https://ir.uiowa.edu/igs_ofm/1092/thumbnail.jp

Bettis, E Arthur, III

Giglierano, James D

Quade, Deborah

Tassier-Surine, Stephanie

English

Iowa Research Online

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Surficial Geology of Page County, Iowa
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Map Location
Correlation 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. 
PageCo_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.
Title, Author, Agency, Contract and Acknowledgement Information 
SURFICIAL GEOLOGY OF PAGE COUNTY, IOWA  Iowa Geological and Water Survey Open File Map OFM-12-06 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   
Introduction to the Surficial Geology of Page County, Iowa  Page Cou nty l ies w ith in the Southern Io wa Drift Plain  (Prior and Ko hrt, 20 06) lan dform region o f Io wa.   Surficial materials cons ist  of a mix of eo lian d epo sits (loess), glacial t ill  outcrop , alluv ium, and l imited areas  of bedrock o utcrop.  Mult iple p eriods of Quaternary g laciat io n and subaerial eros ion have led to the landscap e we see to day.  G enerally speaking,  the map area consists  o f loess of variable thick ness overly ing Pre-Il lino 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 (Hallb erg et al., 1991 ).  Comp ilat ion mapp ing  near the p ro ject  area in Adams County w as  co mpleted  in 2 010 (Tass ier-Surine et  al .).  Calvin (1900) first d escrib ed the Quaternary and mapped the Paleozoic bed ro ck  geology of Pag e County and discussed the s trat igraph y o f the Pennsylv an ian an d Cretaceous strata that  co mp rise the county’s bedrock uni ts.   Statewid e bed ro ck geo logic map s by Hershey (196 9),  an d mos t recently, by Witzk e,  Anderso n, and  Pope (20 10), depict the increased  understandin g o f the distribut ion of geo log ic un its  at the bed ro ck  surface across  this regio n, includin g Page Cou nty.  
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 Page County, the highly  erod ed  and  dissected  Pre-Il lin ois  upland  and o lder terraces are mantled b y Wisco nsin  loesses  of variab le thick ness (Ruhe, 196 9; Prior, 197 6).  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 river valleys .  Add itio nal eol ian materials may  be intermit tent ly present mantling  Wiscon sin  Episode terraces.  Pre-Ill ino is g lacial depos its  are expo sed in the map area alo ng d rainages  and wh ere lo ess cover is  th in.  Based o n exist ing  well d ata,  Pre-Illinois  depos its  may be as  th ick  as 300’ in b ed ro ck  valleys . 
So il series  uni ts fro m the Soil Survey  of Page Co unty, Iowa (Clark and McWill iams, 19 78) were categ orized  in to su rficial  geolo gic uni ts based on soil data and  available subsu rface geolog ic data fro m the Io wa Geo log ical  and Water Survey’s  GEOSAM database (water well log d atab ase) as  well  as o ther exis tin g 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 d isagree with the you nger 0.2 Ma age es timate for Pre-Il lino is glaciations presented b y Balco and  Rovey (201 0) and suggest 0.5 Ma is more cons istent  with regio nal data and stratig rap hic relatio nships.   
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. Calvin, S., 1900, Geology of Page County:  Iow a G eological Survey A nnua l Re port, v. 11, p. 397-460. 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, L.A. and Mc Willia ms, K.M., 1978, Soil Survey of Page  County, Iowa:  U nited St ates De partme nt of Agriculture, Soil Conse rvation Service , 84p. 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., Q uate 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. 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.  
LEGEND   CENOZOIC  QUATERNARY SYSYTEM  HUDSON EPISODE  Qal - Alluvium (DeFo rest  Formatio n-U ndifferentiated) Variable th ickness of less  than 1  to 5 m (3-16 ft) of very  dark gray to brow n, no ncalcareous  to calcareo us, strati fied  sil ty clay  loam, clay loam, loam to sandy loam al luv ium and colluviu m in st ream valleys,  o n hill  s lop es  and  in closed depress ions.  May overlie Pre-Illinoain g lacial til l of the Wo lf Creek or Alb urnett fo rmatio ns o r Pre-Holocene fine-grained alluviu m. Associated  with low-rel ief mo dern  flood plain , closed  depressions,  mo dern  drainageways  or to es lope p osi tio ns o n the landscape. U nit also includ es  colluvial depos its derived from adjacent  map units.  Seasonal high water table and potent ial for frequent flood ing.    Qallt –  River Channel  Belt – Low Terrace (DeFo res t Formation-Camp Creek Mbr. and Roberts  Creek Mbr.)  Variable th ickness o f less than 1 to 5 m (3-16 ft ) o f very dark gray to bro wn, noncalcareo us, st rat ified si lty clay  loam, loam, or clay loam, asso ciated  with the mo dern channel belt  of the East  Nish nab otb a, No daway, and East  Nod away river val leys.  Overlies  Pre-Ho locene fin e-grained  alluviu m.  Occupies  lo west posi tio n on  the floo dplain  ie. mo dern  and  h istoric chan nel  b elts . O x-bow lakes and meander scars  are co mmo n featu res associated with this  terrace level.  Mapped primari ly using aerial imagery an d cou nty so il survey data.  Seasonal  h igh water tab le and  freq uent flo odin g potential .     HUDSON AND WISCONSIN EPISODE  WISCONSIN EPISODE  Qpt- Loess Mantled Terrace (Peoria Fo rmatio n – sil t and/or san d facies) 2 to 7 m (7-23  ft) o f yello wish  brow n to  gray, massive, jointed , calcareous or no ncalcareous,  silt  loam and  intercalated fine to  mediu m, well sorted, sand . May grade d ownward to poo rly to mod erately well sorted, mo derately to w ell strati fied, co arse to fine feldspathic quartz san d, lo am, o r si lt loam al luvium (Late Phase Hig h Terrace) or may overlie a Farmdale Geoso l develo ped in  Pisg ah Silt  wh ich in turn overlies  a well-expressed Sang amon Geoso l d eveloped in poorly to mod erately well  so rted , mo derately to  well s tratified,  coarse to fine sand, lo am, or s ilt  loam allu viu m (Early Phase High Terrace).  Qps – Loess   (Peo ria Fo rmation—silt  facies)  Generally  2 to 8 m (6  to 25 ft) o f yello wish to grayish brown,  mass ive, jointed calcareo us o r noncalcareo us s ilt  loam to  si lty clay lo am.  Limited areas o f fine eolian sand may be present near major riv er valleys .  Overlies  a g ray ish brown  to  o live gray  s ilty clay  lo am to s il ty clay (Pisgah Formation—erod ed  Farmd ale Geosol) which is less than 1.5  m (5 ft) th ick .  The Farmd ale may be welded to  an  older Sangamo n Geosol develo ped  in loamy glacial til l of the Wo lf Creek or Alb urnett formations . T his map ping  unit encompasses upland divides, rid getops  and con vex sideslop es .  Well to somewhat poorly drained landscape.   PRE-ILLINOIS EPISODE  Qwa3 – Till   (Wo lf Creek  or Alburnet t formations)   General ly 15  to 90 m (49-295  ft ) o f  very dense, massive,  fractured,  lo amy glacial ti ll of the Wo lf Creek or A lburnett  formatio ns with  or without  a thin  loess mantle (Peoria Formation—less than 2 m) an d interven ing clayey Farmdale/San gamon Geo sol . This  mapp ing u nit enco mpasses  narro wly d issected interfluves and s ide slo pes, and side val ley slo pes.  Drainage is v ariable from w ell drained to  poo rly drained.   Other Mapping Units  Bedrock- Undifferen tiated Paleozo ic rock.  May b e mantled with u p to  2 m (6 ft ) of Quaternary materials fro m the adjacent map ping un it.   Qpq - Pits and Quarries  Sand and gravel pits  and rock  q uarries.  Extent mapped as shown in co unty so il surveys and as identified on aerial imagery.   Wa ter Features   Rivers , lak es  and small po nds fo rmed by blockage of d rainagew ay s and  riv er channels.  Extent  map ped  as sh own in county so il surveys and  as ident ified o n aerial  imagery.    Dril l Holes   


Surficial Geology of Page County, Iowa

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Surficial Geology of Page County, Iowa

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