K. R. EVERETT Department of Agronomy, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, G. F. HALL L. P. WILDING Ohio 44691, and The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210

Wisconsin Age Cryoturbation Features in Central Ohio

ABSTRACT Goldthwait (1959) concludes from the near lack of periglacial features in Ohio that perma- The record of periglacial cryoturbation fea- frost was rare or absent. It seems likely, consid- tures in the continental interior is poor, particu- ering the probable distribution of Pleistocene larly in Ohio. Many such features may be forests (Braun, 1951) and animals (Thomas, present but are overlooked or misinterpreted 1951), as well as modern glacial analogs because of their small size. In eastern Ohio, (Goldthwait, 1959), that climate distribution small, 15-cm involutions were amplified in a during the Wisconsin maximum must have recently made roadcut by the low angle of the closely approximated that depicted by cut and accentuated by moisture contrasts be- Brunnschweiler (1964) and Dillon (1956). tween the texturally dissimilar materials of the Periglacial activity was probably not intense involutions. The involutions occurred above and was certainly restricted to a narrow zone. deeply weathered Illinoian outwash gravels at Nevertheless, the paucity of periglacial forms the contact between pebbly silty materials of in this zone may be more apparent than real. It Wisconsin age and Wisconsin loess. The small is the purpose of this note to suggest that their size of the features, the result of a periglacial small size has resulted in their being over- climate of short duration, was revealed by care- looked or misinterpreted. ful leveling. FIELD RELATIONS INTRODUCTION A recent excavation resulting from the exten- In the temperate region of North America, sion of Ohio Route 16 in eastern Licking evidence for a periglacial climate marginal to County, Ohio (subsequently referred to as the the Pleistocene ice caps is, with few exceptions, Boston site, Fig. 1) revealed involutions involv- well documented only in the eastern and west- ing Wisconsin-age loess and pebbly silty ern highlands, (Smith, 1962; Black, 1964). material of indeterminate age which overlie Summaries by these authors indicate few well- deeply oxidized Illinoian outwash terrace grav- documented occurrences of periglacial features els (Fig. 2). The site is 4.2 km east of the Il- in what Smith (1962) refers to as the continen- linoian ice margin and 11 km east of Wisconsin tal interior. terminal moraine deposits. Mechanical analysis In Ohio, Goldthwait (1959) recorded only of the loess show it to contain 83 percent silt three or possibly four features attributable to and 4.5 percent sand. In contrast, the pebbly- permafrost, occurring in the western part of the silty zone material was 41.6 percent sand and state. The apparent rarity of periglacial forms in 47 percent silt. Total clay was essentially the the interior has led Smith (1962) to conclude, same in both units, 12 percent in the loess and in part, that the general dryness in the west- 11 percent in the pebbly silty material. Khanga- central portion of the area may have prevented rot (1969) recognized a stratigraphic sequence or at least hindered the formation of permafrost similar to that just described on an Illinoian and patterned ground. In the more moist east- terrace 2 km east of the Wisconsin terminal ern part of the interior, the proximity of forest moraine and within the Illinoian glacial bound- to the glacier margin may have precluded per- ary (Fig. 1). Involutions were not recognized at mafrost (Braun, 1951). Subsequent centuries this site. of treefall, root growth, and animal activity The pebbly silty zone above the outwash have doubtlessly obscured many periglacial fea- gravels (Fig. 2) and the intercalated silty zone tures. described by Khangarot (1969) are equivalent

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 82, p. 1407-1410, 3 figs., May 1971 1407

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Wisconsin drift \£%\ Illinoian drift fc^j Alluvium ® Cryoturbation site fUS] Wisconsin outwash |H| Illinoian outwash | | Unglociated • LC - 5 (Khangarot, 1969) Figure 1. Principal glacial deposits and boundaries associated wit . cryoturbation site (geology modified from Forsyth, 1966)..

and are considered to be water transported. INVOLUTIONS The wide areal distribution of this deposit and the high proportion of rounded and sub- The involutions depicted in Figures 2 and 3 rounded pebbles is suggestive of water trans- are approximately 1.5m below the present land port, but its poor sorting indicates a low energy surface. They involve material of both the peb- level. A clear indication of bedding is absent. bly silty zone and the overlying loess. Their The contact between the pebbly silty zone amplified expression in the roadcut is due and the underlying ouwash is nearly planar mainly to moisture differences in the material over the 45 m of exposure examined in detail. composing them and the shallow angle of the With the exception of the involutions, this pla- cut slope rather than to their actual size. A de- nar relationship also exists with the overlying tailed level survey of the involutions and other Wisconsin loess. textural contacts exposed in the cut indicated Khangarot (1969) has suggested that the that the involutions seldom exceed 15 cm in the pebbly silty (intercalated) zone is of Wisconsin age. This is supported by further field investi- gations in the same area that have revealed the presence of apaleosol within a loess underlying o 30 the pebbly silty zone and overlying the Illinoian E 0 outwash terrace. A similar stratigraphic se- quence was observed in a railroad cut approxi- mately 2 km east of the Boston site (Jones, 1959). Rutledge (1969) recorded a well- developed paleosol in a thick and probably equivalent loess deposit 51 km southeast of the Figure 2, Involutions developed on an Illinoian ter- Boston site. The pebbly silty zone at the Boston race east of Newark, Ohio. Stratigraphic sequence: I. weathered and oxidized Itlinoian outwash gravels. II. site is regarded, using available data, as Wiscon- pebbly silty zone, Wisconsin age. III. Wisconsin loess. sin in age. Vertical scale, 1.2 x horizontal.

Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/82/5/1407/3433244/i0016-7606-82-5-1407.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1409

Figure 3. Roadcut exposure of involutions. Numbers trast between loess and pebbly silty zone. Knife is ap- refer to units depicted in Figure 2. Note moisture con- proximately 20 cm long.

vertical dimension and none is more than 30 cm lutions involve very poorly sorted silt-rich high. They can be traced normal to the slope sands and gravels and loess, and they formed in for at least 30 cm. part subsequent to and in part contemporane- The small size of the involutions may reflect ous with a period of loess deposition. Although a periglacial climate of short duration and prob- no radiocarbon dates are available, strati- ably accounts in large measure for their general graphic relations in the area suggest the involu- lack of recognition in near vertical exposure tions are at least Wisconsin in age, and may be and auger holes. Khangarot (1969), in execut- as early as the Altonian substage. ing a transect of closely spaced auger holes on It is hoped that this note will stimulate closer a terrace 13.5 km northwest of the Boston site examination of irregular surfaces between tex- (LC5 on Fig. 1), recognized thickness ir- turally dissimilar glacial deposits or loess sheets regularities and what seemed to be an unex- in search for similar and other periglacial fea- plainable repetition of thin layers of loess and tures in the eastern continental interior. silt-rich sands and gravels. He referred to this zone as intercalated. The stratigraphic repeti- tion may be explainable by the auger penetra- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS tion of an involution nappe or nappes such as The authors are grateful to S. E. White of the appear in Figure 2. Department of Geology, and Mr. John Spletts- CONCLUSION toesser, Associate Director of the Institute of Polar Studies, The Ohio State University, for The cryoturbation features (involutions) de- their review of this manuscript. The work is a scribed from eastern Licking County, Ohio, contribution of the Department of Agronomy, developed close to the terminus of a Wisconsin Ohio Agricultural Research and Development ice sheet under a permafrost climate. The invo- Center, Journal Paper No, 3-71.

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REFERENCES CITED Jones, R. L. Outwash terraces along Licking River, Ohio: M.Sc. thesis, The Ohio State Univ., Black, R. F. Periglacial studies in the United States Columbus, Ohio, 94 p., 1959. 1959-1963: Biul. Peryglacjalny, No. 14, p. 5- Khangarot, A. S. Relative intensity of soil weather- 29, 1964. ing of Wisconsin and Illinoian-Age terraces near Braun, L. E. Plant distribution in relation to the Newark, Ohio: Ph.D. dissert., The Ohio State glacial boundary: OhioJ. Sci., Vol. 51, No. 3, Univ., Columbus, Ohio, 214 p., 1969. p. 139-146, 1951. Rutledge, M. E. Loess in Ohio: composition in rela- Brunnschweiler, D. Der pleistozane Periglazial- tion to several local rivers: Ph.D. dissert., The bereich in Nordamerika: Z. Geomorphol., Vol. Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio, 194 p., 8, No. 3, p. 223-231, 1964. 1969. Dillon, L. S. Wisconsin climate and life zones in Smith, H.T.U. Periglacial frost features and related North America: Science, Vol. 123, p. 167-176, phenomena: Biul. Peryglacjalny No. 11, p. 325- 1956. 342, 1962. Forsyth, J. L. Glacial map of Licking County, Ohio: Thomas, E. S. Distribution of Ohio animals: Ohio Ohio Div. Geol. Surv., Rep. Invest. 59, 1966. J. Sci., Vol. 51, p. 153-167, 1951. Goldthwait, R. P. Scenes in Ohio during the last Ice-Age: Ohio J. Sci., Vol. 59, p. 193-216, MANUSCRIPT RECEIVED BY THE SOCIETY DECEMBER 7, 1959. 1970

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