FIELDTRIP TO EXPLORE THE PALEONTOLOGY
AND LANDSCAPE OF:
 HUFFMAN DAM, GREENE COUNTY, OHIO;
 AND THE WRIGHT BROTHERS’ MEMORIAL WHICH
OVERLOOKS HUFFMAN PRAIRIE AND FLYING
FIELD
DR. KRISHNAKUMAR NEDUNURI
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY
DR. MICHAEL R. SANDY
UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY
MARCH 29TH 2006
The 1904 Wright Flyer 2 in flight above Huffman Prairie,
near Dayton, Ohio
Today’s fieldtrip provides some background on the geology and landscape
of the Huffman Dam area; another will focus on water sampling. This area
was chosen because it is an area with significant geological interest and it
is very close to Wright State University Campus. Three faculty will be
working with you to investigate the relationship between geology,
chemistry, and water quality.
SOME HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON THE AREA
“The Huffman prairie area extending from the Wright Aviation field, several
miles northeast of Dayton, toward Fairfield and Osborne, is another
outwash plain of large dimensions.” August Foerste, 1915, p. 109.
August F. Foerste, 1862-1936, Geologist and Paleontologist (shown above)
was notified when the 14 inch long trilobite (below) was unearthed in 1919
during excavation of Huffman Dam.
Geological setting of Huffman Prairie
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 2
Huffman Prairie is a large, flat area - ideal for taking off and landing an
airplane and was used by the Wright Brothers for experimentation in flight
and their flying school.
We can tell the area is well-suited to such a use just by observing the
landscape here. But how did this landscape develop?
The geological history of the region involves several different events
through time and we will explore this today.
Part of 1918 United States Geological Survey map
showing location of Huffman Prairie and bedrock ridges either side of the
Mad River Valley (2 small circles).
Detail from 1966 USGS map showing Huffman Dam (inside large ellipse),
location of Wright Brothers’ Memorial (circle)
and part of Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 3
Huffman Dam, as seen from the Wright Brothers’ Memorial.
The dam is constructed where the Mad River Valley is narrow, between
2 limestone ridges. The 5 Miami Conservancy dams were completed in
1922 to provide flood protection in the Miami Valley after the 1913 Flood.
Note the airstrippers to the left of the dam in the photograph above,
intercepting a plume of contamination in the groundwater; downstream to
the left is a major aquifer for the City of Dayton. The Mad River passes
beneath the bridge seen on the dam.
Wright Patterson Air Force Base
showing runways from the Wright Brothers’ Memorial.
The Wright Brothers’ flying field is located to the right of this view.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 4
DEVELOPMENT OF THE LANDSCAPE
The development of the landscape of Huffman Prairie can be characterized
by 5 phases of development:
1)
450 MILLION YEARS AGO
2)
APPROX. 320 MILLION TO 1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO
3)
1.6 MILLION TO 20,000 YEARS AGO
4)
20,000 - 17,000 YEARS AGO
5)
17,000 TO PRESENT DAY
1)
450 MILLION YEARS AGO
Formation of the bedrock, seen in the railroad cut at Huffman Dam.
The bedrock formed during the Ordovician and Silurian periods of
geologic time (see timescale to left) and accumulated as sediment
on the bottom of a sea covering the interior of the Midwest 450 to 400
million years ago. Fossils are abundant in the rocks and include the
trilobite genus Isotelus, Ohio’s State Fossil. The fossils tell us that Ohio
was submerged under a warm, tropical, marine sea at the time.
2)
APPROX. 320 MILLION TO 1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO
Uplift and erosion of the bedrock. A drainage system eroded into the
bedrock. A system of rivers draining the continent has been in existence for
approximately 300 million years. This drainage pattern was inherited and
covered over by glaciation of the “Ice Age”.
The two limestone hills that are found at both ends of Huffman
Dam indicate the bedrock valley is very narrow here. Well records indicate
that to the west of the dam the valley gets deeper to the west, and to the
east of the dam the valley bottom gets deeper. Therefore this area appears
to have marked a boundary or watershed between two streams.
3)
1.6 MILLION TO 20,000 YEARS AGO
The “Ice Age” lasted from 1.6 million years ago to approximately
10,000 years ago. During this time large glaciers expanded over this part of
Ohio from the north. The last glacier covered the west and north parts of
Ohio, not the southeast. The glaciers could erode, scour, and scratch
bedrock. As the glaciers melted in many places they left chaotic deposits
known as till formed as the ice melted and deposited a mixture of boulders,
gravel, sand, silt, and clay.
4) 20,000 - 17,000 YEARS AGO
As the last glacier melted, water flowed in tunnels within the ice
mass, on the surface of the ice, and under the ice. Where the water left the
front of the glacier significant amounts of flowing water carried lots of
sediment. Much of this sediment was deposited rapidly, in stratified
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 5
deposits. An outwash plain can result in such a setting. This is how the flat
surface of Huffman Prairie originated.
The large amount of deposition of sediment by the glaciers filled in the
bedrock valleys and now the Mad River flows to the West. Any flow of
water eastward (see 3 above), East of the Huffman Dam, has been
reversed by infilling by sediments.
5)
17,000 TO PRESENT DAY
As we have entered an interglacial period fluvial (river) system
processes
have dominated the landscape. These processes are halted during the
winter when the water freezes.
Humans have utilized the area for agriculture, the first
permanent airfield, roads, railroads, the Miami Conservancy District built a
dam, the City of Dayton extracts drinking water from sediments
downstream from Huffman Dam …..
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 6
1)
450 MILLION YEARS AGO
Brassfield Formation
Silurian
Ordovician
Drakes Formation
Whitewater Formation
Bedrock exposure in Huffman Dam railroad cut today (left) and just after
construction in 1919 (above). The Wright Brothers Memorial is up on top of
the ridge.
Formation of the bedrock, seen in the railroad cut at Huffman Dam.
The bedrock formed during the Ordovician and Silurian periods of
geologic time (see timescale to left) and accumulated as sediment
on the bottom of a sea covering the interior of the Midwest 450 to 400
million years ago. Fossils are abundant in the rocks and include the
trilobite genus Isotelus, Ohio’s State Fossil. The fossils tell us that Ohio
was submerged under a warm, tropical, marine sea at the time.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 7
2)
APPROX. 320 MILLION TO 1.6 MILLION YEARS AGO
Preglacial drainage patterns (left) and present topography (above).
Uplift and erosion of the bedrock. A drainage system eroded into the
bedrock. A system of rivers draining the continent has been in existence for
approximately 300 million years. This drainage pattern was inherited and
covered over by glaciation of the “Ice Age”.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 8
The two limestone hills that are found at both ends of Huffman Dam
indicate the bedrock valley is very narrow here. Well records indicate that
to the west of the dam the valley gets deeper to the west, and to the east of
the dam the valley bottom gets deeper. Therefore this area appears to
have marked a boundary or watershed between two streams.
3)
1.6 MILLION TO 20,000 YEARS AGO
The “Ice Age” lasted from 1.6 million years ago to approximately
10,000 years ago. During this time large glaciers expanded over this part of
Ohio from the north. The last glacier covered the west and north parts of
Ohio, not the southeast. The glaciers could erode, scour, and scratch
bedrock. As the glaciers melted in many places they left chaotic deposits
known as till formed as the ice melted and deposited a mixture of boulders,
gravel, sand, silt, and clay.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 9
4) 20,000 - 17,000 YEARS AGO
Sketch of the conditions at the front of a retreating glacier
Outwash Plain
Glacier
View of an Outwash Plain at the margin of a Glacier, Iceland.
As the last glacier melted, water flowed in tunnels within the ice
mass, on the surface of the ice, and under the ice. Where the water left the
front of the glacier significant amounts of flowing water carried lots of
sediment. Much of this sediment was deposited rapidly, in stratified
deposits. An outwash plain can result in such a setting. This is how the flat
surface of Huffman Prairie originated.
The large amount of deposition of sediment by the glaciers filled in the
bedrock valleys and now the Mad River flows to the West. Any flow of
water eastward (see 3 above), East of the Huffman Dam, has been
reversed by infilling by sediments.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 10
2 geologic sections just downstream from Huffman Dam,
showing buried bedrock valleys and glacial sediment infill.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 11
5)
17,000 TO PRESENT DAY
As we have entered an interglacial period fluvial (river) system
processes have dominated the landscape. These processes are halted
during the winter when the water freezes.
Humans have utilized the area for agriculture, the first permanent
airfield, roads, railroads, the Miami Conservancy District built a dam, the
City of Dayton extracts drinking water from sediments downstream from
Huffman Dam ….
Huffman Prairie today,
view looking South-West from the flying field area - January 2003.
An outwash plain, bordered by the Mad River, which is constricted by
limestone outcrops (one of which forms the horizon).
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 12
APPENDIX A – INFORMATION ON FIELD SITE
GAGE SITE
HUFFMAN DAM AND RAILROAD CUT
Information on United States Geological Survey Gage Station on the Mad River, Greene
County
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/oh/nwis/uv?03270000
USGS 03270000 Mad River near Dayton OH
Available data for this site
Site home page
GO
Station operated in cooperation with the Miami Conservancy District.
03270000 Mad River near Dayton, OH
LOCATION.--Lat 39°47'50", long 84°05'19", in SW 1/4 sec. 7, R. 8, T.2,
Green County, Hydrologic Unit 05080001, on left bank in retarding
basin
300 ft upstream from Huffman Dam, 2.3 mi downstream from Mud Run, 6.2
mi
northeast of Dayton and at mile 6.1. Water-quality sampling site was
on
left bank 900 ft downstream.
DRAINAGE AREA.--635 mi².
PERIOD OF RECORD.--October 1914 to current year. Monthly discharge only
for some periods, published in WSP 1305.
REVISED RECORDS.--WSP 453: 1915. WSP 743: 1929-32. WSP 1305: 1916(M),
1925(M) 1930-32(M). WSP 1908: Drainage area. WDR-OH-82-1: 1980.
GAGE.--Water-stage recorder. Datum of gage is 777.06 ft above sea
level. Jan. 21, 1959, to Dec. 14, 1967, at site 900 ft downstream,
at datum 77.01 ft lower. See WSP 1725 for history of changes prior
to Jan. 21, 1959. Water-quality data collected at this site 19471948, 1962-1963, 1966-1980.
REMARKS.--Flood flows affected by backwater from Huffman retarding dam
beginning in 1921, some regulation by C. J. Brown Reservoir 26 mi
upstream on Buck Creek since 1974. Also see REMARKS for station
03269500.
COOPERATION.--Base data furnished by Miami Conservancy District.
EXTREMES OUTSIDE PERIOD OF RECORD.--Flood of March 25, 1913, reached a
stage of 14.0 ft, original site and datum; discharge 75,700 cubic
feet per second, computed by Miami Conservancy District.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 13
FIELDTRIP LOCALITY INFORMATION – HUFFMAN DAM AND RAILROAD CUT:
Location of United States Geological Survey Gage Station on the Mad River
Acknowledgements:
Photographs of the Huffman Dam area by Michael Sandy
MRS has also taken images from a number of web sites featuring
information about the Wright Brothers, specifically a Smithsonian Institution
archive.
Iceland picture from:
http://www.casdn.neu.edu/~geology/department/staff/colgan/iceland/skaftaf
ell/45165_12.htm
Thanks to Don Pair, Department of Geology, University of Dayton, for
comments on a draft of a poster used as the basis for this guide.
Thanks to the Ohio Higher Education Network for support to allow the
development of this collaborative curriculum module.
Huffman Dam fieldtrip – p. 14