1-Briefly describe one of the three tectonic boundaries. Your answer should refer to it by name, using the terminology we’ve discussed, and it should also give at least one geographic example from anywhere on Earth.
2-Why is Earth is often described as having "bimodal topography?" In addition to concisely stating what this description means, you should briefly explain what about Earth makes this true. Hint: your answer should invoke the principle of isostasy and compare / contrast continental and oceanic crust.
3-Have you ever noticed that our moon has both light-colored and dark-colored regions? Speculate about the composition and relative densities of the differing areas. For the composition you should use the terms mafic and felsic. Finally, would you expect the bright areas to be lower or higher in elevation compated to the dark areas? Please briefly explain your responses.
4-Briefly describe why James Hutton’s (1726 — 1797) "Principle of Uniformitarianism" strongly suggested that Earth is at least hundreds of millions, if not billions of years old, even before radiometric techniques determined an age of 4.6 billion.
5-What is the difference between relative and absolute age dating?
6-The Geological Time Scale includes named intervals of time which are placed in relative order. Historically, what evidence has been used to define individual named intervals and, specifically, what usually marks the end of one particular interval?
7-What is an unconformity? Name and describe one type. What evidence could be used to identify this type of unconformity?
8-Describe at least two mechanisms capable of producing isostatic uplift and provide a "real-world" example for each. That is, describe an actual geological scenario in which this type of uplift is likely to occur.
2-Why is Earth is often described as having "bimodal topography?" In addition to concisely stating what this description means, you should briefly explain what about Earth makes this true. Hint: your answer should invoke the principle of isostasy and compare / contrast continental and oceanic crust.
3-Have you ever noticed that our moon has both light-colored and dark-colored regions? Speculate about the composition and relative densities of the differing areas. For the composition you should use the terms mafic and felsic. Finally, would you expect the bright areas to be lower or higher in elevation compated to the dark areas? Please briefly explain your responses.
4-Briefly describe why James Hutton’s (1726 — 1797) "Principle of Uniformitarianism" strongly suggested that Earth is at least hundreds of millions, if not billions of years old, even before radiometric techniques determined an age of 4.6 billion.
5-What is the difference between relative and absolute age dating?
6-The Geological Time Scale includes named intervals of time which are placed in relative order. Historically, what evidence has been used to define individual named intervals and, specifically, what usually marks the end of one particular interval?
7-What is an unconformity? Name and describe one type. What evidence could be used to identify this type of unconformity?
8-Describe at least two mechanisms capable of producing isostatic uplift and provide a "real-world" example for each. That is, describe an actual geological scenario in which this type of uplift is likely to occur.
Everglades of the North – southbendtribune.com http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-everglades-of-the-n…
1 of 2 1/13/13 6:48 AM
Gene Stratton Porter’s classic 1909 novel, “A Girl of the Limberlost,” which described life in and around the Limberlost, which originally covered about 13,000
acres.
The headwaters of the Kankakee lie on South Bend’s west side. But the landscape has been so dredged, tiled and drained that it’s impossible to say precisely where
the water flow starts today.
The first trickle might be visible in the storm ditch just west of the former ethanol plant or another ditch east of Belleville Softball Complex, county surveyor John
McNamara said.
Despite the extensive dredging and tiling, the county still faces occasional flooding in the farmlands that were created from the former waterway, McNamara said.
“A river of that age doesn’t want to be straightened. It wants to meander,” he said. “The river wants to be where it used to be.”
St. Joseph County created a manmade marshland, Place Trail Marsh near North Liberty, on land that used to be part of the Kankakee Marsh. It’s a challenge to
maintain water levels on the 372-acre plot, because too much water causes nearby fields to flood, county parks director Evie Kirkwood said. “So it’s much drier than
the Kankakee would have been,” she said.
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians is working to maintain one of the marsh’s remaining fragments, a 1,200-acre wetland the band bought in 2004 on New
Road near North Liberty. The wetlands restoration effort includes working to re-establish wild rice, a native grain and food source the Pokagons have harvested for
hundreds of years.
In recent years, members of the band have paddled the property, sowing rice seed in the water. As of this past fall, there was no visible evidence of rice growing,
band spokeswoman Paige Risser said, but the group hasn’t given up. Members are spreading more seed, and fencing in an area to protect the young rice from being
gobbled up by waterfowl.
The property includes about 850 acres of warm-season grasses. Each spring, about a third of the land undergoes a controlled burn, to encourage the growth of native
flowers and grasses. The group also has placed nesting boxes for bluebirds, herons and other birds.
“Nearby farmers say there has been reduced flooding in their fields because the native grasses hold in the moisture,” Risser said.
Mark Schurr, an anthropology professor at the University of Notre Dame, has spent years leading archeological digs at various locations in the Kankakee River
Valley. He’s found artifacts including a spear point dating to 7000 B.C., beads, tools and dishes from early Indian tribes and items left by early white pioneers. He
continues work at Collier Lodge, a 19th-century former hunting lodge on the banks of the Kankakee near Kouts, Ind.
Schurr grew up in South Bend and heard about the Kankakee Marsh as a child, and later studied it in detail. “I had no idea it was so enormous. It’s a whole
ecosystem that has totally disappeared,” he said.
Some parks and nature preserves exist today in the region of the former marsh. The public can visit those places to get a tiny glimmer of what the huge wetlands was
like. They include:
Place Trail Marsh: Part of the St. Joseph County Parks system, this 372-acre marsh is on Place Trail, off Quinn Road, near North Liberty. The county in 1996
began work there restoring a wet prairie, ponds and upland prairie.
Ober Sand Savanna Preserve, a 90-acre black oak sand savannah in Starke County. From the intersection of U.S. 35 and County Road 200 South, drive east
4.5 miles to the preserve on the north side of the road.
Grand Kankakee Marsh Park: 21690 Range Line Road in Hebron, Ind.
Conrad Station Savanna, a 809-acre black oak sand savannah on Indiana 41 near Lake Village, Ind.
Kankakee Sands Project, a 7,200-acre emerging prairie restoration project. The trailhead for the Unit K Trail starts at the project office, 3294 N. U.S. 41 in
Morocco, Ind.
Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe:
mfosmoe@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6329
facebook.com/tribune.margaretfosmoe
Follow me @mfosmoe
Copyright © 2013, South Bend Tribune
Everglades of the North – southbendtribune.com http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-everglades-of-the-n…
2 of 2 1/13/13 6:48 AM
1 of 2 1/13/13 6:48 AM
Gene Stratton Porter’s classic 1909 novel, “A Girl of the Limberlost,” which described life in and around the Limberlost, which originally covered about 13,000
acres.
The headwaters of the Kankakee lie on South Bend’s west side. But the landscape has been so dredged, tiled and drained that it’s impossible to say precisely where
the water flow starts today.
The first trickle might be visible in the storm ditch just west of the former ethanol plant or another ditch east of Belleville Softball Complex, county surveyor John
McNamara said.
Despite the extensive dredging and tiling, the county still faces occasional flooding in the farmlands that were created from the former waterway, McNamara said.
“A river of that age doesn’t want to be straightened. It wants to meander,” he said. “The river wants to be where it used to be.”
St. Joseph County created a manmade marshland, Place Trail Marsh near North Liberty, on land that used to be part of the Kankakee Marsh. It’s a challenge to
maintain water levels on the 372-acre plot, because too much water causes nearby fields to flood, county parks director Evie Kirkwood said. “So it’s much drier than
the Kankakee would have been,” she said.
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians is working to maintain one of the marsh’s remaining fragments, a 1,200-acre wetland the band bought in 2004 on New
Road near North Liberty. The wetlands restoration effort includes working to re-establish wild rice, a native grain and food source the Pokagons have harvested for
hundreds of years.
In recent years, members of the band have paddled the property, sowing rice seed in the water. As of this past fall, there was no visible evidence of rice growing,
band spokeswoman Paige Risser said, but the group hasn’t given up. Members are spreading more seed, and fencing in an area to protect the young rice from being
gobbled up by waterfowl.
The property includes about 850 acres of warm-season grasses. Each spring, about a third of the land undergoes a controlled burn, to encourage the growth of native
flowers and grasses. The group also has placed nesting boxes for bluebirds, herons and other birds.
“Nearby farmers say there has been reduced flooding in their fields because the native grasses hold in the moisture,” Risser said.
Mark Schurr, an anthropology professor at the University of Notre Dame, has spent years leading archeological digs at various locations in the Kankakee River
Valley. He’s found artifacts including a spear point dating to 7000 B.C., beads, tools and dishes from early Indian tribes and items left by early white pioneers. He
continues work at Collier Lodge, a 19th-century former hunting lodge on the banks of the Kankakee near Kouts, Ind.
Schurr grew up in South Bend and heard about the Kankakee Marsh as a child, and later studied it in detail. “I had no idea it was so enormous. It’s a whole
ecosystem that has totally disappeared,” he said.
Some parks and nature preserves exist today in the region of the former marsh. The public can visit those places to get a tiny glimmer of what the huge wetlands was
like. They include:
Place Trail Marsh: Part of the St. Joseph County Parks system, this 372-acre marsh is on Place Trail, off Quinn Road, near North Liberty. The county in 1996
began work there restoring a wet prairie, ponds and upland prairie.
Ober Sand Savanna Preserve, a 90-acre black oak sand savannah in Starke County. From the intersection of U.S. 35 and County Road 200 South, drive east
4.5 miles to the preserve on the north side of the road.
Grand Kankakee Marsh Park: 21690 Range Line Road in Hebron, Ind.
Conrad Station Savanna, a 809-acre black oak sand savannah on Indiana 41 near Lake Village, Ind.
Kankakee Sands Project, a 7,200-acre emerging prairie restoration project. The trailhead for the Unit K Trail starts at the project office, 3294 N. U.S. 41 in
Morocco, Ind.
Staff writer Margaret Fosmoe:
mfosmoe@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6329
facebook.com/tribune.margaretfosmoe
Follow me @mfosmoe
Copyright © 2013, South Bend Tribune
Everglades of the North – southbendtribune.com http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-everglades-of-the-n…
2 of 2 1/13/13 6:48 AM
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