!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!! !

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

! !

!!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

! !

!

!!!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!!!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!! !

!!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!!!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!!

!

!

!!

!

!!!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!!

!

!!

!

!!

!!

!!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!!!

!!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

! !

!!

!

!

!!

!

!! !

!

!!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!

!

! ! !

!!

!

!

!! !

!

!

!

!

!

! !

!! !

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

! !

!

!

!

!!

!

!

! !

! !

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!!

!

!

!

!

!

!!!

!

!

!

RED OAK

VILLISCA

GRANT

STANTON

ELLIOTT

COBURG

E NISH

NABOTNA R

TARK

IO R W

NODA

WAY R

W NO DAWAY R

WALNUT CR

rs48

£¤34

£¤71

95°0'0"W

95°0'0"W

95°7'30"W

95°7'30"W

95°15'0"W

95°15'0"W

95°22'30"W

95°22'30"W

41°7'30"N41°7'30"N

41°0'0"N41°0'0"N

0 2 4 6 81Miles

0 2 4 6 81Kilometers

1:100,000

±

Surficial Geology of Montgomery County, Iowa

!

Map LocationCorrelation of Map Units

Qallt

Qpt

Qps

Qwa3

Qal

Ku-Pu

AlluvialDeposits

EolianDeposits

GlacialDeposits

Hudson

Wisconsin

Pre-Illinois

QUATERNARY

Holocene

Pleistocene

CRETACEOUS/PENNSYLVANIAN

Base map from iowa DOT Road Map Layers 2009. Shaded relief from Iowa Lidar Project 2007-2011. MontgomeryCo_SurficialGeology2012.mxd, version 10/16/12 (ArcGIS 10.0)

Map projection and coordinate system based on Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 15, datum NAD83.The map is based on interpretations of the best available information at the time of mapping. Map interpretations are not a substitute for detailed site specific studies.

LEGEND

CENOZOIC

QUATERNARY SYSYTEM

HUDSON EPISODE Qal - Alluvium (DeForest Formation-Undifferentiated) Variable thickness of less than 1 to 5 m (3-16 ft) of very dark gray to brown, noncalcareous to calcareous, stratified silty clay loam, clay loam, loam to sandy loam alluvium and colluvium in stream valleys, on hill slopes and in closed depressions. May overlie Pre-Illinoain glacial till of the Wolf Creek or Alburnett formations or Pre-Holocene fine-grained alluvium. Associated with low-relief modern floodplain, closed depressions, modern drainageways or toeslope positions on the landscape. Unit also includes colluvial deposits derived from adjacent map units. Seasonal high water table and potential for frequent flooding. Qallt – River Channel Belt – Low Terrace (DeForest Formation-Camp Creek Mbr. and Roberts Creek Mbr.). Variable thickness of less than 1 to 5 m (3-16 ft) of very dark gray to brown, noncalcareous, stratified silty clay loam, loam, or clay loam, associated with the modern channel belt of the East Nishnabotna, West Nodaway, and Middle Nodaway river valleys and Seven Mile Creek. Overlies Pre-Holocene fine-grained alluvium. Occupies lowest position on the floodplain ie. modern and historic channel belts. Ox-bow lakes and meander scars are common features associated with this terrace level. Mapped primarily using aerial imagery and county soil survey data. Seasonal high water table and frequent flooding potential.

HUDSON AND WISCONSIN EPISODE

WISCONSIN EPISODE Qpt- Loess Mantled Terrace (Peoria Formation –silt and/or sand facies) 2 to 7 m (7-23 ft) of yellowish brown to gray, massive, jointed, calcareous or noncalcareous, silt loam and intercalated fine to medium, well sorted, sand. May grade downward to poorly to moderately well sorted, moderately to well stratified, coarse to fine feldspathic quartz sand, loam, or silt loam alluvium (Late Phase High Terrace) or may overlie a Farmdale Geosol developed in Pisgah Silt which in turn overlies a well-expressed Sangamon Geosol developed in poorly to moderately well sorted, moderately to well stratified, coarse to fine sand, loam, or silt loam alluvium (Early Phase High Terrace). Qps – Loess (Peoria Formation—silt facies) Generally 2 to 8 m (6 to 25 ft) of yellowish to grayish brown, massive, jointed calcareous or noncalcareous silt loam to silty clay loam. Limited areas of fine eolian sand may be present near major river valleys. Overlies a grayish brown to olive gray silty clay loam to silty clay (Pisgah Formation—eroded Farmdale Geosol) which is less than 1.5 m (5 ft) thick. The Farmdale may be welded to an older Sangamon Geosol developed in loamy glacial till of the Wolf Creek or Alburnett formations. This mapping unit encompasses upland divides, ridgetops and convex sideslopes. Well to somewhat poorly drained landscape.

PRE-ILLINOIS EPISODE Qwa3 – Till (Wolf Creek or Alburnett formations) Generally 15 to 100 m (49-328 ft) of very dense, massive, fractured, loamy glacial till of the Wolf Creek or Alburnett formations with or without a thin loess mantle (Peoria Formation—less than 2 m) and intervening clayey Farmdale/Sangamon Geosol. This mapping unit encompasses narrowly dissected interfluves and side slopes, and side valley slopes. Drainage is variable from well drained to poorly drained.

Other Mapping Units Bedrock- Undifferentiated Paleozoic rock. May be mantled with up to 2 m (6 ft) of Quaternary materials from the adjacent mapping unit. Qpq - Pits and Quarries Sand and gravel pits and rock quarries. Extent mapped as shown in county soil surveys and as identified on aerial imagery. Water Features Rivers, lakes and small ponds formed by blockage of drainageways and river channels. Extent mapped as shown in county soil surveys and as identified on aerial imagery. Drill Holes

Introduction to the Surficial Geology of Montgomery County, Iowa

Mo ntgo mery Co unty lies within the So uth ern Iowa Drift Plain (Prior and Koh rt , 2006) landform regio n of Iowa. Surficial materials consist o f a mix of eol ian depos its (loess ), glacial til l ou tcrop, al luvium, and l imited areas of b ed rock o utcrop. Mult iple periods o f Quaternary glaciatio n and su baerial erosion have led to the landscape we see tod ay. Generally speaking, the map area cons ists of loess o f v ariab le thick ness overly ing Pre-Ill ino is glacial sediments . These deposits are reg ionally extens ive.

Previo us surficial geo logic mapping o f the area is l imited to the Des Mo ines 4 o x 6 o Quadrangle at a scale o f 1:1,000 ,000 (Hallberg et al ., 1991). Compilatio n mapping ad jacent to the pro ject area in Ad ams County was completed in 2 010 (T assier-Su rine et al. ). Lo nsdale (18 94) first described the Q uaternary and mapped the Paleozo ic bedrock g eo logy of Mo ntgo mery Coun ty and discussed the stratigrap hy o f the Pennsy lvanian and Cretaceous strata that comprise the co unty ’s bedrock uni ts. Statew ide b ed ro ck geo logic maps b y Hershey (196 9), and most recent ly, by Witzke, And erson, and Po pe (2010 ), depict the increased u nderstand ing o f the d istribut ion of geologic u nits at th e bed ro ck surface across this region, including Mo ntgo mery County.

Early researchers believed there were only two episodes o f Pre-Ill ino is glaciation in Iowa: Kansan and Nebraskan (Chamberlin, 189 4, 18 95; Bain, 1896; Shimek, 19 09; Kay and Apfel, 1 928; Ru he, 1969 ). Later regional studies determin ed that the o rigin al concept o f Kansan-Afto nian-Nebraskan was gross ly o vers implified and flawed. It is now reco gnized that there w ere at least seven episo des of Pre-Ill ino is glaciation that occurred in th is regio n from app ro ximately 2. 2 to 0.5 mil lio n years ago (Boellstorff, 1978 a, 1978 b; Hallberg, 198 0a, 1986 ). Episod ic erosio n d uring the last 500 ,000 years has led to the destruct ion of p re-exis tin g g lacial lan dforms asso ciated with these glaciations. Boells torff (1978a, 1978b) and Hallberg (198 0a, 198 0b, 1 986) u ndertook regional-scale projects that invo lved detailed ou tcrop an d subsurface invest igatio ns inclu din g extens ive laborato ry work and sy nthesis o f p rev ious studies. These s tud ies led to the abandon ment of th e classic glacial and interglacial terminology: Kansan, Aftonian, and Neb raskan. This stu dy mark ed a sh ift from the use o f t ime-strat igraph ic terms to li tho stratigrap hic class ification. The resul t of Boells torff’s and Hallberg’s s tud ies was the develo pment o f a li thos tratig raph ic framewo rk for Pre-Illinois til l. They developed a general s trat igraph ic framework for Iowa and eastern Nebraska b ased on p hysical stratigraphy, mineralo gic criteria as well as magneto stratigraphy and teph roch ro nolo gy. In western Io wa and eas tern Nebraska three l itho logical ly dis tinct ive t il l assemblages were iden tified as the ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ til ls, with p aleosols sometimes d el imiting multiple til l units with in the A and B ti ll assemblages. Recent wo rk b y Balco an d Rovey (2010 ) su ggests that a single ice advance around 2. 4 Ma depos ited the C til l and that the A and B t ill assemb lages accumulated between abo ut 1 .3 and 0. 5*Ma.

The Lo veland Loess (Daniels and Handy, 1959 ; Ruh e, 196 9; Bett is, 199 0) is the on ly Il lino is or late middle Plesitocene depo sit that is current ly reco gnized in western Iowa. Where o bserved in ou tcro p, the Sangamon Geoso l is develop ed in the upp er part of the Loveland. The Loveland Loess thins away from th e Missouri River and the Sangamo n Geoso l merges with the th ick and more weathered Yarmouth-Sangamon Geosol in southern Iowa (Ruhe, 196 7).

In Montgomery Cou nty, the h ighly ero ded and dissected Pre-Il lin ois up land and older terraces are mantled by W iscons in loesses of variable thickness (Ru he, 196 9; Prior, 1976). The Wisco nsin loesses are the yo ungest regional ly extens ive Quaternary materials and were d ep osited between 30,0 00 and 12 ,000 years ago. Two loess uni ts were depo sited across Iowa during Wisconsin time, the older Pisgah Formation and the yo unger Peo ria Loess . The Pisgah is thin and inclu des loess and related slo pe sediments that have been altered by col luv ial hillslo pe processes, pedo gen ic and periglacial processes. T he upper part of the un it is mo dified by develop ment of the Farmdale Geosol. It is not uncommon to see the Farmd ale develo ped throug hout the Pisgah and inco rp orated into the und erlying older Sangamo n Geo sol. Th e Pisgah Fm. loess was deposi ted on the western Io wa land scape from about 55, 000 to 26, 000 years ag o (Bett is et al., 2003). The Pisgah Fo rmatio n is typ ical ly b uried b y Peo ria Formation loess . The Peoria Fo rmation loess accumu lated on stable landsurfaces in western Iowa from 23,000 to 12, 000 years ago.

Surficial depo sits o f the map area are comp osed of four fo rmatio ns: D eForest, Noah Creek, Peoria and und ifferent iated Pre-Ill ino is t ills . Hud son age depo sits asso ciated with fine-grained al luvial and col luvial sediments includ e the DeFores t Fo rmation which is subd ivid ed into the Camp Creek, Roberts Creek , Gunder and Corrington members . T he Noah Creek Formation includes coarser g rained d epo sits asso ciated w ith large valleys which are o verlain b y finer-grained alluvial material or eolian sil t and sand. Peoria Formation eo lian materials cons ist of wind-b lown si lt that may be up to 8 meters (25 feet) in thickness. Limited areas of eo lian sand may be present adjacent to major riv er valleys (East Nishnabo tna and West No daway riv ers ). Additio nal eo lian materials may be in termit tently p resent mantling Wiscons in E piso de terraces. Pre-Illinois glacial depos its are ex posed in the map area along drainages and w here loess cover is thin. Based on exist ing well data, Pre-Ill inois d ep osits may be as thick as 330’ in bedrock valleys.

So il series un its fro m the Soil Survey o f Mon tgo mery County, Iow a (Clark, 1 989) were categorized into surficial geolo gic uni ts b ased on soil data and availab le subsurface geolo gic data from the Iowa Geological and Water Survey’s GEO SAM database (water well log datab ase) as well as oth er ex ist ing subsurface data for this compilat ion map project. Mod eling and mapping of the glacial ti ll o utcrops was comp leted us ing ArcGIS 10.0, gvSIG open source GIS program, and the Sextante landscape class ificatio n sub program.

* We disagree with the youn ger 0.2 Ma age es timate for Pre-Ill ino is g laciat ions presented by Balco and Ro vey

(2010 ) and su ggest 0 .5 Ma is more consistent with regional data and s trat igraph ic relat ion ships.

References

Bain, H.F., 1896, Relations of the Wisconsin a nd K ansas drift sheets in c ent ral Iow a, a nd relate d phe nome na: Iow a Geological Survey

Annua l Re port v. 6, p. 429-476. Balco, G. and Rove y II , C.W., 2010, Absolute chronology for ma jor Ple ist oc ene a dvances of the La urent ide Ice Sheet: G eology, v. 38

p. 795-798. Bettis, E .A., I II , 1990, Holocene alluvial stratigraphy of western Iow a, in Bettis, E .A. I II e d., Holoce ne a lluvial stratigraphy and

se lected aspe cts of the Quaternary history of western Iow a: Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene Field Trip G uidebook, p. 1-72.

Bettis III, E.A., Muhs, D.R., Robert s, H.M., and Wintle. A.G., 2003, La st glac ial loe ss in the conterminous U.S.A.: Quaternary Scienc e Reviews, v. 22, p. 1907-1946.

Boellstorff, J., 1978a, North Americ an Pleistocene Stages reconsidere d in l ight of probable Plioc ene-Pleistocene c ontine nta l glac ia tion: Science, v. 202, p. 305-307.

Boellstorff, J., 1978b, Chronology of some late Ce nozoic de posits from t he ce ntral Unit ed St ates and the ice ages: Transa ctions of the Nebraska Academy of Sc ie nce , v. 6, p. 35-49.

Cha mberla in, T.C., 1894, in Ge ikie, J. (ed.) The Great Ic e Age 3rd edition, p. 753-764. Stanford, London. Cha mberla in, T.C., 1895, The classifica tion of America n glacia l deposits: Journal of Geology, v. 3, p. 270-277. Clark, B., Jr ., 1989, Soil Surve y of Montgomery County, Iowa: U nited Sta tes Depart ment of Agric ulture, Soil Conserva tion Servic e,

147p. Daniels, R.B. and H andy, R.L., 1959, Sugge ste d new type sect ion for the Loveland Loess in western Iow a: Journa l of G eology, v. 67,

p. 114-119. Ha llberg, G.R., 1980a, Pleistocene st ratigraphy in east-c entral Iowa: Iowa G eological Surve y Technic al Information Series 10, 168p. Ha llberg, G .R., 1980b, I llinoian and Pre-Illinoia n stratigraphy of southe ast Iowa and adjace nt I llinois: Iowa Ge ologic al Survey

Technical Information Se ries 11, 206p. Ha llberg, G.R., 1986, Pre-Wisconsin glacia l stratigraphy of the centra l plains re gion in Iowa, Nebraska, K ansa s, and Missouri: in

Ric hmond, G .M. and Fuller ton, D.S., eds., Quate rna ry Glac ia tions in the Unite d S tates of Americ a, Report of the Int ernationa l Correlat ion Programme-Project 24: in Sibrava, V., Bowen, D.Q., and Richmond, G .M., eds., Q uate rnary Scienc e Reviews, Q ua ternary Glac iations in the Northern He misphere, v. 5, p. 11-15.

Ha llberg, G.R., Line bac k, J.A., Mickelson, D.M., Knox, J.C., Goebe l, J.E., Hobbs, H .C., Whitf ield, J.W., Ward, R.A., Boellstorf, J.D., and Swinehart , J.B., 1991, Q uate rnary ge ologic map of the Des Moines 4° x 6° qua drangle, U nited Stat es: U.S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Investigat ions S eries, Map I-1420, 1:100,000 sca le map sheet .

Hershe y, H.G., 1969, Geologic Ma p of Iowa , 1:500,000, Iowa Geological Survey, Iow a City. Kay, G.F. and Apfel, E.T., 1928, The Pre-Illinoian Pleistocene geology of Iowa: Iowa Geological Survey Annual Report v. 34, p. 1-

304. Lonsdale, E .H., 1894, G eology of Mont gome ry Count y: Iowa Ge ologica l S urve y Annual Report, v. 4, p. 381-451. Prior , J.C., 1976, Landforms of Iowa: Iowa City, University of Iowa Pre ss, 154 p. Prior , J.C. and Korht, C.J., 2006, The Landform Re gions of Iowa , Iowa Geologica l Survey, digital map, a vaila ble on IDNR GIS

Library- f tp:// ftp.igsb.uiowa.edu/gis_libra ry/ ia_sta te/geologic /landform/la ndform_regions.zip; http://www .igsb.uiowa.edu/nrgislibx/

Ruhe, R.V., 1969, Quat ernary Landsc ape s in Iowa , Iowa St ate Universit y Press, Ames, Iowa, 255p. Ruhe, R.V., D anie ls, R.B., and Ca dy, J.G., 1967, Landscape evolution a nd soil formation in southw estern Iow a, U.S. De partme nt of

Agricult ure Tec hnical Bulletin 1349, 242p. Shimek, B., 1909, Aftonian sand and gra vels in we stern Iowa: Bullet in of the Geological Societ y of Ame rica, v. 20, p. 399-408. Ta ssier-Surine, S.A., Giglie rano, J.D., Quade , D .J., and Bettis, E.A., III, 2011, Surfic ia l Geology of Ada ms Count y, Iowa: Iow a

Geological and Wat er Survey O pen File Map OFM-11-9, 1:50,000 scale ma p sheet. Witzke, B.J., Anderson, R.R., and Pope, J.P., 2010, Bedrock Geologic Map of Iow a, scale: 1:500,000: Iowa Geologica l and Water

Survey, Ope n File D igital Map O FM-10-1.

Title, Author, Agency, Contract and Acknowledgement Information

SURFICIAL GEOLOGY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, IOWA

Iowa Geological and Water Survey

Open File Map OFM-12-09 September 2012

prepared by

Stephanie Tassier-Surine1, James Giglierano1, Deborah Quade1, and E. Arthur Bettis, III2

Iowa Geological and Water Survey, Iowa City, Iowa

Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Chuck Gipp, Director Iowa Geological and Water Survey, Robert D. Libra, State Geologist

Supported in part by the U.S. Geological Survey Cooperative Agreement Number G11AC20247

National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (STATEMAP)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Recognized for contributions to production of the map: Andrew Asell, Chris Kahle, Casey Kohrt, Brian Witzke, Ray Anderson, Bill Bunker, and Mary Pat Heitman. New subsurface geologic data was mostly generated by Michael Bounk of the Iowa Geological and Water Survey (IGWS). Jason Vogelgesang (IGWS) and Carolyn Koebel (University of Iowa) prepared well samples for stratigraphic logging. 1Iowa Geological and Water Survey, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 2Department of Geoscience, The University of Iowa, 121 Trowbridge Hall, Iowa City, Iowa 52242