PLEISTOCENE GEOLOGY OF THE DANVILLE REGION, ILLINOIS AND INDIANA

110 Pages·05.197 MB·English

by  EVELAND, HARMON EDWIN, JR

COPYRIGHTED
by
HARMON EDWIN EVELAND, JR.
19 CO
ii .
PLEISTOCENE GEOLOGY OF THE DANVILLE REGION,
ILLINOIS AND INDIANA
BY
HARMON EDWIN EVELAND, JR.
B.S., University of Illinois, 1947
M.S., University of Illinois, 1948
THESIS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN GEOLOGY
IN THE GRADUATE COLLEGE OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. 1D50
URBANA, ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
THE GRADUATE COLLEGE
J£aY_.lP, 1950
I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY
SUPERVISION B Y_ _RAK lvlOii iLAj IN__rjiViiLAJiD, JR ..
ENTITLED .' PLtt ISTO C.4N U QUO LOG. Y_0j?_ . J'I-IH: DAN .VI1JLB . R hlGXQN.
ILLINOIS AND INDIANA
BE ACCEPTED* AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy in Geology
s\ In Charge of Thesis
Head of Department
Recommendation concurred inj
I
^£~<1\ / ^^ s?T<2^-9 A
Committee
J^J^
on
Final Examinationf
+ Subject to successful final examination in the case of the doctorate,
t Required for doctor's degree but not for master's.
&M—12-18—4019')K
TABLdl OF CONTENTS
Paae
INTRODUCTION 1
Purpose 1
Area covered 1
General geologic r e l a t i o ns 5
Topography 3
R e l i ef 5
Drainage 5
Resources 6
Previous work 7
New c o n t r i b u t i o ns 8
PHYSIOGRAPHY. • • • 9
:
P r e g l a c i al pnvsiographv 9
P l e i s t o c e ne physiography 13
G l a c i al e r o s i on 13
G l a c i al d e p o s i t i on 14
End moraines 15
Ground noraines 17
Outwash p l a i ns and t e r r a c es 17
PLEISTOCENE S'-PvAVIGKAPHY 25
I n t r o d u c t i on 25
Nebraskan-Aftonian • 27
ife nsan-Yarmouth 32
Illinoian-Sangamon 36
V is cons in-Ke cent 42
I n t r o d u c t i on 42
Parmda le-Iowan 42
Tazewell 44
Recent 52
PlfcJISTOGrii'Ii!: CLli'.ATtiS 54
I n t e r g l a c i al climates 54
P r o g l a c i al climates 55
G l a c i al climates 57
R e t r e a t al climates 57
Conclusions 58
SUMiaARY Oj? HISTORY 60
P l e i s t o c e ne n i s t o rv 61
APPfiwDIX, d e s c r i p t i o ns of d r i ft exposures . . 66
BIBLIOGhAPPIY 80
i v.
LIST OP ILLUSTK/VTIONTS
Pa.se
Plate 1 Map of the surficial geology of the
Danville region 84
2 Index map 2
3 Map of the glacial geology in north
eastern Illinois 4
4 ..Tap of the pi.ysiogranhic divisions of
Illinois 10
5 Terrace profiles along the Vermi lLo-n and
Viabash xRivers 20
6 Sketch of Nebraskaii Li 11 block in strip
mine 28
7 Drift exposures along Hungry Hollow 33
8 Drift exposures along tiie drainage ditch . . 38
9 Unconformities in the Tazewell drift . . .. 47
10 Champaign drift exposures along
tributaries of Hawbuck Creek 49
Figure 1 Map showing the '..abash and the I l l i n o i s-
lJahomet-Teays drainage systems 11
2 Photograph of sone Lafayette-type pebbles
from the Nebraska a t i ll 30
3 Photograph of pro-Illinolati mudball
conglomerate 37
4 Photograph of a log of Larix from the
Illinoian t i ll 39
V.
A C KNO'n LEDGK IJjjJ NT S
The w r i t er is p a r t i c u l a r ly indebted to Professor George V..
Vlhite, r.ead of t^e Department of Geology, U n i v e r s i ty of I l l i n o i s,
and to Dr. i'orris 7. leigi.ton, Gi.ief of the I l l i n o is State Geolog
ical Survey, for their encourage -nent, a d v i c e, s u g g e s t i o n s, and
nelpful c r i t i c i sm in U.e p r e p a r a t i on of t h is t h e s i s. The w r i t er
also wishes to express h is g r a t i t u de to Doctors Arthur nevan, G. .al.
Ekblaw, and H. B. willman of t_je I l l i n o is Stste Geological Survey,
and to Professors H. h. ..anless, P. H. S u f f e r, ,1. R. latteson, and
W. N. Stewart of the f a c u l ty of zne University of I l l i n o i s, for their;
ass istance .
Recognition of n a t e r i al from sources other than o r i g i n al r e
search is given in the t e xt and in the b i b l i o g r a p h y.
PLEISTOCENE GEOLOGY OF THE
DANVILLE RtfOION, ILLINOIS AND INDIANA
I. INTRODUCTION
Purpose. It. is the purpose of t h is report to present the
r e s u l ts of a study of the Pleistocene deposits and history of an
area in east-central I l l i n o is and west-central Indiana. The field
work for this stud?/ was begun in June of 1949.
&re& covered. The area included in this study is that portion
of Vermilion County, I l l i n o i s, lying south of the Bloomington mo
r a i n e, and those portions of .varren and Vermillion Counties, Indiana,
lying d i r e c t ly east of southern Vermilion County, I l l i n o i s, between
the state line and the Wabash River (See p i. 2). The area includes
a ll or portions of Townships 17 through 21 North, and Ranges 9
through 14 west. It l i es between Latitude 39°53' north and 40°15'
north, and Longitude 87°24' west approximately (the Wabash River)
and 87°5 7» west.
Portions of the area are covered by parts of the Fithian,
Ridge Farm, and Danville 15 minute topographic maps published by the
United States Geological Survey. The southwest portion and the por- Ij
tion lying in Indiana do not have topographic coverage. The Danville!
quadrangle was mapped in 1899 and the elevations are not always r e- j i
l i a b l e. A new map of this quadrangle is now under preparation by !
the I l l i n o is State Geological Survey in cooperation with the United |
i
NDEX MAP
89° 88'
"1 i
< LA_KE_VHCijnGAP
Hz
ROCK ISLAND
K,
SCALE-IINCH = 40MI.
r
>
rn
AREA STUDIED
States Geological Survey. The writer has had access to the prelim
inary sheets through the courtesy of the Illinois Geological Survey.
General geologic relations. Paleozoic: The area is situated
on the northeast flank of the Illinois basin. This basin came into
existence early in the Paleozoic and experienced further downwarping
during that era. The Paleozoic strata dip in general gently to the
southwest from the Kankakee arch in northern Indiana toward the cen
ter of the Illinois basin. The bedrock exposed and that immediately
underlying the glacial drift is sedimentary rock of Pennsylvanian
age.
Pleistocene: The area was invaded by ice of the four ma.ior
glacial stages of trie Pleistocene, the Nebraskan, i(ansan, Illinoian,
and 'Wisconsin. The area lies between the end moraines marking the
Champaign and Bloomington re-advances of the Tazewell substage of
the Wisconsin stage (See pi. 3).
It is not known from which center of glaciation the Nebraskan
ice came. The hansan and Illinoian glaciers came from the Labrador-
I
ian (eastern) center. Trie Illinoian ice came from the far eastern
part of that center (Thwaites 1946, p. 78). The Tazewell ice also
came from the Labradorian center, but from much further west than
did the Illinoian glacier. The Tazewell ice probably entered cen
tral Illinois bv way of Saginaw Bay, iviicnigan (Thwaites 1946, p. 84).
Topography. The topography is almost entirely the result of
Pleistocene sTaciation. The area is primarily a drift plain dis-
II
sected to a very limited decree by streams. Five rrlacial features !jj
i?
if
influence the topography: end moraines, ground moraine, outwash :|
I!
plain, kames, and terraces. Details of the extents of these fea- :|
tures are shown on Plate 1.