The Superior lobe changed the geology of the North Shore through the processes of erosion and deposition.  The glacier eroded the soft sandstone out of the Superior Basin and deposited it elsewhere.  Click here for a map of the glacial deposits of Minnesota.  Since the glacier eroded red sandstone, its till mainly consisted of red sand.  Although the highland area was resistant, the glacier left its mark by polishing and carving striae into the rock, as seen below.

The small scale advances and retreats of the lobe carved much of the topography seen today.  Through the processes of deposition the lobe built many land forms such as drumlins and broad valleys.  When the glacial streams lost pressure from the retreating ice, they dropped their sediment load, depositing land forms known as eskers.  A stagnation and then a retreat of ice caused a mound of sediment to melt out of the glacier.  This mound of sediment is called a moraine as seen below.

The outwash water from the glacier carved the landscape leaving behind present day lakes and rivers. The Rum, Snake and Knife Rivers as well as other lakes and rivers represent past subglacial rivers and tunnels under the Superior lobe.  The outburst of these rivers carved tunnel valleys underneath the glacier and flooded the area outside of the glacier, depositing large amounts of sediment.  The below picture is of an outwash plain where glacial sediment smoothed the area out.

During the lobe retreat, the front of the glacier acted like a dam forming Glacial Lake Duluth, the predecessor of Lake Superior.

In front of Lake Superior, there is a huge area of intermixed clay and till, called the Barnum Clay-Till Area.  This area was formed from the readvance of the Superior lobe into its proglacial lake, Glacial Lake Duluth.  The area between these clays and Lake Superior is a very diverse wetland, as seen below.

One of the most prominent features of the readvance of the Superior lobe is the Nickerson moraine, which is a distinct high area south of Duluth. There is a giant moraine that swoops through the entire state, marking the furthest advance of the Superior Lobe, called the St. Croix Moraine.