Rise and Fall Yes, the water level in the Bay is rising. Indeed, it has been rising for some 18,000 years, since the peak of the last “glaciations.” These are colder periods within an Ice Age, between which are “interglacials,” like the one we’re in now. (Yes, that means we’re still in an Ice Age, though it sure doesn’t feel like it this summer.) During the last glaciation, a massive ice sheet covered most of North America as far south as New York. So much water was tied up in the ice that the world sea level fell several hundred feet. Moreover, the ice pack was so heavy that it put a dent in the earth’s crust, which is actu-
ally more plastic than ‘crusty.’ Underneath, Lake Erie-to-be became tilted toward the north. Something had to give, so when New York went down, Maryland came up. (This is similar to what happened to the Yankees and the Orioles during the period 1963-1984.) In our area, the combination of rising land and falling sea level made the relative water level go way down. It was like slowly sitting up in the tub while the water runs out. By one estimate, the sea level was 300 feet lower than it is today. Then, around 18,000 years ago, everything reversed – the ice began to melt, the sea level rose, New York popped back up, we subsided, Lake Erie leveled off. It was like slowly
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