ISGS - August 2005 Activity Highlights

Funding Secured to Support On-Line Data Distribution Aerial Imagery

  Rob Krumm, left, and Don Luman
  check out some of the Aerial
  Imagery

The ISGS has received funding from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to help support on-line data distribution of 2005 aerial imagery for the entire state of Illinois. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), along with a number of project partners, is leading an effort to collect detailed aerial photography for all of Illinois. This information, referred to as Digital Orthophoto Quads (DOQs), is high-resolution imagery that shows many details of the land surface including transportation networks, critical infrastructure, lakes and streams, cities, land use, buildings, and much more. As such, DOQ images are a very useful base map for many purposes, including projects that use computer-based mapping tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. Data collection has been completed, and the USGS is scheduled to deliver more than 8,500 image files for Illinois. The ISGS will provide access to this information via the Illinois Natural Resources Geospatial Data Clearinghouse, an on-line resource for maps and imagery that are specific to Illinois. The Illinois Clearinghouse is maintained by the ISGS and is part of a national effort to provide efficient on-line access to databases that support GIS, mapping, and remote sensing activities. Our previous experience with similar imagery collected in 1998-1999 indicates significant demand for the on-line images. About 700,000 individual DOQ files have been downloaded from the Illinois Clearinghouse since summer 2001. Funding from IEPA and IDPH will be used to support project staff members and to procure new computing equipment, including a robust server and ample data storage. (Contacts: R. Krumm)

First Workshops/Open House for Illinois Coastal Management Program

The first round of public, half-day workshops/open houses for the development of the Illinois Coastal Management Program was held July 26, 27, and 28, respectively, in Waukegan, Highland Park, and Chicago. Hosting these workshops/open houses were the Coastal Management Program team members, including an ISGS staff member. The objective of this first round of meetings was to determine the inland boundary for the Illinois coastal zone and to have interested individuals sign up for a variety of Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs). The TAGs will be preparing white papers related to critical issues along the Illinois coast that the Coastal Management Program will address. The second round of public workshops/open houses will be scheduled for late September. (Contact: M. Chrzastowski)

  Bracken Wimmer, left, Ilham Demir,
  and David Morse work with some
  of the testing equipment.

Gas Desorption Tests Completed for Coalbed Methane Project

Gas desorption tests were completed for 20 coal and shale core samples that were collected from a Jasper County well, Ameren #1-24, drilled in April 2005 as part of the U.S. Department of Energy-Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities coal bed methane project. In addition to the desorbed and lost gas contents, the weight, bulk volume, and bulk density of the cores, and the chemical and isotopic compositions of the desorbed gases were determined at the ISGS laboratories. The core samples were then shipped to a commercial laboratory to determine their residual gas contents; determination of moisture, ash, volatile matter, and fixed carbon contents; heat value; sulfur composition; and methane adsorption isotherms. Preliminary data indicate that most of the coals tested have considerably greater gas contents than the Illinois average (~67 standard cubic feet per ton on an as-received basis and 85 standard cubic feet per ton on a dry mineral matter free basis) calculated previously. The measured combustibles typically make up 80 to 90% of the gas composition. However, the actual contents of the combustibles most likely are higher because some of the oxygen from air trapped in the desorption canister is taken up by coal, leaving behind some nitrogen (a noncombustible gas) that is then counted as part of the coal gas by the analytical technique used. Carbon and hydrogen isotopic data indicate that the methane gas desorbed from the samples has a primarily microbial origin, which is consistent with data from previous wells. The deep coals have a definite thermogenic contribution. (Contacts: I. Demir, D. Morse, B. Wimmer)

An ISGS staff member and two colleagues from other institutions presented the results of an investigation on paleohydrology, paleoecology, and paleovegetation of Brewster Creek in Du Page County to about 40 people at the Tri-County State Park Visitor's Center in Bartlett, Illinois. The Forest Preserve of Du Page County sponsored the research, which charts the environmental changes from 16,500 years to about 10,000 years ago, which spans the last deglacial- interglacial transition. The site is located at Brewster Creek, Du Page County, at a wetland restoration site. The fossiliferous succession is nestled in outwash and includes redeposited loess (silt), marl, and peat. Sedimentation ceased after the basin filled with peat about 10,000 years ago. The fossils indicate that the hydrology of the basin was dominated by groundwater inflow and that acid-loving marsh vegetation slowly encroached upon the site as the basin filled with sediment. This information will aid the Forest Preserve in the design of the reconstructed wetland. (Contact: B. Curry)

Winnebago County Wetland Mitigation

The Wetlands Geology Section is assisting a private company in the design of a wetland mitigation site at the Pecatonica River Forest Preserve, operated by the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District. The ISGS is providing water-level data from monitoring wells installed by ISGS at the site and technical review of proposals made by the company for wetland mitigation there. (Contact: E. Plankell)

Fly-Ash Brick

The U.S. Department of Energy funded fly ash brick project completed the second in-plant firing evaluation for making paving bricks containing 40 and 50 vol% of Cinergy fly ash at Colonial Brick Company. Four scale-up production test runs were scheduled for the end of August 2005 for making three-hole face bricks. Each test run will produce 2,000 commercial-size face bricks containing Cinergy fly ash at 0, 20, 30, and 40 vol%, respectively. (Contacts: M. Chou, J. Chou)

Nine Publications Released

Seven ISGS publications, one geologic map and one journal article (all listed below) were released this month. Among these is a publication for the general public about the geology of Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Parks, which is for sale at the Starved Rock Visitors Center in addition to the ISGS Information Office. Ten unpublished Preliminary Environmental Site Assessments were completed this month.

ISGS Publications

Time Talks: the Geology of Starved Rock and Matthiessen State Parks. 2005. 48 p. $12.00.
[Project coordinator, Sallie E. Greenberg; scientific writing team, Michael J. Chrzastowski, Jennifer K. Hines, Myrna M. Killey, and Robert C. Vaiden; developmental writing and editing, Cheryl K. Nimz and Joel A. Steinfeldt; photographs, Joel M. Dexter and Michael J. Chrzastowski; park maps, Curtis C. Abert and Jordon B. Decker. One of the parks was featured in the publication, GIS in State Government, Volume One, released by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).]

Circular 568. The Benoist (Yankeetown) Sandstone Play in the Illinois Basin / Hannes E. Leetaru, Kristine Mize, and James S. Cokinos. 2005. 46 p. 9MB. CD-ROM $20.00.

IGQ Paducah NE-BG. Bedrock Geology of Paducah NE Quadrangle, Massac and Pope Counties, Illinois, F.Brett Denny and W.John Nelson. Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois Geologic Quadrangle Map, IGQ Paducah NE-BG. 2005. 1:24,000. Two sheets. $15.00. (Available also as PDF for download from the ISGS Web site.)

OFS 2005-6. Kane County Water Resources Investigations: Interim Report on Three-dimensional Geologic Modeling / William S. Dey, Alec M. Davis, Curtis C. Abert, B. Brandon Curry, and John C. Sieving. 2005. 50 p. 19 MB.

OFS 2005-8. The White Cliffs of Ottawa: The St. Peter Sandstone and North America's Largest Silica Production Facility/Karan S. Keith and Timothy J. Kemmis. 2005. 36 p. 431 MB.

OFS 2005-9. Chicagoland: Geology and the Making of a Metropolis: Field Excursion for the 2005 Annual Meeting Association of American State Geologists, June 15, 2005 / Michael J. Chrzastowski. 2005.64 p. 103 MB.

OFS 2005-11. Cahokia Potential Wetland Compensation Site: Level II Hydrogeologic Characterization Report (Former Tiernan Property), St. Clair County, IL (Federal Aid Project 999, Sequence Number 33G) /Bonnie J. Robinson. 2005. 70 p.

OFS 2005-12. Methods and Standards Development for Three-dimensional Geologic Mapping of the Antioch Quadrangle, Lake County, Illinois: A Pilot Study/ Michael L. Barnhardt and Richard C. Berg. 2005. 42 p. 12 MB. $13.00.

Papers and Other Outside Publications

Zhou, Juanzuo, Craig C. Lundstrom, Bruce Fouke, Samuel Panno, Keith Hackley, and Brandon Curry. 2005. Geochemistry of Speleothem Records from Southern Illinois: Development of (234U)/(238U) as a Proxy for Paleoprecipitation: Chemical Geology, v. 221, p. 1–20.

Highlights Archive

Updated 07/18/2012 SLD