Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 6-2003 Stratigraphy of Lake Michigan Lobe Deposits in Van Buren County, Michigan Steven P. Beukema Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Geology Commons Recommended Citation Beukema, Steven P., "Stratigraphy of Lake Michigan Lobe Deposits in Van Buren County, Michigan" (2003). Master's Theses. 4445. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4445 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. f STRATIGRAPHY OF LAKE MICiflGANLOBE DEPOSITS IN VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICiflGAN by Steven P. Beukema A Thesis Submitted to the Facultyof The Graduate College in partial fulfillmentof the requirements forthe Degree of Master of Science Departmentof Geosciences WesternMichigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan June 2003 Copyright by Steven P. Beukema 2003 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are several people who deserve recognition for their generous support. I would first like to thank Bill Bush forsuggesting the idea of doing graduate work in geology at WMU. Two of my cohorts in the department, Andrew Kozlowski and Brian Bird, deserve special recognition for endless hours of ruminating with me about many things, in particular about the last 20,000 years in southwest Michigan. I wish also to thank Andrew forstepping out of his pessimistic outlook to offerme continual encouragement to pursue science and academia. Brian was always willing to spend time making figures and answering my constant questions about GIS, Canvas, and a host of other programs. I would also like to thank Brian for motivating me and for helping me stay close to my desired schedule when it came time to start writing. I would like to thank the USGS STATEMAP program for two years of funding while working on this project. My committee members, Dr. David Barnes and Dr. William Sauck, deserve recognition for their helpful comments and advice. My main advisor, Dr. Alan Kehew, deserves my gratitude and recognition for his guidance, insight, advice, and for being a great guy to work with. Finally, I would like to thank my family for being supportive of me during these endless years as a professional student. Steven P. Beukema ii STRATIGRAPHY OF LAKE MICID GAN LOBE DEPOSITS INVAN BUREN COUNTY, MICIDGAN Steven P. Beukema, M.S. WesternMichigan University, 2003 The surficial glacial deposits and landforms of Van Buren County were recently mapped at a 1:24,000 scale as part of a STATEMAP project. Several borings were drilled to supplement the surface data. Six of these borings were characterized in detail by means of gamma ray logging, textural analysis, and X-ray diffractionof the clay-sized fractionof the diamicton units. Results from this study reveal two diamicton units at stratigraphicallydistinct positions that can be correlated across the county and that are separated by a thick sequence of lacustrine sediments. Correlation of diamicton and lacustrine units was accomplished by analyzing several factors, including topography, stratigraphic position, texture, and clay mineralogy. The diamicton units in this study correlate to an upper and lower diamicton at the bluffs of Lake Michigan as well as to inland surface diamictons that Monaghan et al. (1986) characterize and informally name the Saugatuck and Ganges tills. This stratigraphy also correlates with other regional studies (Wong, 2002; Bird, in preparation) and suggests an advance of the Lake Michigan Lobe at least as far as the Kalamazoo Moraine, a subsequent retreat of the lobe with a significantperiod of a lacustrinedeposition, followedby a readvance. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................... n LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................. Vil LIST OF EQUATIONS .......................................................................................... X LIST OF PLATES................................................................................................... XI CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 1 Scope of Research andObjectives ...... .............. ......... ... ... .... ... ...... .. .... 1 Location andRegional Glacial Geologic Setting .. .............................. 3 Bedrock Geology................................................................................. 6 Glacial Geology................................................................................... 8 Regional Glacial Geology............................................................ 8 Glacial Geology of the Study Area ...... .............. ...... ............ ........ 11 Glacial History / PreviousWork.................................................. 14 II. METHODS ................................................................................................. 25 Field Methods...................................................................................... 25 Laboratory Analysis............................................................................. 25 Textural Analysis Procedure........................................................ 25 X-ray Diffractionof Clay Minerals.............................................. 28 Computer Analysis.............................................................................. 32 Processing of Gamma Ray Logs.................................................. 32 iii Table of Contents-continued Processing of Sieve Data ........................................................... 33 Processing of XRDData........... ................................................. 34 Postprocessing of Data............................................................... 35 III. RESULTS.......................................................... :...................................... 36 Individual Core Descriptions............................................................. 36 VB-99-03 .................. ........ ......... .. ............... ........ ........ ........... .... 36 VB-0 l-07................................................................................... 43 VB-01-09 .............. .................... .................................. ............... 46 VB-02-01................................................................................... 57 VB-02-02 ........... ..................... .......................... ........ ......... ..... ... 61 VB-02-03 .. .......... .. ........... ...... ... ....... ........ ......... ....... ......... ....... 69 IV. DISCUSSION.......................................................................................... 78 Correlation of Diamicton Units......................................................... 78 Stratigraphic Position................................................................. 78 TopographicConsiderations ...................................................... 80 Textural Comparisons................................................................ 85 Insights from Clay Mineralogy ............ .. .. ................................ .. 89 VB-02-03.. ............. ................. ................................................... 93 Correlation of Lacustrine Units......................................................... 97 Stratigraphic Position................................................................. 98 Topographic Considerations ...................................................... 98 Textural Comparisons................................................................ 100 iv Table of Contents-continued Insights from Clay Mineralogy ..... ...... ..... ... ......... ... .. .. ... ... .. ....... 102 Correlation with Other Data................................................................ 103 Grain Size Statistical Parameters..... .. .... .. ...... .. .................. ........ .. ... ... 104 V. CONCLUSIONS......................................................................................... 108 APPENDICES A. Textural Analysis Results........................................................................... 112 B. X-ray DiffiactionResults............................................................................ 127 C. Stokes's Law............................................................................................... 130 D. Student's t-test ............................................................................................ 133 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................... 136 V LIST OFTABLES 1. X-ray diffractionproperties of select clay minerals..................................... 29 2. X-ray Diffractometer settings································'.·················"·················· 33 3. Average texture by unit for VB-99-03 ......................................................... 39 4. Average texture by unit forVB-01-07 ......................................................... 45 5. Average texture by unit for VB-01-09 . ........ .................................. .......... .... 51 6. Average texture by unit forVB-02-01 . .................... .......