in the opposite direction. Drumlins at this site are almost perfect textbook examples.
REMARKS: Presque Isle is a relatively recent geologic feature of glacial origin, having developed less than 13,000 years ago, after the final retreat of glacial ice from northwestern Pennsylvania. The peninsula, approximately 6 miles long, is composed of sand deposits brought into the area from the west by lake currents.
Within record, except for diminishments in the periods 1790-1818 and 1837-1866, Presque Isle has grown so that presently the neck is about three times longer, the exposed land area three to four times greater, and the overall reach of the feature nearly three times greater than in 1790. Over the years there has been a movement and growth of the entire peninsula in a northeasterly direction, the direction of the lake current, and the recession of the lakeside beaches at the southwest end.
The northeastward growth of Presque Isle created small ponds of water of various ages. This situation provides a unique opportunity for the scientific study of the plant and animal life in and around these ponds. Therefore, in addition to being a scenic geological feature, the biological environment of Presque Isle is of considerable scientific importance.
The site is also of historical importance because it is associated with Perry's great victory of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. It is a registered National Natural Landmark.
REFERENCES: Hough, J. L. [1958], Geology of the Great Lakes, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, 313 p.
Tomikel, J. C. and Shepps, V. C. [1967], The geography and geology of Erie County, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Information Circular 56, 64p.
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers [1973], Revised draft, Environmental Impact Statement on the Cooperative Beach Erosion Project at Presque Isle, Pennsylvania [Erie, Pennsylvania], Buffalo District, p. 45.
REMARKS: A marl bog that contains an acid sphagnum mat surface; this bog and the nearby Wattsburg Bog are excellent examples of sphagnum bogs surrounded by a well-developed swamp forest; both bogs are registered National Natural Landmarks.