Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
geology, glaciers, moraines, outwash, gorges, Devil's Backbone Park, Ohio, geomorphology
Proposal
There are many gorges cut through Wisconsinian end moraines in southwestern Ohio. Finding the processes that led to the formation of gorges, cliffs, and outwash plains within southwest Ohio was done through the use of digital maps in ArcGIS, field observation, and historical research analysis. Digital Elevation Maps (DEM)’s were created from LIDAR data to locate incised gorges and compared with the Ohio Quaternary Geology map from USGS. Areas of interest marked as glacial outwash were explored in the field for evidence of gorges cut into bedrock. The meltwater from the last Wisconsinian glacial advance interacted with bedrock and glacial sediments beneath end moraines to incise valleys into the terrain when the glaciers receded. They allowed water from the melting ice and the captured ancient Teays River to flow southward and create the Great Miami River on their path to the Ohio River. It cut through both ground and end moraines creating many side tributaries in the process. This is hypothesized to have been the cause of many modern drainages that appear to be formed by water energy far greater than they contain today. The gorge in Devil’s Backbone Park in Camden, Ohio which is located in the Camden Moraine was compared to regional moraines to find a correlation between glacial processes. Gorges in the Cuba moraine near Ceasar’s Creek Wilderness area, and near the Powel moraine This would provide clarification on the geomorphic interaction of glaciers with the surrounding terrain. The historical context can get a snapshot of Ohio's glacial past by looking at the modern geologic features left behind if the moraines do prove to have influence over ancient stream erosion.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Publication Date
2024
Exploring Ohio's Frozen History: Gorges and Glacial Outwash Erosion of Southwest Ohio
There are many gorges cut through Wisconsinian end moraines in southwestern Ohio. Finding the processes that led to the formation of gorges, cliffs, and outwash plains within southwest Ohio was done through the use of digital maps in ArcGIS, field observation, and historical research analysis. Digital Elevation Maps (DEM)’s were created from LIDAR data to locate incised gorges and compared with the Ohio Quaternary Geology map from USGS. Areas of interest marked as glacial outwash were explored in the field for evidence of gorges cut into bedrock. The meltwater from the last Wisconsinian glacial advance interacted with bedrock and glacial sediments beneath end moraines to incise valleys into the terrain when the glaciers receded. They allowed water from the melting ice and the captured ancient Teays River to flow southward and create the Great Miami River on their path to the Ohio River. It cut through both ground and end moraines creating many side tributaries in the process. This is hypothesized to have been the cause of many modern drainages that appear to be formed by water energy far greater than they contain today. The gorge in Devil’s Backbone Park in Camden, Ohio which is located in the Camden Moraine was compared to regional moraines to find a correlation between glacial processes. Gorges in the Cuba moraine near Ceasar’s Creek Wilderness area, and near the Powel moraine This would provide clarification on the geomorphic interaction of glaciers with the surrounding terrain. The historical context can get a snapshot of Ohio's glacial past by looking at the modern geologic features left behind if the moraines do prove to have influence over ancient stream erosion.
