DOI
10.17077/etd.q2f2com5
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree
Fall 2013
Degree Name
MS (Master of Science)
Degree In
Geoscience
First Advisor
E. Arthur Bettis III
First Committee Member
Adam Ward
Second Committee Member
Frank Weirich
Abstract
The processes that generated the distinctive landscape of the Iowa Erosion Surface (IES) of northeastern Iowa have been debated for over a century. A number of researchers have concluded that the IES experienced a periglacial environment and was underlain by continuous permafrost during the last glacial maximum. Ubiquitous throughout the IES is a stone zone that lies 60-100cm below the surface. Several explanations for the genesis of the stone zone have been proposed, including a lag concentrate, biomantle processes, and cryogenesis. We utilized a combination of coring and trenching, ground penetrating radar and resistivity to investigate the 3D distribution of the stone zone, overlying "pedisediment" and the underlying contact with dense till across a 100m2 area on a typical IES hillslope in east-central Iowa .
Our preliminary results indicate that the stone zone occurs in the basal few decimeters of pedisediment that rests uncomformably and abruptly on eroded, dense till. Ice wedge casts extend from the stone zone into the underlying till. The depth of the stone zone below the modern surface increases downslope and the stone zone dissipates and eventually is replaced by relatively thick loamy sand beneath the footslope. These relationships argue against the stone zone being of biogenic origin. The occurrence of ice wedge casts associated with the stone zone and systematic changes in the thickness and texture of the pedisediment suggest to us that stone zone on the IES was formed by a combination of cryogenic and active zone erosive processes during the full glacial period.
Keywords
Biomantle, Cryogenesis, Geophysics, Iowa Erosion Surface, Lag Concentrate, Stone Zone
Pages
viii, 126 pages
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 124-126).
Copyright
Copyright 2013 Jeffrey Alan Matzke
Recommended Citation
Matzke, Jeffrey Alan. "Geophysical investigation of the stone zone and loamy mantle on the Iowan surface." MS (Master of Science) thesis, University of Iowa, 2013.
https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.q2f2com5.