Prepared in cooperation with the Michigan Geological Survey and the Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition Surficial Geologic Map of Berrien County, Michigan, and the Adjacent Offshore Area of Lake Michigan By Byron D. Stone, Kevin A. Kincare, Dennis W. O’Leary, Wayne L. Newell, Emily M. Taylor, Van S. Williams, Scott C. Lundstrom, Jared E. Abraham, and Michael H. Powers Pamphlet to accompany Scientific Investigations Map 3383 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior RYAN K. ZINKE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey William H. Werkheiser, Deputy Director exercising the authority of the Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2017 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://store.usgs.gov. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Stone, B.D., Kincare, K.A., O’Leary, D.W., Newell, W.L., Taylor, E.M., Williams, V.S., Lundstrom, S.C., Abraham, J.E., and Powers, M.H., 2017, Surficial geologic map of Berrien County, Michigan, and the adjacent offshore area of Lake Michigan: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3383, 2 sheets, scale 1:50,000, and 49-p. pamphlet, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3383. ISSN 2329-1311 (print) ISSN 2329-132X (online) ISBN 978-1-4113-4154-8 Cover. Outcrop of glacial deposits in central Berrien County, Michigan, northwest of Berrien Springs. Glacial meltwater terrace cobble gravel (map unit Qcgj; brown sediment in upper right corner of image) overlies complex sandy deposits of the Oronoko ice marginal delta (map unit Qdo) in the north wall of a gravel pit on the edge of the St. Joseph River flood plain. Crossbeds in the gravel show that this glacial river flowed northward down the ancestral St. Joseph River valley. The delta foreset sand beds having climbing-ripple bedforms dip to the left, indicating southwestward flow of lake currents at the front of the delta. Altitude of the top of the 10-meter (m)-thick deltaic section is 195 m, which was at 29 m depth in glacial Lake Dowagiac. iii Contents Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Location and Features of Berrien County .........................................................................................1 Scope of the Present Study and Geologic Map ..............................................................................1 Previous Geologic Studies and Maps of the Berrien County Region ...................................................3 Bedrock Geology...................................................................................................................................3 Late Mesozoic to Tertiary Erosion ......................................................................................................4 Glacial Geology .....................................................................................................................................4 Bedrock Surface Topography ......................................................................................................................5 Thickness of Glacial and Postglacial Deposits .........................................................................................6 Lithostratigraphy of Berrien County ...........................................................................................................6 Bedrock Lithostratigraphy ...................................................................................................................6 Lithostratigraphy of Surficial Deposits ..............................................................................................8 Glacial Stratigraphy of Berrien County ......................................................................................................9 Quaternary Morainic Systems ............................................................................................................9 Deposits of Glacial Lakes in Stratified-Drift Moraines in Berrien County ...................................9 Morphology and Sedimentary Characteristics of Glacial-Lake Deposits ..........................9 Lakes of the Kalamazoo and Valparaiso Morainic Systems ...............................................10 Glacial Lake Madron in the Valparaiso Morainic System ...................................................10 Glacial Lake Dowagiac in the Valparaiso Morainic system ...............................................12 Glacial Lake Baroda in the Lake Border Morainic System .................................................12 Glacial Lake Chicago .................................................................................................................13 Glacial Lake Algonquin .............................................................................................................13 Till and Moraine Ridge Deposits in Berrien County ......................................................................14 Morphology and Sedimentary Characteristics of Till-Ridge Moraines ............................14 Valparaiso Morainic System ....................................................................................................14 Lake Border Morainic System .................................................................................................15 Deposits of Postglacial Lakes and Streams in Berrien County ............................................................15 Chippewa and Nipissing Lake Phases ............................................................................................15 Postglacial Stream, Swamp, Eolian, and Colluvium Deposits .....................................................16 Lake Michigan Deposits ....................................................................................................................16 Late Quaternary Geologic History of Berrien County ............................................................................16 Multiple Glacial Episodes and Glacial Erosion ..............................................................................16 Lake Michigan Ice Lobe Glaciation During the Late Pleistocene Michigan Subepisode ......17 Postglacial Erosion and Deposition of the Hudson Episode ........................................................20 References Cited..........................................................................................................................................21 Description of Surface and Subsurface Map Units ...............................................................................27 Quaternary ...........................................................................................................................................27 Holocene .....................................................................................................................................27 Holocene and Late Wisconsinan ............................................................................................28 Late Wisconsinan ......................................................................................................................28 Late Wisconsinan Glacial Meltwater Deposits ....................................................................29 Deposits of Glacial Streams ............................................................................................29 Deposits of Glacial Lakes ................................................................................................30 iv Deposits of Glacial Lake Baroda of the Lake Border Morainic System .........31 Ice-Marginal Deltaic Deposits of the Valparaiso Morainic System ................32 Deposits of Glacial Lake Dowagiac of the Valparaiso Morainic System .......32 Deposits of Glacial Lake Madron of the Valparaiso Morainic System ...........34 Ice-Marginal Deltaic Deposits of the Kalamazoo Morainic System ...............35 Late Wisconsinan Till and Moraine Ridge Deposits ............................................................35 Clayey-Silt Till Deposits of the Lake Border Morainic System ..................................36 Clayey-Silt Till Deposits of the Valparaiso Morainic System ....................................36 Clayey-Silt Till Deposits of the Lower Kalamazoo Morainic System ........................37 Description of Bedrock Map Units ...........................................................................................................37 Mississippian .......................................................................................................................................37 Devonian...............................................................................................................................................38 Appendix 1. Description of Stratigraphic Drill-Hole Logs .................................................................39 Figures 1. Grain-size classification of sedimentary particles, meltwater deposits, and