GLY 330: GEOMORPHOLOGY & DRAINAGE HISTORY OF GREATER CINCI ! ! Name: ______• Go to our blackboard site and under “glaciers” find the “drainage history…” folder. Open this and save the two files to the desktop. • Open part 1 in Google Earth. One of the files in this folder is called “DEM” Make sure the layer is turned on by checking the box next to it. PART 1: PRE-GLACIAL DRAINAGE ABANDONED VALLEYS 1. Compare the DEM and the modern drainage. Find the tributaries to the major streams and rivers. Can you find any abandoned river valleys that are not tributaries? Using the placemark tool, label at least 2 in and 2 in Kentucky. 2. Are the river valleys without rivers (abandoned valleys) that you found in Kentucky at a higher, lower, or the same elevation as the modern ? ! 3. What is a typical elevation of an abandoned valley? ! 4. What is the difference in elevation of the abandoned valley and the elevation of the present day valleys? ! 5. About how wide are these abandoned valleys? ! ! 6. How wide are the abandoned valleys in Ohio? Are they at a higher or lower elevation than the present day Great Miami, Mill Creek and Little Miami Rivers? ! ! 7. Form a hypothesis that explains why these valleys are abandoned and at the elevation that they are. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !1 UNDERSIZED STREAMS 8. Next, compare the widths of the Little Miami and the . (turn the DEM on to measure the valley width, and turn it off to measure the current channel width) Feature Width in feet Little Miami River channel at point A Little Miami River valley at point A Ohio River channel at point B Ohio River valley at point B ! 9. Which river is wider? Which valley is wider? ! 10.Do the same measurements of the Great , near where it enters the Ohio, Feature Width in feet channel at point C Great Miami River valley at point C Ohio River channel at point D Ohio River valley at point D ! 11.Which river is wider? Which valley is wider? ! 12.Form a hypothesis to explain why tributary river valleys (the Little and Great Miami Rivers) are larger than the main river (the Ohio). ! ! ! ! ! PART 2: ANCIENT DRAINAGE: TEAYS 13.Turn on “part 2” in Google Earth. Turn off the “modern drainage” and turn on the “Teays River” layer. The Teays River drainage shows the river valleys prior to the ice age. Which way did this river system flow? How can you tell? ! ! 14.What do you think happened to these rivers & river valleys when pre-Illinoian glaciers arrived in the area up to 250,000 years ago?

! !2 ! ANCIENT DRAINAGE: DEEP STAGE 15.Turn off the “Teays River” and turn on the “Deep stage” layer – this is the path the drainage after the pre-Illionoian glaciers retreated and before the Iliinoian glacier advanced. Which tributary valleys were a part of the Deep Stage river? ! ! 16.Drilling through the river valley sediments along the Ohio and it’s tributaries reveals 100-200 feet of sediment indicating the “Deep Stage Ohio” drainage cut the valleys about 100-200 ft. deeper than they are today. What might explain this intensive erosion/incision? ! ! ! 17.Was the modern day Ohio River valley between the Great Miami and Little Miami Rivers a part of the Teays River? the Deep Stage river? Neither? How was this section of river involved in drainage? ! ! ! 18.Look at the tributaries to the Ohio River between the Great Miami & Little Miami – is there anything about their pattern that indicates the direction of the flow along what is now the Ohio River? Sketch. ! ! ! ! MODERN OHIO RIVER 19.The Illinoian glacier advanced into Cincinnati around 125,000 years ago, and again blocked the river, creating a lake where the Deep Stage had flowed to the north. The water from this lake eventually cut through where Anderson Ferry is now and cut the modern day channel of the Ohio River. Find the highest points on the DEM – you should see a N-S trending ridge - this was the drainage divide before it was cut across by the modern day Ohio, and is the location of Anderson Ferry. 20.Why is the Ohio River valley between the Great and Little Miami Rivers so much narrower, even though it is a much larger river? ! ! !3 ! ! 21.Write a brief statement and/or sketches summarizing the history of the drainage in this area.

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