Delaware County, Indiana - Chapter 3: Geology of Delaware County, 1881

SOME OF THE LEADING GEOLOGICAL FRATURES OF THE COUNTY - GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS APPARENT - PECULIARITIES OF SOME OF THE LAWS OF FORMATION - GLACIAL ACTION AND WHAT CAME OF IT- - QUALITY OF THE SOIL - OUTCROPPINGS OF CLASSIFIED Rocks, Ere: counties in this district, are peculiar, making the language in the recent report of the State Geologist, quoted in discussing the question as to the structure of Madison and Hamilton Counties, equally applicable here. Speaking of these peculiarities, with considerable show of reason for the correctness of his statements, he says that it "appears tame and devoid of the marvelous which attaches to those regions of country where the forces generated in the earth's laboratory have made themselves conspicuous by the metamorphism of the rocks and the tilting, folding and fracturing of its crust ; for here the elements concerned in the building up of strata, leave no trace of violent cataclysms, and the rocks presented to view lie regularly bedded at an inclination or dip to the westward and northward so gentle that its existence can only be made known by observations extended to points that are far distant from one another. Not a single true fault, or upward or downward break and displacement of the strata, has yet been discovered." It is not to be wondered at, then, that we should anticipate few difficulties in making up the geological record of the State.

it something of perplexity in determining the tracings of time, and in fixing the boundaries of geological epochs. When we come to consider that a large proportion of the interior of the State is covered by an immense deposit of glacial drift, so great that the outcroppings of stratified rocks are infrequent, and the investigation of them is made more difficult and uncertain, this idea becomes more and more significant. The depth of the glacial deposit in. counties north of the Wabash, is estimated by competent authority at several hundred feet; at fifty to one hundred feet in the central part of the State, and from twenty to sixty in the southern part. From these considerations, therefore, it would seem that such conditions could only have been the result of a general upheaval of the continent rather than a local uplift, since, otherwise, there would have been less uniformity of stratification and more frequent interruptions than are found to exist within the limit indicated.

Assuming, then, that the explanation just given is the true one, the following from the State Geological Report of 1878, concerning this drift formation, will throw much light upon the subject, about which there is now room for conjecture :

'"T can see no evidence of a subsidence of the land to terminate the glacial period, nor can we find in Ohio, Indiana or Illinois, anything to militate against the commencement of the glacial period dating back to tertiary times, and continued until brought toa close by its own erosive force, aided by atmospheric and meteorological influences. By these combined agencies, acting through time, the mountain home of the glacier was cut down, and a general leveling of the land took place all along its course.

'The glacial period was the result of high elevations in the northern regions, and its force was expended in eroding and cutting down, and in removing mineral matter from a higher to a lower level. This grinding and equalizing work of the glaciers was bound, in time, to effect a material change in the topography and in the meteorological condition of the continent; not only were elevated mountain peaks worn down, and the general leveling of the land brought about, but vast quantities of mud and sand were carried forward by the streams of water which flowed beneath the glaciers, and these streams, swelled during the summer time to floods by the melting of the ice, would carry the sediment forward until deposited in the ocean. In this way the shores of the continent were pushed forward from year to year, and from century to century, and the superficial area of the land would in this way be materially augmented.

'The configuration of the earth's surface in North America, as well as its climatic laws, gave direction to the glaciers, and caused them to move from the north in a southerly course. * * * 'The valley of the Ohio River was the southern terminus of the glacier, and its channel was formed by the melting of the ive, and the flow of the water which always underlies its bed. As the glacier became less and less powerful, by the dying-out of the cause which created and sustained it, the terminal margin withdrew to the north ; and, wherever there remained undestroyed rock barriers or dams, they gave direction to the waters of the terminal moraines. 'The course of the Wabash and its principal tributaries, Hast and West Forks of White River, as well as the Ohio, owe their main direction to this cause."' 3

Considering, then, the geological formations, as ascertained to exist in this county and the immediate vicinity, the operations of the glacial period become an important factor in the argument based upon determined results. Hence, as we have seen, a mixed drift forms the upper stratum of the earth in this locality, and the accepted opinion of geologists attributes these conditions to ~. glacial action, the conditions precedent being higher elevations to the southward, passing over the local area and inducing the tendency of moving bodies to this direction. The changes of surface consequent upon the equalizing work of the glaciers are necessarily great, though slow in the production of results, when measured by man's brief opportunity to observe. Hence, perhaps, we are disposed to underestimate their value. Results we see, but the process and progress of producing agencies can only be estimated.

Prof. Cox, in discussing the general structure of the earth's crust in this portion of Indiana, gives it as hisopinion, supported by reliable data, that: 'The oldest and first-formed rocks in Indiana are to be found in the southeastern part of the State, and extend along the Ohio River, from the mouth of the

Fourteen-Mile Creek, in Clark County, to the eastern boundary line. From the mouth of Fourteen-Mile Creek, the western boundary of these rocks runs in a northeasterly direction through Ripley County, keeping a little west of Versailles, nearly through the central part of Franklin, western part of Union, to Cambridge and Richmond, in Wayne County. It may be followed a few miles north of Richmond, on the Middle Fork of White Water River, and thence east into Ohio. This group of paleozoic rocks received the name of Hudson River group in the geological reports, of New York, where they were first studied and assigned to the position they hold in geological sequence.

the surface, underlie the formations that follow them in time, so that, go in whatever direction you will from their surface exposure, it will be observed that they are lost beneath the drainage, and give place to newer formations. This well-known fact has led the ablest geological observers of this country to attribute their outcrop to a local disturbance, which uplifted and brought them to the surface. The axis of this disturbance was supposed to be in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction, and to pass in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio. * * * * My own opinion is, that the Lower Silurian strata, in the region above alluded to, were not thrust to the surface by a local disturbance, but by an elevating force, which acted very slowly and extended over the entire central area of the United States. If we are to judge from the height of the strata above the sea level, then the seat of greatest force concerned in the elevation was not confined to Southwestern Ohio, but should be looked for in Kentucky, where the Lower Silurian has a greater elevation and a much more extended area than is to be found in Ohio or Indiana."'

From the foregoing, the following legitimate deductions may be drawn: "That the Lower Silurian rocks were not brought to the surface by a local uplift, but by an upward movement of the continent. The shallow parts of the sea were first laid bare, and this gave rise to a Lower Silurian peninsula ; * * * that the ocean basins which encompassed the Lower Silurian land". were subsequently filled up by accumulations of drift; that, "as the land rose above the ocean, the succeeding strata made their appearance in regular sequence." Commencing with the Lower Silurian. upon which Lawrenceburg is situated, to the westward, near Versailles, in Ripley County, Ind., it is succeeded by the Upper Silurian, this by the Devonian, between the latter place and Vernon, in Jennings County; a little way to the westward, the sub-corniferous strata is developed, and; about half-way between Seymour and Vincennes, the coal measure strata crops out. Between that point and St. Louis, a large portion of Indiana and Illinois. In the course of " time, the basin, being shut out from the sea, became a fresh-water marsh, and the conditions were favorable for a luxuriant growth of plants, which furnished carbon for a bed of coal. * * * The low ocean barriers which protected the basin on the south, were overflowed, and a deposit of sediment gave rise to the overlying shales, sandstones and limestones. * * * * With the coal measures, all marine deposits terminated within the limits of Indiana and Ohio." Over the entire .

distance, along the line across this basin, "the dip of the strata is so gentle, at any point visible, that one is puzzled to estimate or measure it with the clinometer, and the physical structure of the rocks, and the abundance of wellpreserved fossils which they contain, furnish evidence that they were formed in a comparatively quiet and shallow sea. Indeed, the slight inclination of the strata, and the total absence of breaks or faults, all tend to prove that the elevation of this part of the continent was the result of a force acting with remarkable uviformity over the entire basin, and could not have reached its greatest development in Silurian times."

Rocks of the Upper Silurian age are traceable from Clarke County, Ind., through all the river border counties to Butler County, Ohio. Over this entire distance, the Niagara rocks present the greatest uniformity of features peculiar to that class, and rest upon the strata of the Lower Silurian age, alike marked by their lithological characteristics. These rocks,in Indiana, bear all the characteristics of the class found in New York. They form there the mural face of Niagara Falls, whence the name. At the Genesee Falls, also, as well as a multitude of smaller falls and precipitous bluffs in that State, outcroppings of this class of rocks appear conspicuously. The scenery of Indiana is similarly marked. the streams that cut their way through it have more rapidly removed the soft, marly Hudson River beds from beneath, and the superincumbent, massive Niagara breaks loose and tumbles to the foot of the ravine, where it is often seen in large blocks,"

In Rush, Henry, Hancock, Madison, Hamilton and Howard, to Cass County, AMINO HTELOOE . .ciisacascasccsssutucces<tccsbuctanssthboans Papaw. on the Upper Wabash River, marked traces of the Niagara rocks are to be samt nudyfora sguivdns.cdvagyasven <p ibass ad bes eueceetmawea Purple Azalea. cid Pay i Pe iedteass. along tha Micciscinowa, in Grant County, and ee sk urate piachne pana digueancsessess Ghaeegninin Hornbeam. in the bed of White River, in Delaware County. In all these counties, the Ae ete BAe Ere agg ee eo ps :

YO BQUMMIOR Gans dipiaodceeiss sastietuaechesvacnes betta Shellbark Hickor Niagara beds are quarried for flagging-stone and architectural purposes. The Cry Gd SULCB bis 5:05 5s.cssseecdenvccus Wis snsntatbapeech corel Western Shellbark. layers for the most part are thin, and the stone refractory, variable in color and Castanea. Amprieanes i... Soe. kk ea American Chestnut. wanting in durability. The average composition may be seen from the follow- Catalpa bignontotdes. .....0sccsksccsccecssvccedscasivecdicen Catalpa. ing analysis of specimens found in Randolph County: Water at 212° Fahren- Gebise cr dati oltiie iiss << sides tisebssetbiddce stv Hackberry. heit, 1.18 parts: ilicic acid, 1.20; ferric oxide, 1.30; alumina, 4.40; lime Cercis Canadensis Sache ba Ges Same eh beeaen eunbsncverevinkecete Redbud.

g 1, hig ; TOLLIUS BANGUINEG'. dpscrecctvdcecsivichevecsnscsss¥eeteene Red Thorn. lent lime. Speaking of these N iagara beds in Delaware and Randolph Coun- CYdONIA VIG OTIS. Tr. 00k saeganssice sty Aeoanccacestcus tee Quince. ties, which have been quarried for building-stone and for lime, Prof. Cox, in PPPOE POTUBON G0 weswes «sabi vend oks seavedtacdae tees Leatherwood. ha report of 1878, says: "Indeed, this stone is noted for the excellent qual- HGGU8 JOPTUBM ED... vias caese saison cov ceavenc en ee Beech. ity 6f fie whisk it makes. 'and the dparation of burning ago fomae large Hraxinus MIROTICOIG....ov'cso sna Piniewns ooh css ha White Ash. industry wherever the layers beneath the cherty beds which belong at the top Ames as iste Meioh 2) Ae Tae of this formation can be reached. In Randolph County the stone is cream Es Ee ete Oe Ee ee ae wig x colored, porous and coarse-grained, which renders it inferior for masonry where Gleditschia triaeanthos...cscocecococcecesceccececocscnece. Honey Locust durability is a matter to be considered." Gymnocladus Oinadtnsitenccccsiecrs.ssis ce :

Underlying the buff-colored magnesian limestone of the Niagara epoch, SUQLARG COREE 3.66 ho ecccok ae OO me Butternut. extensively used in other localities in making quick lime, there' ia a gray, argil- Juglans LR) See oe (ane devsenodtehenseeacariacsene cee Black Walnut. laceous limestone, possessing valuable hydraulic properties, which, however, "a beg Pee Rober iaieec SS Rt Anat yt Pres sie i ibsratls bead sis ae ee patie sn: sAehie ccna Loe od osebidsbe seta aceite ee Spicewood. attached to it in consequence of the incomplete analysis that has Daa made. pian er eae oneueree mie a sig A careful analysis, on the contrary, shows that it possesses the properties val- Lonicer Hilo siacssina gneve eee a uable in hydraulic cements, equal to the best and superior to a majority of Lonicera Bem OEMS. <o..csuessusstieeueelesai ais s2eisaps dEaeAREBN Wovesteects those in high repute. As a consequence, therefore, it is only a question of Mccclure GUPEndtied 1.00. cocscecceacincet ss dviaidee Osage Orange. time when the hydraulic esas: fond th Nese icdeitsaet ith Gis Niiienen Magnotic COP DAE Go ones icsvespenanboiwesohin ee Yellow Cueumber Tree. rocks will come to be of high commercial value, notwithstanding the present pete oe Ud a ie ee gees ies eras good repute in which other angillaccous limestones are held Nghe ecridtansrcrcnsvncicrancvelan Hie