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The Glacial Geology of Highland County, Ohio

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The Glacial Geology of Highland County, Ohio 71-7552 ROSENGREEN, Theodore Ernest, 1937- THE GLACIAL GEOLOGY OF HIGHLAND COUNTY, OHIO. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1970 Geology University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan Copyright by Theodore Ernest Rosengreen 1971 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE GLACIAL GEOLOGY OP HIGHLAND COUNTY, OHIO DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University Ry Theodore Ernest Rosengreen, B.S., M.S. ****** The Ohio State University 1970 Approved hy Adviser Department of Geology PLEASE NOTE: Several pages contain colored illustrations. Filmed in the best possible way. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my gratitude to the Ohio Geological Survey for financial assistance during the field investigations. Thanks are due the Department of Agronomy for use of their laboratory during analyses of till for clay-mineral composition and calcite-dolomite content. Additional thanks go to Richard Drees for his assistance during the analyses, and to Dr. L. Wilding, both of that department, for techni­ cal aid on the soil characteristics of the area. Appreciation is extended to Niles McLoda of the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, for discussing characteristics of the recently mapped soils of Highland County. Identification of wood collected in the county was made by Dr. G. Burns of the Depart­ ment of Botany at Ohio Wesleyan University. I wish to express appreciation to Dr. B. Goldthwalt, Dr. A. LaHocque, and Dr. G. Faure of The Ohio State University, Department of Geology, for help given in the final preparation and critical read­ ing of this manuscript. Additional gratitude is expressed to Dr. Goldthwalt for his constructive suggestions given during the field investigations. Special appreciation is extended to my wife, Rita, for her tremendous help in typing of the manuscript and assistance in preparing the geologic map. ii VITA February 19, 1937 • • • Born - Tooele, Utah 1 9 6 2 .............. B.S. Geology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 196 2 .............. Geologist, Bear Creek Mining., Spokane, Washington 196 3 .............. Geologist, Shannon & Wilson Inc., Soil Engineers, Seattle, Washington 1963-6^ ........ Computer System Analyst, The Boeing Co., Renton, Washington 1 9 6 5 .............. M.S. Geology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 1965-67 ............. Geologist, Humble Oil & Refining Co., Corpus Christi, Texas 1 9 6 7 - 6 9 .............Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1970 .............. Research Associate, Department of Geology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio PUBLICATIONS "Till Stratigraphy from Columbus southwest to Highland County, Ohio" (with R, P. Goldthwalt) Field Guide-Third annual meeting North- Central Section, Geol. Soc. Amer., 2-1 to 2-17 figs. FIELD OF STUDY Major Field: Geology Studies in Glacial Geology and Geomorphology. Professors Richard P. Goldthwalt and Sidney E. White Studies in Geochemistry and Isotope Geology. Professor Gunter Faure Studies in Agronomy. Professors Larry Wilding and George Hall lii / TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOVfLEDMENTS.......................................... ii VITA ................................................... iil LIST OF TABLES . ........................................ vii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS..................................... vili P l a t e ........................... ................ vlli Figures ....................................... • viil INTRODUCTION....................... 1 Regional Setting .................................... 1 Purpose of Investigation ....................... 3 Previous Investigation ............. »•••• ....... 5 Bedrock Geology................... 5 Glacial Geology........... 3 Procedures .......................................... 7 Field Methods.................................... 7 Office and Laboratory Procedures ................... 9 PREGLACIAL SETTING ......................... 12 Bedrock Geology ............................... 12 Preglacial Surface ............ ........... • 12 Preglacial Drainage .............. 17 Economic Geology ......... ........ ....... •• 18 Limestone and Dolomite ........................... 18 iv Page Sand and G r a v e l ................................ 19 METHODS AND RESULTS OF STRATIGRAPHIC CORRELATION........ 20 Stratigraphy................................... 20 Surface S o i l s ..................... 25 Till Soil Associations....................... 25 Depth of Leaching............................ 31 Loess cover............. ^5 Soil p H ..................................... vr Paleosols..................................... ^9 Clay-Mineral A nalyses................... 51 Particle-Size Distribution....................... 57 Pebble Count.................................. 6l Calcite-Dolomite Analyses ....................... 63 Heavy Minerals Ana l y s e s......... 66 t , Fabric Analyses ....... ............... ... 69 Radiocarbon Dating........ 7^ DESCRIPTION OF GLACIAL FEATURES.................. 80 Illinoian Margin............................... 80 Illinolan Ground Moraine ....................... 83 Late Wisconsin Moraines .................... 87 Mt. Olive Moraine............................ 87 Cuba Moraine................................ 91 Wilmington M o r a i n e .......................... 93 0 Reesville Moraine .......... 9b v Page ........................................ 96 Illinoian................................... 96 Late Wisconsin................ ’. ......... 99 Eskers.......... 102 Outwash . » ...................................- 103 Illinoian................................... 103 Wisconsin ................................ 106 Lacustrine Sediments ......... ............. 109 Boulder Concentrations......... 110 Directional Indicators .... 113 GLACIAL HI S T O R Y ................................... Il6 Illinoian Glacial S t a g e ......................... Il6 Wisconsin Glacial Stage . ..................... 125 Late Wisconsin Substage....................... 127 APPENDIX.......................................... 137 Section A ..................................... 137 Description of Significant Sections ............. 137 Section ..................................... 1^5 Sample Locations ..................... 1^5 Section C ..................................... 1^8 Results of Analyses.......................... lW3 Procedures of Clay Mineral Analyses.......... llf8 BIBLIOGRAPHY........ 159 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Generalized Geologic section of Highland County .... 13 2 Significant characteristics of major till soil associations ............. ............ ■ 28 3 Soil characteristics associated with till units .... 35 k Tabulation of clay-mineral compositions ........ 5^ 5 Particle-size distribution of till u n i t s ........... 58 6 Confidence levels for significance of mean differences in the partlcle-size distribution of till units . 59 7 Pebble lithologles of till units and Illinoian gravel . 62 8 Tabulation of Chittick-Gasometric analyses for determina­ tion of calcite and dolomite weight percentages in till u n i t s ........................................... 65 9 Tabulation of heavy mineral analyses of till units . 68 10 Radiocarbon age determinations.......... 7^ 11 Tabulation of clay-mineral analyses................ 151 12 Tabulation of mechanical analyses ••...•••••. 152 13 Tabulation pebble counts ......................... 15^ Ik Tabulation Chittick-Gasometric analyses............ 156 15 Tabulation heavy mineral analyses ............. 157 * vil LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate Plate Page 1 Map of the Glacial Geology of Highland County Ohio ...... in pocket Figures Figure 1 Map of Ohio showing the location of Highland County 2 2 Generalized geologic map of Highland County .... 14 3 Bedrock contour map of Highland C o u n t y ......... 16 4 Sketch of type section of Boston Ti l l ........... 22 5 Map of southwestern Ohio showing distribution of major soil associations...................... 27 6 Map of Highland County showing distribution of major soil associations........... 29 7 Map of Highland County showing areas which have different thicknesses of loess cover and depth of carbonate lea c h i n g.................... 32 8 Histograms showing depth of leaching in relation to frequency .......... 33 9 Graph showing a curve which represents change in rate of leaching with t i m e ................... 42 10 Diagram showing depth of leaching in relation to carbonate content ........................ 43 vili Figure Page 11 Photograph of dark colored Sangamon, soil covered by Wisconsin loess * .......................... k6 12 Three-component diagram showing the clay-mineral composition of till ............................. 53 13 Three-component diagram contrasting clay-mineral composition of the central mid-west area ........... $6 lit Three-component diagram showing the sand-silt-clay composition of till units ....................... 60 15 Three-ccmponent diagram showing the pebble lithologies of till units ............... 6k 16 Map of Highland County showing till fabrics of Late Wisconsin Darby I and Caesar t i l l s ............ 71 17 Map of Highland County showing till fabrics of Boston Till. ................................... 72 18 Map of Highland showing till fabrics of Illinoian Danville T i l l s ................................. 73 19 Map of Highland, Clinton, Warren, and Butler counties showing location of moraines and
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