Determining Provenance of Glacial Material in Southwestern Ohio

During the last glacial maximum, ice moved south from Canada to cover much of the northern United States. This included the northern and western portions of Ohio. As the ice migrated it picked up Canadian bedrock which it transported and then left in Ohio when the ice retreated. The goal of this project was to determine the provenance (the source of origin) of the glacial material that is located in Greene, Clark, Montgomery, Logan, and Champaign Counties in Ohio. To determine where in southern Canada the material in these counties came from, this project included literature review into the glacial history of both Ohio and southeastern Canada and review on the stratigraphy of southeastern Canada. Pebble, cobble, and boulder sized fragments were evaluated from two surface mines, one kame (glacial deposit), several glacial erratics, and multiple drilled cores from around the five counties. Multiple criteria such as size, roundness, fossils, foliations, and basic composition were used to categorize the rocks. Combining the stratigraphy of southeastern Canada found though the literature review and the sample analysis results, a map showing the source of the glacial material, direction of ice flow, and material destination has been created in Google Earth and PowerPoint. The types of rocks found in the samples appear to have originated from southern Ontario and Quebec, specifically from the Sudbury County area in southern Ontario as well as Ottawa County in Ontario and Les Collines-de-l\u27Outaouais County in Quebec. These areas have the closest exposed bedrock to Ohio that are of similar material to what was found during sample analysis. When compared with the direction of the ice flow, the results are consistent with the flow direction