GEOPHYSICAL AND GIS INVESTIGATIONS
OF THE
OAK OPENINGS SAND RIDGE IN NW OHIO

Don Stierman1, Brian Mitchell1, Bruce Skubon1, David Krantz1, Harry Jol2,1 and Timothy Fisher1; (1) Earth, Ecological & Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Toledo, Toledo, OH  43606, (2) Dept. of Geography and Anthropology, Univ. of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, Eau Claire, WI 54702

Poster paper presented at the North Central Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Minneapolis, May 19, 2005.  Data were collected by the authors, assisted by students participating in EEES 6100: Glacial Stratigraphy & GeophysicsDon Stierman copied elements from the poster to this Web site in July, 2005.

Abstract:  The Oak Openings sand belt of northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan formed during the recession of the Huron–Erie Lobes, when northwest Ohio was inundated by a series of ancestral lakes of the Lake Erie basin. This feature consists of uniformly fine to medium grained sand up to 12 m thick in an irregular ridge 1.5 to 3 km broad deposited on lacustrine clay. Ground penetrating radar (GPR), digital elevation models (DEM), and electrical resistivity data were collected, analyzed and compared with similar features from modern coastlines. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) images reveal subtle geomorphic features not previously recognized, while GPR reveals sedimentary structures within the sand. The Oak Openings belt was probably once a barrier island. The DEM, supported by GPR profiles, indicates that a recurved spit formed in what is today Secor Metropark and that this spit was incised by a channel, resulting in a delta forming to the southeast. Large-scale cross bedded reflections dipping southeast along the barrier island are probably former shoreface surfaces, and GPR profiles on the spit show sediment building from northeast to southwest, consistent with the hypothesis that this landform developed as a spit. Aeolian processes reworked higher elevations of this spit into parabolic dunes. Where the barrier is incised by a stream, a delta lies east of the barrier and GPR profiles reveal a cut-and-fill stratigraphy consistent with a delta interpretation.

Problem Statement: Is the Oak Openings sand ridge a former barrier island that projected a recurved spit complex during the recession of the Huron-Erie Lobes?

Background: The Oak Openings sand ridge is considered an ancient shoreline feature that formed as glacial Lake Warren levels were approximately 210 meters above current sea level.  Advancing and receding Huron-Erie lobes coupled with outlet changes caused lake level fluctuations to deposit and rework coastal surfaces.  Current Lake Erie water levels are significantly lower that its ancestral Lake Warren counterpart, exposing previous shoreface surfaces (Figure 1).  The Oak Openings stratigraphic upward succession consists of bedrock overlain by till and glacial lake sediments that are capped by shoreface and eolian sand deposits.

Recessional moraines mark several advances of the Lake Erie glacial lobe on this digital elevation model.  Click on thumbnails for full size images.

 

Figure 1:  Although ancient shorelines are not generally well marked by topographic relief, the Oak Openings sand belt (orange, right image) stands above surrounding wave-planed till and lake bottom sediments.

Substage
Age
 
11,000 yrs. B.P.
 
12,000 yrs. B.P.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13,000 yrs. B.P.
 
 
 
 
14,000 y B.P.
Name
Elevation (m)
Outlet
Reason
Recent
Modern Lake Erie
175
Niagara
Isostatic uplift
Valders
Early Lake Erie
128
Niagara
Ice retreat
Two Creeks Int.
Post-Port Huron
Elkton
187
Chicago River
Outlet erosion
Lundy
189
Chicago River
Ice retreat
Grassmere
195
Northern Lk. Huron
Ice Retreat
Port Huron
Warren III
206
Grand River
Ice advance
Wayne
201
Northern Michigan
Ice retreat
Warren II
208
Grand River
Outlet erosion
Warren I
210
Grand River
Ice retreat
Whittlesey
224
Grand River
Ice advance
Carey
Arkona
216
Grand River
Ice retreat
213
Grand River
210
Grand River
Maumee III
238
Grand River
Ice advance
Maumee II
232
Grand River
Ice retreat
Maumee I
244
Wabash River
Ice retreat

Table 1: Lake-level chronology of northwest Ohio (after Forsyth, 1959).  Lake stages associate with Oak Openings sand belt are shown in red.

Methodology:  LIDAR data were used to generate DEMs of the Oak Openings sand belt (sandy soils – see Figure 2) that were analyzed for geomorphic indicators of depositional environments (Figure 3).  GPR profiles were collected using 100MHz antennae (1 meter separation, readings at 0.25 m intervals) at four locations in the Oak Openings region: Kitty Todd, Stranahan Elementary and Secor Metropark (Figures 4, 5 and 6 respectively).  Schlumberger soundings at Kitty Todd, Stranahan Elementary and Secor Metropark constrain lithology.

Soil map and LIDAR DEM, Lucas County - Figures 2 and 3

GPR profiles: location maps - Figures 4, 5 and 6

Perspective plots, DEMs showing barrier island and delta (Figure 7)

GPR profiles: data and interpretations
        Kitty Todd

        Stranahan Elementary
        Secor Metropark

Electrical resistivity soundings

Modern analogs

Secor Metropark's recurved spit and Summary

References cited and Acknowledgements

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