geology & water quality fieldguide

FIELDTRIP TO EXPLORE THE PALEONTOLOGY AND LANDSCAPE OF:  HUFFMAN DAM, GREENE COUNTY, OHIO;  AND THE WRIGHT BROTHERS’ MEMORIAL WHICH OVERLOOKS HUFFMAN PRAIRIE AND FLYING FIELD DR.. P

FIELDTRIP TO EXPLORE THE PALEONTOLOGY

AND LANDSCAPE OF:

 HUFFMAN DAM, GREENE COUNTY, OHIO;

 AND THE WRIGHT BROTHERS’ MEMORIAL WHICH OVERLOOKS HUFFMAN PRAIRIE AND FLYING

FIELD

DR KRISHNAKUMAR NEDUNURI INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY

DR MICHAEL R SANDY UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

MARCH 29TH 2006

The 1904 Wright Flyer 2 in flight above Huffman Prairie,

near Dayton, Ohio

Today’s fieldtrip provides some background on the geology and landscape of the Huffman Dam area; another will focus on water sampling This area was chosen because it is an area with

significant geological interest and it is very close to Wright State University Campus Three faculty will be working with you to investigate the relationship between geology, chemistry, and water quality

SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON THE AREA

“The Huffman prairie area extending from the Wright Aviation field, several miles northeast of Dayton, toward Fairfield and Osborne, is another outwash plain of large dimensions.” August Foerste, 1915, p 109

August F Foerste, 1862-1936, Geologist and Paleontologist

(shown above) was notified when the 14 inch long trilobite

(below) was unearthed in 1919 during excavation of Huffman Dam

Geological setting of Huffman Prairie

Huffman Prairie is a large, flat area - ideal for taking off and

landing an airplane and was used by the Wright Brothers for

experimentation in flight and their flying school

We can tell the area is well-suited to such a use just by

observing the landscape here But how did this landscape

develop?

The geological history of the region involves several different events through time and we will explore this today

Part of 1918 United States Geological Survey map

showing location of Huffman Prairie and bedrock ridges either

side of the Mad River Valley (2 small circles).

Detail from 1966 USGS map showing Huffman Dam (inside large

ellipse), location of Wright Brothers’ Memorial (circle)

and part of Wright Patterson Air Force Base

Huffman Dam, as seen from the Wright Brothers’ Memorial.

The dam is constructed where the Mad River Valley is narrow, between

2 limestone ridges The 5 Miami Conservancy dams were

completed in 1922 to provide flood protection in the Miami Valley after the 1913 Flood

Note the airstrippers to the left of the dam in the photograph above, intercepting a plume of contamination in the groundwater; downstream to the left is a major aquifer for the City of Dayton The Mad River passes beneath the bridge seen on the dam

Wright Patterson Air Force Base showing runways from the Wright Brothers’ Memorial

The Wright Brothers’ flying field is located to the right of this

view.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE LANDSCAPE

The development of the landscape of Huffman Prairie can be

characterized by 5 phases of development:

1) 450 MILLION YEARS AGO

2) APPROX 320 MILLION TO 1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO

3) 1.6 MILLION TO 20,000 YEARS AGO

4) 20,000 - 17,000 YEARS AGO

5) 17,000 TO PRESENT DAY

1) 450 MILLION YEARS AGO

Formation of the bedrock, seen in the railroad cut at Huffman Dam

The bedrock formed during the Ordovician and Silurian periods

of

geologic time (see timescale to left) and accumulated as

sediment

on the bottom of a sea covering the interior of the Midwest 450

to 400

million years ago Fossils are abundant in the rocks and include

trilobite genus Isotelus, Ohio’s State Fossil The fossils tell us

that Ohio

was submerged under a warm, tropical, marine sea at the time 2) APPROX 320 MILLION TO 1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO

Uplift and erosion of the bedrock A drainage system eroded into the bedrock A system of rivers draining the continent has been in existence for approximately 300 million years This

drainage pattern was inherited and covered over by glaciation of the “Ice Age”

The two limestone hills that are found at both ends of Huffman Dam indicate the bedrock valley is very narrow here Well records indicate that to the west of the dam the valley gets deeper to the west, and to the east of the dam the valley bottom gets deeper Therefore this area appears to have marked a

boundary or watershed between two streams

3) 1.6 MILLION TO 20,000 YEARS AGO

The “Ice Age” lasted from 1.6 million years ago to

approximately 10,000 years ago During this time large glaciers expanded over this part of Ohio from the north The last glacier covered the west and north parts of Ohio, not the southeast The glaciers could erode, scour, and scratch bedrock As the glaciers melted in many places they left chaotic deposits known as till formed as the ice melted and deposited a mixture of boulders, gravel, sand, silt, and clay

4) 20,000 - 17,000 YEARS AGO

As the last glacier melted, water flowed in tunnels within the ice mass, on the surface of the ice, and under the ice Where the water left the front of the glacier significant amounts of flowing water carried lots of sediment Much of this sediment was

deposited rapidly, in stratified deposits An outwash plain can result in such a setting This is how the flat surface of Huffman Prairie originated

The large amount of deposition of sediment by the glaciers filled in the bedrock valleys and now the Mad River flows to the West Any flow of water eastward (see 3 above), East of the

Huffman Dam, has been reversed by infilling by sediments

5) 17,000 TO PRESENT DAY

As we have entered an interglacial period fluvial (river)

system processes

have dominated the landscape These processes are halted during the

winter when the water freezes

Humans have utilized the area for agriculture, the first permanent airfield, roads, railroads, the Miami Conservancy

District built a dam, the City of Dayton extracts drinking water from sediments downstream from Huffman Dam …

1) 450 MILLION YEARS AGO

Bedrock exposure in Huffman Dam railroad cut today (left) and just after construction in 1919 (above) The Wright Brothers

Memorial is up on top of the ridge

Formation of the bedrock, seen in the railroad cut at Huffman Dam

The bedrock formed during the Ordovician and Silurian periods

of

geologic time (see timescale to left) and accumulated as

sediment

on the bottom of a sea covering the interior of the Midwest 450

to 400

million years ago Fossils are abundant in the rocks and include the

trilobite genus Isotelus, Ohio’s State Fossil The fossils tell us

that Ohio

was submerged under a warm, tropical, marine sea at the time

Brassfield Formation

Silurian

Ordovician

Drakes Formation Whitewater Formation

2) APPROX 320 MILLION TO 1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO

Preglacial drainage patterns (left) and present topography

(above)

Uplift and erosion of the bedrock A drainage system eroded into the bedrock A system of rivers draining the continent has been in existence for approximately 300 million years This

drainage pattern was inherited and covered over by glaciation of the “Ice Age”

The two limestone hills that are found at both ends of

Huffman Dam indicate the bedrock valley is very narrow here Well records indicate that to the west of the dam the valley gets deeper to the west, and to the east of the dam the valley bottom gets deeper Therefore this area appears to have marked a

boundary or watershed between two streams

3) 1.6 MILLION TO 20,000 YEARS AGO

The “Ice Age” lasted from 1.6 million years ago to

approximately 10,000 years ago During this time large glaciers expanded over this part of Ohio from the north The last glacier covered the west and north parts of Ohio, not the southeast The glaciers could erode, scour, and scratch bedrock As the glaciers melted in many places they left chaotic deposits known as till formed as the ice melted and deposited a mixture of boulders, gravel, sand, silt, and clay

4) 20,000 - 17,000 YEARS AGO

Sketch of the conditions at the front of a retreating glacier

View of an Outwash Plain at the margin of a Glacier, Iceland.

As the last glacier melted, water flowed in tunnels within the ice mass, on the surface of the ice, and under the ice Where the water left the front of the glacier significant amounts of flowing water carried lots of sediment Much of this sediment was

deposited rapidly, in stratified deposits An outwash plain can result in such a setting This is how the flat surface of Huffman Prairie originated

The large amount of deposition of sediment by the glaciers filled in the bedrock valleys and now the Mad River flows to the West Any flow of water eastward (see 3 above), East of the

Huffman Dam, has been reversed by infilling by sediments

Outwash Plain Glacier

2 geologic sections just downstream from Huffman Dam, showing buried bedrock valleys and glacial sediment infill.

5) 17,000 TO PRESENT DAY

As we have entered an interglacial period fluvial (river)

system processes have dominated the landscape These

processes are halted during the winter when the water freezes

Humans have utilized the area for agriculture, the first

permanent airfield, roads, railroads, the Miami Conservancy

District built a dam, the City of Dayton extracts drinking water from sediments downstream from Huffman Dam …

Huffman Prairie today, view looking South-West from the flying field area - January 2003.

An outwash plain, bordered by the Mad River, which is constricted

by limestone outcrops (one of which forms the horizon).

APPENDIX A – INFORMATION ON FIELD SITE

GAGE SITE HUFFMAN DAM AND RAILROAD CUT Information on United States Geological Survey Gage Station on the Mad River, Greene County

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/oh/nwis/uv?03270000

USGS 03270000 Mad River near Dayton OH

Available data for this site

Station operated in cooperation with the Miami Conservancy District

03270000 Mad River near Dayton, OH

LOCATION. Lat 39°47'50", long 84°05'19", in SW 1/4 sec 7, R 8, T.2, Green County, Hydrologic Unit 05080001, on left bank in retarding

basin

300 ft upstream from Huffman Dam, 2.3 mi downstream from Mud Run, 6.2

mi

northeast of Dayton and at mile 6.1 Water-quality sampling site was

on

left bank 900 ft downstream.

DRAINAGE AREA. 635 mi².

PERIOD OF RECORD. October 1914 to current year Monthly discharge only for some periods, published in WSP 1305.

REVISED RECORDS. WSP 453: 1915 WSP 743: 1929-32 WSP 1305: 1916(M), 1925(M) 1930-32(M) WSP 1908: Drainage area WDR-OH-82-1: 1980.

GAGE. Water-stage recorder Datum of gage is 777.06 ft above sea level Jan 21, 1959, to Dec 14, 1967, at site 900 ft downstream, at datum 77.01 ft lower See WSP 1725 for history of changes prior to Jan 21, 1959 Water-quality data collected at this site 1947-1948, 1962-1963, 1966-1980.

REMARKS. Flood flows affected by backwater from Huffman retarding dam beginning in 1921, some regulation by C J Brown Reservoir 26 mi upstream on Buck Creek since 1974 Also see REMARKS for station

03269500

COOPERATION. Base data furnished by Miami Conservancy District.

EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD. Flood of March 25, 1913, reached a stage of 14.0 ft, original site and datum; discharge 75,700 cubic feet per second, computed by Miami Conservancy District.

FIELDTRIP LOCALITY INFORMATION – HUFFMAN DAM AND RAILROAD CUT:

Location of United States Geological Survey Gage Station on the Mad River

Acknowledgements:

Photographs of the Huffman Dam area by Michael Sandy

MRS has also taken images from a number of web sites featuring information about the Wright Brothers, specifically a Smithsonian Institution archive

Iceland picture from:

http://www.casdn.neu.edu/~geology/department/staff/colgan/icela nd/skaftafell/45165_12.htm

Thanks to Don Pair, Department of Geology, University of Dayton, for comments on a draft of a poster used as the basis for this guide

Thanks to the Ohio Higher Education Network for support to allow the development of this collaborative curriculum module