STATE OF Little Miami Watershed Map Mike DeWine - Governor 01/2020 DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES LITTLE MIAMI RIVER WATERSHED Map MG-6 Mary Mertz - Director DIVISION OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Michael P. Angle - Chief by Paul E. Potter, Donovan M. Powers, Douglas J. Aden, Dean R. Martin, and Michael P. Angle

84°0'0"W GEOLOGIC SETTING Tipp City 721 571 To the casual observer, the terrain found within the of the Little Miami River is nothing out 187 LITTLE MIAMI RIVER of the ordinary. The landscape is varied and includes areas of gently rolling hills and strikingly flat topography. West Milton

The Little Miami River and its multiple tributaries seem to randomly meander, twisting back and forth across the MIAMI landscape. For the geologist, the topography and subtle bends of the river tell a series of interesting stories, both CLARK

MIAMI for this region itself and how it relates to events which helped shape the precursor of what we now refer to as DARKE New Carlisle 56 North America. 722 The story begins with the underlying bedrock, which was deposited some 450 million years ago during the 571 Ordovician Period. At that time, this area of Ohio was located roughly 30 degrees south of the equator and was DARKE MIAMI 68 Springfield 70 submerged beneath a shallow tropical sea. On the bottom of this sea, alternating beds of limestone and shell- PREBLE MONTGOMERY MONTGOMERY 40 based material were deposited along with mud. This sea was frequently visited by large tropical storms (the 40 equivalent of modern hurricanes or typhoons), which occasionally disrupted the normal pattern of sediment Union 369 deposition. Coarse material such as shells, corals, and other related fragments settled out rapidly because of their 54 size and weight and formed layers of shell-based limestone. 4 During calmer climate periods, finer mud and silt slowly settled out to form a cap of fine-grained shale or 503 mudstone overlying the limestone. This process was very cyclical, repeating itself countless times during the Ordovician Period, and leaving assemblages of fossils that are valued by paleontologists throughout the world. Vandalia By the end of the Ordovician Period, sea level had dropped, exposing the sediments to some erosion and 49 41 LM01: Looking northwest to the mouth of the Little Miami LM02: Looking northwest at the mouth of the Little Miami River from its bank at the Greater Water Works, River and downstream along the into Kentucky weathering. These flat-lying Ordovician bedrock layers are relatively soft and erode easily, especially the mud- 70 from the Cincinnati Waterworks in California, Anderson 40 Englewood 5651 Kellogg Ave., California, Anderson Twp., Hamilton and silt-based shales. Co., Ohio. Both rivers have very broad, flat floodplains at Twp., Hamilton Co., Ohio. The Little Miami River takes a 70 Enon sharp bend to the northwest immediately before joining the Following the period of erosion at the end of the Ordovician Period, sea levels rose once again at the Huber the merger. Ohio River. beginning of the Silurian Period, roughly 440 million years ago. A marine limestone covering the northern part Heights Lewisburg CLARK of the region marks this deposition during the beginning of the Silurian Period. This limestone was deposited in 70 CLARK 675 MADISON a shallow marine environment and lacks the softer shale associated with the Ordovician deposits. A substantial 42 GREENE 794 portion of this Silurian carbonate rock is referred to by geologists as dolomite, which contains magnesium. This Brookville 48 makes the rock harder and more resistant to dissolution and erosion. The resistant Silurian layers are also found 202 72 100 along the Little Miami River streambed and form small waterfalls and narrows, whereas the softer, underlying 75 98 LM 11 Ordovician rocks have been eroded, undercutting the overlying Silurian bedrock. Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve near Yellow Springs provides an excellent example of this. The record of bedrock deposition in this 97 99 101 South Charleston 107 region ends with these flat-lying marine shale, limestone, and dolomite units. Since this deposition, nearly 440 96 million years of erosion have removed any subsequent bedrock deposits. Fairborn 104 106 Near the end of this long erosional interval (around 1 million years ago), an old, northwesterly-flowing paleo- 201 LM 10 102 Yellow 93 94 95 river system beginning in West Virginia flowed through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois before turning south towards 92 105 Trotwood Springs 343 LM 13 the Gulf of Mexico. This ancient river system is referred to as the Teays River, and it cut narrow, deep valleys 103 LM 09 90 LM 12 into the underlying bedrock. Examples of such deep valleys can be observed around Cincinnati, along the Ohio 444 235 370 88 91 River, and along portions of the Little Miami River. The Teays drainage entered Ohio near Portsmouth and 89 42 Dayton 4 85 87 flowed northward into Pickaway County before turning westward, eventually passing through western Ohio near PREBLE Riverside LM03: Looking westward across the wide valley of the LM04: Looking downstream and east at the partially frozen 844 Little Miami River from Mail Box 2988 on Saddleback Dr., Little Miami from the OH 126 bridge north of Camp Grand Lake St. Marys and into Indiana. Today, most of these valleys have been filled in by subsequent glacial 86 Turpin Hills, Anderson Twp., Hamilton Co., Ohio. The Dennison, Hamilton Co., Ohio. The Little Miami River is deposits, but a few have been re-eroded to form anomalous, short, wide-open, flat-bottomed valleys. An early MONTGOMERY 84 wide valley contains thick sequences of glacial and alluvial relatively wide and shallow through this portion. deposits. glacial advance about 730,000 years ago formed numerous temporary glacial lakes and new rivers, including the 68 83

Ohio River, which roughly follows the limit of the continental glacial margin of the time. Past geologic history of West GREENE glaciation and erosion from both pre- and post-glaciation river systems has shaped the history of the Little Miami Alexandria 82

River watershed for millions of years. 35 35 MONTGOMERY The Little Miami River Watershed includes much of the outer edge of the Illinoian Age glaciation (roughly New Lebanon Cedarville 81 GREENE 300,000–130,000 years ago). Because the ice is thought to have been relatively thin and lost much of its massive MADISON erosive power at its extreme southern edge, glacial sediments from the Illinoian Glaciation typically are thin (less Beavercreek 80 than 40 feet) and flat lying, essentially mimicking the underlying and considerably older Ordovician and Silurian 503 78 79 bedrock. The northern portion of this watershed was influenced by the Wisconsinan Glaciation (roughly 835 323 25,000–18,000 years ago) so that near South Charleston, the surrounding landscape may be as young as Oakwood 38 18,000 years old. The Wisconsinan ice advance deposited a thicker blanket of glacial drift (30–80 feet) over the 77 landscape. This landscape features some rolling hills and numerous gently rolling rises and lows. This bumpy 75 MADISON appearance is referred to by geologists as a hummocky glacial terrain. There are also some more-pronounced Moraine 76 FAYETTE ridges that are referred to as end moraines. These moraines approximate a standstill in the ice movement that Kettering 73 resulted in a thicker accumulation of glacial drift. 675 74 35 Following the last (Wisconsinan) ice advance, the landscape slowly began to evolve into its present 41 Xenia 42 36 configuration. A network of streams began to develop, leading to what we now refer to as the Little Miami River 72 LM05: Looking upstream and north at a frozen Little Miami LM06: Looking northwest from the overlook in Fort West Watershed. Dramatic natural events shaped the topography of the watershed during the course of millions of River from the parking lot at the east end of the old US 22 Ancient up the narrow valley of the Little Miami River to Carrollton 71 bridge at Foster, Hamilton Twp., Warren Co., Ohio. The the highest bridge in Ohio, the 280-foot-high span on I-71 years. Numerous hurricanes, rising and falling ancient tropical seas, and at least two major ice advances all 75 35 Little Miami River has become considerably wider at this northeast of Lebanon, Warren Co., Ohio. The Little Miami contributed to shaping this area into its current form. 4 33 34 portion. River has steeply downcut a gorge in this area, providing 48 35 scenic overlooks. The main stem of the Little Miami River has a 107-mile-long, uniform gradient broken only by an abrupt 70 31 change at Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve. This change in gradient occurs where the river crosses resistant, 71 741 30 32 hard-to-erode Silurian dolomites at Clifton Gorge. Above Clifton Mill Falls, the landscape features a flat profile 69 Jeffersonville that abruptly ends on glacial end moraines. In this area, much of the river has been diked and bedrock is not 68 29 Jamestown 734 725 28 exposed. From Clifton Mill Falls to the Ohio River, the longitudinal profile is very uniform and bedrock is more 725 Bellbrook 26 27 122 Germantown 24 25 72 frequently exposed. Over this stretch between Clifton Mill Falls and the Ohio River, the Little Miami River consists 67 Centerville 23 of a series of quiet-water reaches separated by riffles formed by thin, resistant, Ordovician limestone ledges. The Miamisburg 725 riffles contain slabs of limestone and scattered logs. On the inside of the river bends are gravel bars. 66 22 21 The Little Miami River and its tributaries feature numerous sharp bends or meanders that at first glance 435 19 GREENE appear to be random. Between these sharp bends are relatively straight (or linear) stream segments. These 64 18 FAYETTE 65 68 straight portions of the river tend to follow the pattern of lineaments in the region (fig. 1). Lineaments are linear 20 features in the landscape that are typically an expression of a deeper fault or fracture system in the underlying 123 17 bedrock. Geologists scrutinize topographic maps, models, and aerial photos to map lineaments in a region. MONTGOMERY 63 BUTLER MONTGOMERY 16

PREBLE 62 LM07: Looking southwest from the east bank of the Little LM08: Looking upstream and north at the I-71 bridge over Carlisle WARREN 61 Miami River at a slabby gravel bar. Turtle Creek Twp. just the Little Miami River from the east bank about 1.3 miles DARKE MIAMI CLARK GREENE 15 below the I-71 bridge crossing the gorge of the river in north of OH 350 in Washington and Turtle Creek Twps., WARREN 60 Warren Co., Ohio. The gravel bar indicates the depositional Warren Co., Ohio. 729 nature of the Little Miami River in this reach. 14 503 Springboro Franklin 59 GREENE CLINTON 744 13 57 58 73 35 PREBLE 12 56 MONTGOMERY 55 MADISON Waynesville 11 4 10 71 GREENE 75 54 48 9 53 Middletown 6 7 8 52

39°30'0"N 380 5 22 FAYETTE CC 01 51 134 122 1 CC 02 72

39°30'0"N LM09: Looking southeast at the Little Miami River from LM10: Looking northwest down the Little Miami River WARREN 73 50 4 Sabina Trenton 27 29 John L. Rich Trail in , Miami Twp., from the bridge on Pitchin Rd. in Clark Co., Ohio. The CLINTON 3 73 30 33 Greene Co., Ohio. The river flows rapidly through this rolling hills in this area are indicative of the Wisconsinan- 2 26 28 32 constricted portion. age ground moraine in this area. 49 BUTLER 71 35 31 34 127 48 22 25 24 Monroe 23 36

WARREN 63 47 CLINTON 21 New Miami 37 CLINTON FAYETTE 42 20 Wilmington 62 46 729 177 19 Lebanon 45 18 HAMILTON 68 LM 07/08 22 17 Hamilton 4 44 15 LM 06 71 16 43 14 HIGHLAND 730 129 42 13 LM11: Looking east at the straightened and now LM12: Looking west at north wall of Clifton Gorge in channelized Little Miami from the bridge of Dolly Varden Clifton Gorge State Park, Greene CO., Ohio. The photo 128 Rd., Madison Twp., Clark Co., Ohio. Portions of the Little depicts the porous nature of the Silurian Cedarville 747 South Lebanon 41 12 350 73 Miami that seem unusually straight have often been Dolomite. 11 FAYETTE artificially straightened. It was once believed that such 32 35 37 10 BUTLER 34 straightening helped with flood control. WARREN 33 36 TF 01 HIGHLAND 39 CLERMONT 74 38 40 8 75 Mason 31 9 22 1 6 BROWN 30 5 Morrow 7 ADAMS Fairfield 42 2 133 82 28 29 4 CLINTON Leesburg 3 134 132 HIGHLAND LM 05 0 5 10 81 83 Miles 28 84 123 80 72 L i mi t 27 FIGURE 1. Lineaments in the Little Miami River Watershed. BUTLER al 79 85 c i 28 EF 05 HAMILTON a WARREN 771 Forest Park l 48 78 Springdale 26 The faults and fractures are a result of large tectonic forces that helped shape the continent over the G HAMILTON 275 Blanchester millennium (fig. 2). The oldest rocks exposed at the land surface of the North American Continent are in Northern n 71 25 24 77 LM13: Looking west at the Little Miami River from the bridge on OH 41, just below South Charleston, Madison Canada. The pattern of faults and fractures observed on these rocks is then extended into the subsurface. Glendale Sharonville a 76 Greenhills Twp., Clark Co., Ohio. Near the headwaters, the Little Lineaments on the land surface represent these deeper faults and fractures. The regional lineaments trend mostly n 22 23 62 Miami is a small stream derived from precipitation runoff i Loveland 24 northwest and southeast. The trends for the Little Miami River Watershed area roughly match the major tectonic s and minor shallow groundwater flow. 75 trends for the continent and help tell the story of how this landscape has evolved over time. Woodlawn n o 21 Evendale 23 c WARREN 20 4 s Montgomery CLINTON 138 CAESAR CREEK W i 22 CLERMONT BROWN 74 21 68 19 124 20 73 Wyoming 67 68 Lynchburg 18 65 Lockland 72 126 63 19 17 66 70 North 727 69 College Arlington Heights 61 62 64 LM 04 15 16 135 Hill 14 71 Deer Park 28 18 16 59 251 17 60 Amberley 13 Hillsboro 50 133 27 127 Indian Hill 12 58 50 I Golf Manor 22 15 l Elmwood Place Madeira 275 l 11 i 57 n 14 o Saint Bernard 42 132 10 56 i 9 BROWN a 13 131 CC01: Looking southwest at the junction of Caesar Creek CC02: Looking west and downstream at the outlet of 74 Milford EF 03 HIGHLAND n 562 and the Little Miami River in Wayne Twp. off Corwin Rd., Caesar Creek Dam at the narrow gorge of Caesar Creek in Terrace Park 2 3 55 Warren Co., Ohio. The junction is near the margin and a Wayne Twp., Warren Co., Ohio. This is one of the premier 8 52 54 75 12 1 major bend in the Wisconsinan glacial boundary. collecting areas for Ordovician-age fossils in southwest G Norwood 450 Ohio. 4 7 51 11 49 53 l 50 131 124 a Cincinnati Fairfax 10 71 506 c 5 6 48 TODD FORK i 6 6 3 a 7 4 47 138 8 9 5 l 7

5 Newtown L 46

8 1 2 Owensville 50

i EF 01 m 4 LM 03 HAMILTON 9

50 CLERMONT i 471 45

t 10 43 44 73 3 286 52 11 62 247 41 42 2 EF 04 32 12 13 1 276 0 40 al L i t LM 02 39 i i m Batavia 134 c

LM 01 14 a

38 l

37 G TF01: Looking east and up Todds Fork from the bridge of 275 15 16 Middlesboro Rd. in Washington Twp., Warren Co., Ohio.

36 68

n This portion of Todds Fork is relatively steep-sided and a

35 i contains many bends and twists.

17 33 EF 02 Williamsburg o

125 18 n

FIGURE 2. Tectonic trends of North America (from Potter, 2007). i

34 32 l

32 785 l 321 I 31 EAST FORK LITTLE MIAMI RIVER REFERENCES & FURTHER READING 19 23 30 20 28 29 Mount Orab Brockman, C.S., Pavey, R.P., Schumacher, G.A., Shrake, D.L., Swinford, E.M., and Vorbau, K.E., 2004, Surficial Geology 22 24 of the Ohio Portions of the Cincinnati and Falmouth 30 x 60 minute Quadrangles: Ohio Department of Natural Amelia HIGHLAND Resources, Division of Geological Survey Map SG-2 Cincinnati-Falmouth, scale 1:100,000. 21 26 27 749 25 BROWN A detailed map showing the composition (lithology) and thickness of the surficial (glacial) deposits that cover the BROWN CLERMONT

Greater Cincinnati region. 39°0'0"N

Camp, M.J., 2006: Roadside Geology of Ohio: Missoula, Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company, 410 p. 39°0'0"N An excellent book that gives the reader a great perspective of the geology they are viewing along many of Ohio’s 132 32 major roadways. 770

Davis, R.A. and Cuffey, R.J., eds., 1998, Sampling the layer cake that isn’t: the stratigraphy and paleontology of the type Cincinnatian: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey Field Trip Guidebook No. 13, New Richmond 247 reprinted from the Geological Society of America Field Guidebook No. 1. EF01: Looking northeast across the floodplain, probably a EF04: Looking north at the valley wall and flood plain of Bethel 62 slackwater surface of the East Fork from near Mail Box the East Fork of the Little Miami River from Mail Box 3518 An in-depth perspective of the bedrock geology found in the greater Cincinnati region. It discusses in detail the 1309 on Tealtown Rd., Union Twp., Clermont Co., Ohio. on Jackson Pike, Jackson Twp., Clermont Co., Ohio. section of Ordovician bedrock that is noted for its world famous assemblage of fossils. 136 The slackwater surface indicates a former damming and ponding of the stream by sediment or ice. KENTUCKY Meyer, D.L., and Davis, R.A., 2009, A sea without fish—life in the Ordovician sea of the Cincinnati Region: Bloomington, 52 Seaman Indiana University Press, 346 p. 32 An excellent book that synthesizes more than 150 years of research on the fossil-rich Cincinnati region. The book describes and illustrates the fossils, the life habits and communities of the animals represented, and living 232 133 relatives. Includes discussion of the nature of the rock strata in which they are found and the environmental 222 774 conditions of the ancient sea.

Potter, P.E., 2007, Exploring the geology of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Region: Kentucky Geological Survey, STUDY AREA 137 Special Publication 8. 125

Provides an integrated overview from the basement (Precambrian) up to the glacial cover of the Greater Cincinnati through Northern Kentucky region. Includes discussions on regional drainage, the Cincinnati Arch, bedrock and surficial geology, and geologic processes. Eighty-seven illustrations; some background required. 68

Schumacher, G.A., Mott, B.E., and Angle, M.P., 2013, Ohio’s geology in core and outcro p—a field guide for citizens and 743

BROWN ADAMS environmental and geotechnical investigators: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey 756 Information Circular 63. Georgetown 125 EF02: Looking northeast at very low flow of the East Fork EF05: Looking southeast at the wide, shallow valley of the An outstanding, easy-to-understand and well-illustrated overview of Ohio’s geology and its many aspects. Great of the Little Miami River from its bridge at Main St., East Fork of the Little Miami (distant tree line) north of 505 book for those wanting to learn. Williamsburg, Batavia Twp., Clermont Co., Ohio. In this Lynchburg, from Mail Box 8482 on Farmers Rd., Lark area, the Illinoian glacial cover is thin and the Ordovician Twp., Clinton Co., Ohio. The flat nature of the Illinoian till bedrock is also a poor aquifer. Streamflow is dependent plain remains evident. 221 upon precipitation runoff and declines during the drier fall season. EXPLANATION

Photograph Locations 62 353 Mile Marker Caesar Creek Il l 125 i n 52 o i West Union East Fork Little Miami River an G l ac i al Li mi t 348 Little Miami River 41

763 Stonelick Creek 247 Todd Fork EF03: Flat, poorly drained landscape of Illinoian till plain as seen from OH 133 in Jackson Twp., northeastern Illinoian Glacial Limit Clermont Co., Ohio. The thin, clayey Illinoian till plain Ripley closely mimics the flat, underlying Ordovician bedrock. Wisconsinan Glacial Limit 84°0'0"W

5 2.5 0 5 10 15 Miles

Little Miami River Watershed Kilometers 5 2.5 0 5 10 15 SCALE 1:150,000 1 inch = 2 miles DISCLAIMER This product of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is intended to provide general information only and should not be used for any other purposes. It is not intended for resale or to replace site-specific investigations. These data were Recommended Bibliographic Citation compiled by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources which reserves the Potter, P.E., Powers, D.M., Aden, D.J., Martin, D.R., and Angle, M.P., 2020, Little Miami River Watershed: publication rights to this material. If these data are used in the compilation of other Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey Map MG-6, scale 1:150,000 (1 inch = 2 miles). data sets or maps for distribution or publication, this source must be referenced.