Michigan Basin Geological Society

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Please join us for the first Michigan Basin Geological Society’s membership meeting for the 2019-2020 year.

DATE: November 13, 2019, presentation 7:00-8:00 pm

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LOCATION: Natural Science Building, Rm 204 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

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SPEAKER: Dr. Robb Gillespie, Assistant Professor with the Department of

Geological and Environmental Sciences, a Research Associate with the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE), and an associate of the Michigan Geological Survey, all located at Western Michigan University 

TOPIC: Interactions of Late Wisconsin Saginaw and Michigan Glacial Ice-lobes in Michigan - Possible Michigan Lobe Event Defined

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Abstract:

Traditionally, the extent of the Late Wisconsin Saginaw Lobe ice advance throughout Michigan has been delineated in the landscape by a belt of glacial moraines surrounding Saginaw Bay. However, new satellite imagery, DEMs, and LiDAR data sets have provided the basis for renewed, more detailed, analyses of previously mapped glacial landforms, drainage basins and associated river patterns. Analyses of the cross-cutting relationships of these features, combined with: (1) development of a more detailed, bedrock-topography map, and (2) sedimentary analyses of more than 320 newly collected Saginaw Moraine till samples, now makes it possible to re-interpret certain Michigan glacial events.

The hypothesis presented in this work focuses on the central portion of the Saginaw Lobe – Lake Border Moraine system (centered at Ithaca, Michigan in Gratiot County). It is postulated that the present-day, central portion of this series of moraines, rather than being produced by Saginaw Lobe ice advancing from the northeast (as traditionally interpreted), was instead produced by younger Michigan Lobe ice advancing from the west. Ice-flow directions are thought to be directly related to, and controlled by, bedrock topography. Advancing Michigan Lobe ice re-worked the central portion of the Saginaw Lobe – Lake Border Moraine system originally deposited by Saginaw Lobe ice, and re-deposited this material farther eastward, resulting in the eastward “bulge” of the central portion of the overall moraine system.

Development of stream drainage patterns also indicates westward retreat of glacial ice from this area. Current patterns are thought to have formed contemporaneously with moraine deposition. This pattern could only develop if eastward valleys were ice-free during a time when adjacent western valleys were still ice covered. Also, moraine patterns and landform features to the west of the area are consistent with landform systems-tracts formed by ice retreating west – northwest.

Recently, sediment analyses of till samples collected from the Saginaw Lobe – Lake Border Moraine system display compositions for the central portion of the moraine system that are different from those of the northern and southern portions. This implies a distinctly different genesis for this portion of the Saginaw Lobe – Lake Border Moraine system.

Therefore, it is hypothesized that the central portion of the currently defined Saginaw Lobe – Lake Border Moraine system was formed by younger Michigan Lobe ice advancing from the west, rather than by older Saginaw Lobe ice advancing from the northeast (which formed the laterally contiguous, older portions of the Saginaw Lobe – Lake Border Moraine system).

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New Survey Publication – An Updated Bibliography of Michigan Geology

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John Yellich and Peter Voice, Western Michigan University Department of Geological Sciences and Michigan Geological Survey

The Michigan Geological Survey is proud to announce a new publication: Michigan Geology: A Bibliography, the second volume in the Michigan Geological Survey Data Compilation Series. This updated compilation lists over 7,700 references from all known Michigan sources, including industry, professional associations and universities and includes publications from 1818 to present. This report documents 200 years of Geological Research in Michigan. The Bibliography is sorted into four general categories – Precambrian, Basin, Quaternary, and Other.
This updated version of the bibliography also includes a short section on Michigan Stratigraphic Nomenclature, as well as brief discussion of historical trends in publication frequency in Michigan.

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The report is free to download at the Michigan Geological Survey’s webpage: https://wmich.edu/geologysurvey/research/publications.

DOUGLAS HOUGHTON MEMORIAL

Douglass Houghton, Michigan’s first State Geologist, was honored on September 10, 2016 by
the placement of a State of Michigan Historical Marker commemorating his accomplishments. The
effort was led by Arlene Anderson‐Vincent, members of the Michigan Basin Geological Society,
Keweenaw County Historical Society and faculty at Western Michigan University and Michigan
Technological University. The dedication was incorporated into a MBGS field excursion led by
Professor Ted Bornhorst of Michigan Technological University and Lawrence Molloy, President of the Keweenaw County Historical Society. The two led a field excursion that covered the geology and history of sites from Houghton to Copper Harbor and wove a tale of the rise and fall of mining in the copper range. The field excursion included the dedication of the marker, which is located in Eagle River, Michigan at the Keweenaw County Historical Museum. The dedication had many speakers and a special appearance from Kyle Bagnall, who portrayed Bela Hubbard who told the story of Douglass Houghton’s 1840 expedition along Lake Superior. Douglass Houghton died in 1845 when the boat carrying himself and his crew capsized during a storm on Lake Superior near Eagle River.