Geology of Iowa

"This article is about Iowa geology; for the study of buried human cultural remains in Iowa, see Iowa archaeology".

Bedrock features

Iowa's bedrock geology generally increases in age from west to east. In northwest Iowa Cretaceous bedrock is ca. 74 million years old, in eastern Iowa Cambrian bedrock dates to ca. 500 million years ago. [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/geoiowa/GEOIOWA.HTM Prior: "Geology of Iowa: Iowa's Earth History Shaped by Ice, Wind, Rivers, and Ancient Seas"] ]

Manson impact structure

Seventy-four million years ago, a large asteroid crashed into what is now southeast Pocahontas county creating the Manson crater. Probably a mile in diameter, it would have killed most animals within 650 miles, roughly a area from modern Denver to Detroit. This was originally thought to have been one of the causes of the dinosaur extinction, but recalculation of the impact's age indicates it occurred some 12 million years before the mass extinction. Although glaciation has erased all surface evidence of the impact, the bedrock associated with this impact is unique in Iowa. [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/manson99/manson.htm Iowa's Manson Impact Structure] ]

Midcontinent rift

Buried deeply within Iowa's bedrock, a large rift can be seen clearly in The Bouguer Gravity Anomaly Map of Iowa. This is a billion-year-old tectonic plate scar that extends from Kansas through Lake Superior. This rift is not seismically active. [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/rift/mrs.htm Midcontinent Rift System In Iowa] ]

eismic activity

No major active fault lines exist in Iowa, and Iowa is one of the most seismically stable states in the U.S. No injuries or significant damage has ever been caused by earthquakes in Iowa. Occasional small earthquakes occur near Fremont County in the far southwest and the Sioux City area can occasionally be shaken by nearby tremblors. Large earthquakes associated with the New Madrid Fault of far southern Illinois and Missouri can occasionally be felt in eastern Iowa. [ [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/?region=Iowa Iowa Earthquake Information] , [http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/iowa/history.php= Iowa Earthquake History] ]

Fossil fuels

Historically, Iowa was a significant coal producer, particularly the Des Moines River valley. Much of the greater City of Des Moines area was mined. Iowa coal tends to be too high in sulfur for modern applications, and the last commercial mine closed in 1994. [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/inforsch/coalkyst.htm Iowa Coal Geology] ]

Iowa has very limited natural gas and oil production. [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/service/oilgas.htm Oil, Gas, and Metallic Mineral Regulatory Information] ]

ioux quartzite

Although Iowa's bedrock is generally younger in western parts of the state, one exception is a small part of far northwest Iowa where Precambrian Sioux quartzite bedrock is found in northwest Lyon County. Sioux quartzite is a very hard rock of ruddy pink color used extensively in the region for road and railroad beds. [ [http://www.geo.umn.edu/mgs/mnpot/sioux.html Sioux Quartzite geology] ]

Geodes

Geodes are found in southeast Iowa and are the official state rock. They consist of grey to pink cobbles within limestone that when cut or smashed open reveal a hollow crystal-filled interior. Geodes are common around Geode State Park in Henry County. [ [http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/geode.html IA DNR: State Parks, Geode State Park] ]

Landforms and topography

Despite popular preception, Iowa is generally not flat, most of the state consists of rolling hills. Prior [Prior, Jean C. (1991) "Landforms of Iowa." University of Iowa Press, Iowa City. http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/landform.htm] divides Iowa into eight landforms based on glaciation, soils, topography, and river drainage:

Plaeozoic plateau

Also known as the Driftless Area, this region of scenic, high relief landscapes includes such features as resistant, bluff-forming bedrock outcrops, deep V-shaped valleys, caves, springs, and sinkholes. Glacial deposits and loess are thin or absent over most of the region.

Des Moines lobe

Often called the Prairie Pothole Region, the Des Moines Lobe was glaciated up until 12,000 years ago during the Wisconsin glaciation. The area is marked by rolling terrain and ridges. Historically, this area was peppered with small interconnected swamps, most of which were drained for farmland. The Iowa Great Lakes occur along the western edge of the Des Moines lobe.

outhern Iowa drift plain

The southern Iowa drift plain covers most of the southern half of Iowa. This is probably the most familiar landscape to travelers, since most of Interstate 80 in Iowa runs through the SIDP. The classic Iowa landscape, consisting of rolling hills of Wisconsin-age loess on Illinoian (or earlier) till. The SIDP is some of the most productive agricultural land in the world.

Mississippi alluvial plain

Generally level areas of stream terraces, paleochannels, backwater sloughs, and oxbow lakes are found within the broad Mississippi River valley.

Loess hills

The Loess Hills consist of very thick deposits of loess in far western Iowa deposited during the Wisconsin and Illinoian periods. Highly eroded, leaving stark, beautiful "golden hills".

Iowan surface

Northeast Iowa is covered with eroded Illinoian till with moderate loess formation, steep rolling hills, deeper vallies. These picturesque hills are depicted in many of the landscapes of Grant Wood.

Northwest Iowa plains

Like the Iowan Surface, the Northwest Iowa Plains are rolling hills consisting of eroded soils developed since pre-Wisconsinan glaciation, but with significant amounts of loess.

Missouri alluvial plain

Perhaps the only truly flat region of Iowa, the Missouri Alluvial Plain contains areas of terraces, sloughs, and oxbows. Its valley trench is not as deep as the Mississippi River system, and the Missouri River is contained in a much narrower channel. In Iowa, the eastern border of the Missouri Plains is the Loess Hills, forming steep rounded bluffs.

Water

As in most of the U.S., surface water in Iowa is never safe to drink untreated, contamination by agricultural runoff including nitrates, herbicides, pesticides, and animal waste is common. Municipal water supplies are typically heavily chlorinated, this chlorine, combined with high nitrate levels, often give municipal water a strong smell, and the limestone bedrock in much of the state causes hard water. [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/service/wateres.htm Iowa City Water Quality] Some communities, such as Iowa City resort to additional carbon filtration and lime softening coagulation-sedimentation to make the water more palatable [http://www.icgov.org/default/?id=1623] . Water treatment can be surprisingly effective; Des Moines' advanced filtration system has led to water quality ranked among the nation's best ['Drink up - from the city tap.' "Des Moines Register" 2 July 2008, http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080702/OPINION03/807020346/1110] .

oils

The NRCS divides Iowa into 23 soil regions. In general, soils of southern, eastern, and western Iowa are loess-derived, while soils of northern and central Iowa are till-derived. Most level areas of Iowa have soils highly suitable for agriculture, making Iowa one of the most productive farming regions of the world. [ [http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/soils.html Information About Soils | Iowa NRCS] ]

Radon

Like most Upper Midwest and Plains states, radon is a common problem in Iowa, especially in areas with clay-rich soils. [http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1336.pdf]

Paleontology

Devonian Fossil Gorge

Floods in 1993 washed away all the soil and unconsolidated bedrock along the spillway of the Coralville Lake Dam in Johnson County, exposing a rich collection of Devonian-age fossils. This area has been transformed into a visitors' center, where hikers can tour the bedrock. Unfortunately, looters have illegally removed many of the better fossils. [ [http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/flood93/flood93.htm Flood of 1993] ] The June 2008 floods expanded the fossil bed floor, and removed some of the weathered overburden. ["Iowa City Press Citizen", http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/NEWS01/807090324/1079]

Dinosaurs

Small amounts of dinosaur fossils have been found in western Iowa during mining and quarrying operations. [Witzke, http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/dinosaurs/age_of_dinosaurs_in_iowa.htm]

Paleofauna

Archaeological and paleontological sites in Iowa have produced an extensive collection of Pleistocene and Holocene animals; these have been used to reconstruct past environmental conditions in the Midwest. [http://www.uiowa.edu/~geology/paleo/] Some of the earliest paleoclimatic reconstructions of the midcontinent were made from Iowa collections, such as the Cherokee Sewer Site [Anderson and Semken (1980) "The Cherokee Excavations: Holocene Ecology and Human Adaptations in Northwestern Iowa." Academic Press, New York.]

Tarkio giant sloth

A Pleistocene giant sloth is under excavation along West Tarkio Creek near Shenandoah, Iowa. Three individuals of "Megalonyx Jeffersoni", or Jefferson's Ground Sloth, have been identified so far, including one adult and two juveniles of different ages. [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060626123721.htm, http://slothcentral.com/]

References

External links

*Iowa Geological Survey, http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/
*Iowa Geographical Map Server, http://cairo.gis.iastate.edu/
*Web Soil Survey, http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/WebSoilSurvey.aspx
*NRCS Soil Survey, http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/osd/index.html
*Geological Society of Iowa, http://www.iowageology.org/
*Loess Hills Geology, http://pubs.usgs.gov/info/loess/
*University of Iowa Geoscience, http://www.uiowa.edu/~geology/
*Digital Iowa Geological Resources, http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm4/index_digs.php?CISOROOT=/digs
*Samuel Calvin geological photographs, http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm4/index_calvin.php?CISOROOT=/calvinUnited States topic
title = Geology of the United States by political division
prefix = Geology of