 |
|
Aerial view of the Grand Lake Meadows, courtesy of Keith McKenzie |
 |
|
Sanding shoreline, Grand Lake Meadows, courtesy of David Hamilton |
Geology
The topography is very low and marshy around Grand Lake, Maquapit Lake and French Lake and there are very few natural rock exposures.
The land rises very gently toward the north, and limited bedrock outcrops are exposed along some of the creeks draining south toward the St. John River and the lakes.
The Meadows has extensive organic deposits (marsh, swale, swamp) and alluvial deposits at the surface. These modern deposits probably overlie fine-grained sediments (silt and clay) deposited in Inland Sea Acadia during the period of late glacial submergence in the river valley.
The alluvial sediments, made up primarily of silty and gravelly sand, form a wide plain to the western edge of the Meadows, and taper downriver to a levee about .5 km wide between the River and the Meadows where the old highway was located on slightly firmer ground.
