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October 16, 2025

Lake Erie 2025

This summer, CSFA Associate Director, Dr. Jessi Halligan, along with CSFA graduate students and IUP Professor, Dr. Ben Ford, conducted initial geological testing of submerged sediments in Lake Erie. The team collected sediment cores from 70 ft below the surface, on a landscape that would have been exposed during the last Ice Age. Throughout the […]

Lake with one boat and a diver.
Underwater diver squatting around a core sample tool with bubbles going up.
Diver jumping into Lake Erie from boat side. man in blue shirt is watching.
Underwater diver with pink laser lights.
Diver jumping off side of boat into Lake Erie. several people watch from boat.
Nicholas Bentley in dive gear sitting on white bench on the boat deck. Lots of diving equipment sitting around. Two more people in background.
Underwater diver swimming looking at lake bottom with a pink light.

This summer, CSFA Associate Director, Dr. Jessi Halligan, along with CSFA graduate students and IUP Professor, Dr. Ben Ford, conducted initial geological testing of submerged sediments in Lake Erie. The team collected sediment cores from 70 ft below the surface, on a landscape that would have been exposed during the last Ice Age. Throughout the coming months, these sediment cores will be analyzed to determine the archaeological preservation potential of this drowned landscape. Dr. Halligan plans to return to Lake Erie this summer to continue her research into the now-submerged landscapes of the last Ice Age and the people who inhabited them.

Underwater diver taking a core sample from bed of Lake Erie.
Boat deck with divers getting prepared to go in water.