image: Trips among the dynamic geology of Indiana and the Ohio River Valley. view more
Credit: Geological Society of America
Boulder, CO, USA – The latest geology guidebook published by the Geological Society of America provides a diverse sampling of the geology of the Illinois Basin region. Field excursions detailed herein stem from the 2008 meeting of GSA's North-Central Section in Evansville, Indiana, USA, an area of rich geologic history. Nearby New Harmony, Indiana, served as headquarters for pioneering naturalists, such as David Dale Owen and Charles Alexandre Lesueur, who worked to characterize and map the U.S. interior.
"A prominent theme in this guidebook is the history of geology," says senior editor Anton H. Maria of the University of Southern Indiana. Along with discussion of the contributions of those who lived in or visited New Harmony to the fields of geology, geography, zoology, archaeology, and paleontology, the history of the meeting city is also examined. Field guide authors discuss the availability and use of geologic materials in Evansville, including the characteristics and origins of building stones, building techniques, and architectural styles.
Other trip subjects include sequence stratigraphy of the Silurian rocks of the Cincinnati Arch in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana; conodonts and the Pennsylvanian stratigraphy of southwestern Indiana; mining activity and the relationship of tectonism, igneous activity, and fluorite mineralization within the Illinois-Kentucky Fluorite District; characteristics and origin of the Garden of the Gods sandstones in Shawnee National Forest, Illinois; seismic ground-failure features in the lower Wabash and Ohio River valleys; and the hydrogeology of an abandoned mine site in Indiana, with applications to planning for disposal of coal-combustion products.
Individual copies of the volume may be purchased through the Geological Society of America online bookstore http://rock.geosociety.org/Bookstore/default.asp?oID=0&catID=9&pID=FLD012 or by contacting GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.
Book editors of earth science journals/publications may request a review copy by contacting Jeanette Hammann, jhammann@geosociety.org.
From the Cincinnati Arch to the Illinois Basin: Geological Field Excursions along the Ohio River Valley
Anton H. Maria and Ronald C. Counts (editors)
Geological Society of America Field Guide 12
2008, 180 pages, US$45.00, GSA member price US$31.50
ISBN 978-0-8137-0012-0