River Channels

SHOWN AT THE DOSSIN GREAT LAKES MUSEUM

(Running time: 20 minutes)

As part of their monthly Film Series, the Detroit Historical Society hosts a screening of “River Channels.”  

 Join the divers of the Noble Odyssey Foundation’s (NOF) research team as they investigate the long-forgotten river bed and shipwrecks hidden beneath the Straits of Mackinac in this 2008 film, featuring fantastic underwater footage of the shipwrecks that lie along these ancient shores.

In 2004 the NOF embarked on a multi-year investigation of ancient drowned shorelines in the Great Lakes. Unknown to many residents of the region, these massive bodies of water have undergone huge changes in their depths since their creation. Past water levels in Lakes Huron and Michigan have been hundreds of feet higher and lower than at present. As a result, their shorelines have changed drastically.

Coastal features of 7,000 to 11,000 years ago are now submerged as much as 400 feet deep, and consequently have been protected from the eroding effects of time. One fascinating result is that the well-preserved remains of prehistoric forests -- stumps and logs -- can be found deep underwater. Perhaps even relics of human habitation and/or new shipwrecks will be found on the lake bottom as well.

 Most of the NOF’s underwater investigations from 2006 to the present have been focused on the Thunder Bay area and the nearby Lake Huron Ridge. Using hi-tech tools of deep water exploration, they examine little-known features of ancient drowned shorelines to determine the details of their structure, the forces that shaped them, and the aquatic life that now inhabits them.