Glacial Flora and Fauna

There are a few Ice Age animals that have lived in Indiana!  I am going to tell you about two of them.  The first one is the Woolly mammoth.  It lived 200,000 years ago.  The closest extant relative is the Asian Elephant.  It is the same size as the modern African Elephant.  Males can reach the height of 11 feet and weight up to 6.6 tons.  Females can reach the height of 9.5 feet.  They are covered in fur, have short tails, long curved tusks and four molars.  A Woolly mammoth is a herbivore.  They ate grass and sedges (course, grasslike plants that grow in wet ground).  The environment that they lived in were grassy and the forests were coniferous, dominated by spruce and balsam.  There were many lakes, bogs, marshes and cane brakes.  The Woolly mammoth disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene, 10,000 years ago.  The remains of the Woolly mammoth have been found along U.S. 52 in Indiana. 

 

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/woollymammoth

Mark J. Camp, Graham T. Richardson, Roadside Geology of Indiana

Webster's New World Dictionary

 

Woolly Mammoth

 

Reference: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=woolly+mammoth&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=woolly+mammoth&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=83B6435717605FC191D4502BE54E67F39FB562A4&selectedIndex=1

 

 

The second Ice Age animal that I would like to tell you about is the Dire Wolf.  It lived in North America during the Pleistocene Epoch.  The Dire Wolf was a predator.  It preyed upon caribou, elk and deer.  It is larger than the grey wolf and has bigger teeth.  It became extinct about 16,000 years ago.  The remains of the Dire Wolf were found in a bedrock just 3 miles south of the line between Monroe and Lawrence Counties.  A large amount of mammal bones were found in the bedrock.  It is believed that the mammals had fallen into a cave. 

 

Reference: http://www.naturalworlds.org/wolf/history/Canisdirus.htm

 

 

Dire Wolf

 

Reference: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Dire+Wolf&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=dire+wolf&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=0568329E7F275E7547C919F24934C87D49CEFF04&selectedIndex=4

 

 

Scientists have different theories as to why the Ice Age animals became extinct.  First, human hunting could have been a cause.  Some believed that Hyperdisease (infectious disease) could have been a problem.  The environment that the animals lived in could have also cause their extinction.  The lack of plant life to feed upon could have caused them to die.  I feel that it is probably all of these theories that could have led to the extinction of the Ice Age animals. 

 

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary-extinction_event

 

If you are interested in seeing fossils of some of the Ice Age animals, The Childrens' Museum in Indianapolis has a display. 

 

Reference: Mark J. Camp, Graham T. Richardson, Roadside Geology of Indiana

 

Our present habitats (bogs, fens and prairies) are responsible for the distribution of Ice Age animals and plants.  Fifty percent of the vegetation in a bog is herbaceous ("a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level").  There is standing water in a bog and the soil is acidic in pH.  Bogs are mostly found in "glaciated depressions in northeastern Illinois".

The Volo Bog can be found in northeastern Illinois.  It is a "quaking" bog.  It opens up at the center.  It was formed during the Wisconsinian glacier, 15,000 years ago. 

 

Reference: Bogs, fens & praries in The Calumet Area

 

 

The Volo Bog in northeastern Illinois

 

Reference:http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Volo+Bog+&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=volo+bog+&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=69E5EBFED6255E68DEBB7D1C20E726C5D785F6A6&selectedIndex=3

 

 

A fen is a wet meadow.  It is "fed by an alkaline water source such as calcareous (having calcium carbonate) spring or seep.  More than 50% of the vegetation in a fen is herbaceous."  There is a fen called Turner Lake Fen in Lake County and a fen called Spring Grove Fen Nature Preserve in McHenry County. 

 

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbaceous

Bogs, fens & prairies in The Calumet Area

 

 

A flower at the Turner Lake Fen in Lake County, Illinois

 

Reference:http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Turner+Lake+Fen+in+Lake+County+Illinois&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=turner+lake+fen+in+lake+county+illinois&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=652F854CFF018B60AF5A5A79CA653647455A9305&selectedIndex=0

 

 

Spring Grove Fen Nature Preserve in McHenry County, Ilinois

 

Reference: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Spring+Grove+Fen+McHenry+County+Illinois&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=spring+grove+fen+mchenry+county+illinois&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=286E7CBCBF1C29F95A9167E8BF2C7D4A997673F2&selectedIndex=6

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ridge Road/Calumet Shoreline

I have traveled Ridge Road in Highland hundreds of times.  I have visited relatives that live on Ridge Road numerous times.  Before researching the information for my blog,  I wasn't aware that this particular area was a part of glacial history. 

 

Ridge Road in Highland is part of the Calumet Shoreline.  This ridge runs east and west.  The Calumet Shoreline is an ancient shoreline of Lake Michigan located in the Lake Michigan Basin.  It is a sand ridge along Ridge Road south of Chicago.  The shoreline is named after the Calumet Region of Northern Indiana.  (Schoon, pg. 33)

 

When it developed, it didn't form a mainland beach but developed into an offshore peninsula or spit.  The elevation of the ground is higher than the ground north or south of it.  North of this ridge was Lake Michigan.  At the south was the North Creek Lagoon, which is now the Cady Marsh Ditch (from Glen Park to Highland), Schoon Ditch (in Munster) and North Creek (in Lansing). (Schoon, pg. 33)

 

The Calumet Phase lasted approximately 600 years.  It ended close to 11,200 years ago when the glacier retreated past the Straits of Mackinac for the last time.  The lake level then went down about 28 feet to an elevation of 592 feet above sea level.  This was when the Calumet Phase ended.  (Schoon, pg. 34)

 

It is also interesting to know that the Calumet and Glenwood beaches were used as a way for Native Americans and stage coaches to travel.  The routes were considered to be high, flat and dry.  This is how Highland got it's name.  It was originally a stage coach depot named Highlands, later shortened to Highland. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calumet_Shoreline ) As you travel down Ridge Road, you can see remnants of the ancient sand hill where there are many homes and Oak trees.  There are also places along the ridge that are flat.  This is due to the fact that over the years, sand mining has taken place.  Sand is a valuable building material.  It is used in making cement. 

 

When I visit my mother-in-law's house now, I will consider the history behind the land that it sits upon.  It is an ancient sand dune and I find that to be enlightening.

 

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calumet_Shoreline

Kenneth J. Schoon, Calumet Beginnings

 

 

My mother-in-law's house in Highland on Ridge Road. 

The ancient sand dune is undisturbed here.  Many old Oak trees

are growing in the sand.

 

Photograph Taken By: Carol Haynes

 

This is how Ridge Road looks today.  It is also called

U.S. Highway 6.

 

Photograph Taken By: Carol Haynes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calumet Glacial Waters

Living in the Calumet Region, I feel so fortunate to have Lake Michigan so close by.  For most of my life, I have driven by, swam in and vacationed at one of the Lake Michigan beaches.  I have never really thought about it's history, until now. 

 

Lake Michigan just happens to be the largest lake that is in one country.  The creation of Lake Michigan began at the end of the last glacial period about 10,000 years ago.  Retreating ice sheets carved basins into the land and they became filled with meltwater. 

 

About 14,000 years ago, the glacier that took over Lake Michigan (Lake Michigan lobe) began to pull back from a highland.  The highland consists of glacial moraines (a geographical feature composed of materials that were deposited by a glacier).  This would mark the positions to which the ice advanced to and retreated over several thousands of years.  Waves that hit up against the moraines formed the first Lake Michigan shoreline, which is now called the Glenwood Phase.  The shoreline is called The Glenwood Beach.  It is called a "fossil" beach because it has washed up pebbles and some dune sand. 

 

The Indiana Dunes is the only area of the coast where there are high dunes.  This runs from east of Michigan City westward to a little past Ogden Dunes. 

 

Today,  Indiana's coast is divided up into smaller pieces of shoreline between man made structures.  Sediment that was moved 6,000 years ago has been broken up by these structures.  Waves and currents have caused erosion to the man made structures.  These waves and currents are now considered a geologic hazard. 

 

Besides the history of Lake Michigan, I also wonder and worry about our drinking water and where it comes from.  I found it interesting that The Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's fresh surface water, but it supplies only a portion of U.S. drinking water.  I thought that it would be much greater.

 

After researching the history of Lake Michigan, I feel that I have a new regard for it's creation and purpose.  I will no longer just drive by, swim or vacation at one of it's beaches without thinking about it's phenomenal creation. 

 

References:  http://igs.indiana.edu/FossilsAndTime/LakeMichigan.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes

 

 

Lake Michigan

Photograph Taken By: Carol Haynes

 

 

 

 

Calumet Glacial Landscapes

During my future travels of the Calumet Region, there are areas that I would like to visit.  I will be visiting and blogging about The Valparaiso Moraine, The Calumet River, The Ridge Road/Calumet Shoreline and Mink Lake in Valparaiso. 

When visiting these sites, I will be looking at them through a different lens.  The geological history that is present in these areas is captivating.  I hope to bring you a different perspective when visiting these locations also. 

 

A map of the Calumet Region.

Reference: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Calumet+Region%2C+IN+maps&qs=n&form=QBIR&pq=calumet+region%2C+in+maps&sc=0-20&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&id=0521D753C7BC8382E1978270A0FD20A9A43B3EF7&selectedIndex=1

 

Calumet Geological History

When you think of geology, the Calumet Region may not come to mind at first.  It may not be as obvious as other states or areas, but the geologic history is there. The geologic time scale or the "calendar of events in Earth's history" are obvious in the Region when you dig deeper into the work that geologists have left behind. The geologic time scale is based on stratigraphy, which is the study of sedimentary layers.  Fossils of ancient life form in different rock layers which provide the road to putting together a time scale.  In the Calumet Region,  paleontologists have collected rocks containing fossils.  The rivers and landscapes have contributed to the development or the destruction of many towns. 

 

The existence of visible life is called the Phanerozoic eon.  The Precambrian of time is divided into the Proterozoic, the Archean and the Hadean eons, in order of increasing age.  There is the Cenozoic (recent life and the age of mammals along with the development of humans and when dinosaurs became extinct), Mesozoic (middle life and when dinosaurs were dominant and birds first appeared) and the Paleozoic (ancient life and when first organisms appeared and fish were dominant).

 

The Pleistocene Ice Age began approximately 2 million years ago.  The earth started to experience periodic ice advances.  The landscape today represents the last two ice sheets.  The last age ended with a change in weather and a great melting of ice.  This created summer torrents of water pouring down most of the streams in Indiana. 

 

Indiana has many mineral resources.  The building stone belt expands from Gosport to Salem across South Central Indiana.  Limestone from the state contributes to the development of buildings and other structures throughout North America.  Advances in glass, lime, cement, clay and coal took place in Indiana. 

As you can see, this is a great beginning to looking further into the history of geology in the Calumet Region.  Looking forward to sharing more of my findings with you!

References:  http://www.the freelibrary.com

Camp, Mark J., and Graham T. Richardson. Roadside Geology of Indiana. Missoula, Mt.: Mountain, 1999. Print.

                                          This is the Thornton Quarry which was a Silurian

                                          Sea, millions of years ago.

                                          Photograph Taken By: Carol Haynes

                                                           

                                                         

This is the Little Calumet River that empties into the Grand Calumet River.

The formation of the Little Calumet and the Grand Calumet were created by glaciers 1,600,000

years ago.

Photograph Taken By: Carol Haynes

 

This is Ridge Road in Highland.  This was an ancient sand dune.

Photograph Taken By: Carol Haynes

Hello!  My name is Carol Haynes.  The puppy posted on my blog page is my dog Mia, she is part lab and part beagle.  I am a student at Purdue Calumet.  I am pursuing a degree in  Child and Family Services.  For my degree, I am taking a lab science course titled "Groundwater and Glaciers".  During our course we will be blogging about the glacial history of the Calumet Region.  I look forward to this for two reasons.  One, I have never blogged so this is a new experience for me and two, I never thought of the Calumet Region as having a history with glaciers, which I find to be intriguing!  I have lived in Northwest IN my entire life and am looking forward to learning more about its history.  Through my travels, I hope that I will be able to share with you some insight on our region's geological history.  Looking forward to sharing more soon!