Quaternary Geology of the Detroit, Michigan Quadrangle and

Transcription

Quaternary Geology of the Detroit, Michigan
Quadrangle and Surrounding Areas
Jeffrey L. Howard
Department of Geology, Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan 48202
©2013 Jeffrey L. Howard
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Quaternary Geology of the Detroit, Michigan Quadrangle and Surrounding Areas
Jeffrey L. Howard1
Department of Geology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202
Abstract
A preliminary 1:24,000 scale surficial geologic map of the Detroit 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle, and
surrounding areas, was produced to serve as a framework for future urban site assessment. The results show that the
map area is a relict late Pleistocene glacial landscape on which is superimposed a Holocene system of streams, lakes
and wetlands, and an Anthropocene landscape of manufactured land and artificial fill. Detroit city is built on
subaqueous morainal deposits of the Detroit moraine, and the lakebed plains of glacial paleolakes Grassmere and
Elkton. These landforms are largely obliterated by anthropogenic activity, hence urban geomorphic provinces were
delineated based on the historic settlement and land use pattern of Detroit, which was controlled by: 1) the
configuration of the Detroit River, and 2) the growth of the automobile industry following the geographic
distribution of railroad lines. These cartographic delineations are hypothesized to have geologic significance in
terms age and magnitude of human disturbance, thickness and type of fill, water table and groundwater flow
characteristics, and type and amount of soil contamination. Surficial deposits are classified informally into
“anthrostratigraphic units” (ASUs) using a lithostratigraphic approach modified to accommodate the presence of
artifacts. An ASU is defined here as the surficial deposit lying directly beneath, and genetically related to, a
constructional anthropogenic landform. ASUs are postulated to be the anthropogenic equivalent of a
morphostratigraphic or allostratigraphic unit. Although the term “Anthropocene” has not been formally accepted by
stratigraphers, it is useful for stratigraphic classification of ASUs in urban areas. ASUs were mapped as
Manufactured Land, and nine types of Artificial Fill based on lithologic composition. During the 2012 field season,
four students (Stanley Putnam, Ryan Schoch, Anthony Slusser, Steven Moorehouse) were involved in mapping,
which focused on residential areas both east and west of Woodward Ave. During 2013, only Schoch was involved
in mapping, which focused on industrial areas. OSL dates are still pending on four sand samples collected and
submitted to the University of Illinois. Two radiocarbon dates obtained on wood and charcoal are consistent with
archaeological artifacts and historic records suggesting anthropogenic fills dating from the mid-late 19th century are
widespread in, and around, the Detroit riverfront.
__________________________________________
1
Assoc. Prof. of Geology; [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Metropolitan Detroit encompasses the most heavily urbanized part of Wayne County in southeastern
Michigan, and contains the leading edge of a massive and growing expanse of suburban sprawl. Most of Detroit city
was still farmland in 1853 (Farmer, 1890), but the discovery of iron ore in the upper peninsula of Michigan in 1844
started an industrial revolution, the initial phase of which peaked locally during the 1880s-1890s. Detroit became
known for its iron works, and the production of ships, railroad cars and stoves. In 1896, Henry Ford drove his first
“horseless carriage” down Woodward Avenue, and by 1905 Detroit was producing 20,000 automobiles per year.
Detroit became a major urban area following the explosive growth of the automobile industry during the 1920s, and
by 1930 the city was the most industrialized area in the United States (Hyde, 1980). Detroit’s population peaked at
1.9 million in 1950 (SEMCOG, 2002), but the proliferation of highway construction and automobiles during the late
1900s, facilitated the movement of urban residents to suburban areas. As residents migrated into the surrounding
countryside they left behind abandoned, deteriorating buildings and contaminated land. By the late 1980s, even
many skyscrapers in the city were derelict, despite extensive growth in neighboring Oakland and Macomb Counties.
Detroit was designated as a federal empowerment zone in 1994, and the pace of urban redevelopment increased,
largely through building demolition. However, the Great Recession of the late 2000s, accompanied by a dwindling
population (< 0.8 million in 2010) and major financial problems, caused urban renewal efforts in Detroit to greatly
decelerate. Nevertheless, the creation of open space through demolition has stimulated growing interest in the use of
vacant land for brownfield redevelopment, urban agriculture and green infrastructure.
Although geologic mapping has established the general character of surficial deposits and landforms in the
metro Detroit area, the most recent detailed geologic map of Detroit city (Sherzer, 1916) is at a scale of 1:36,000,
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and nearly 100 years old. Since that study was done, the city has expanded from an area of about 30 mi2 to about
100 mi2, the city center has been paved-over and covered with skyscrapers and other buildings, and essentially all of
the landforms and sediments originally present have been obliterated by urbanization. Hence, the purpose of this
study was to produce a 1:24,000 scale state-of-the-art surficial geologic map of the Detroit quadrangle to serve as a
framework for future urban site assessment and redevelopment. This study is timely given the fact that the USDANRCS is actively mapping soils in the most heavily urbanized part of Wayne County, and the USEPA is studying
urban soils locally for their potential as a repository for excessive combined stormwater overflow.
GEOLOGIC SETTING AND STUDY AREA
The metropolitan Detroit study area is located in southeastern Michigan along the Detroit River adjacent to
Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Fig. 1). It consists of fifteen USGS 7.5 minute topographic quadrangles that lie between
42°15' and 42°37'30'' latitude; and between 83° and 83°37'30" longitude (Fig. 2). The focus of this study is on the
American part of the Detroit quadrangle, and surrounding parts of the Dearborn and Highland Park quadrangles.
The Detroit quadrangle lies between N42º15' and N42°22'30" latitude, and between W83°00' and W83°07'30"
longitude. The map area at large is bounded on the east by longitude W83°, on the north by 8 Mile Rd., on the west
by the Southfield Freeway, and on the south by River Rouge and the Detroit River. The metropolitan Detroit area
encompasses about 4,320 square kilometers (2,592 square miles), including the City of Detroit and neighboring
parts of Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw Counties, with a population of about 4.8 million people. Detroit sits at the
hub of major streets and highways, which radiate northwestward away from the inner city. Interstate highways in
the map area include I-75, I-94, I-696, I-96 and I-275. The map area has a cool humid-temperate climate with a
mean annual precipitation of about 99 cm (39 in). The area was originally covered in oak-hickory and tamarackspruce-pine forests, as well as sedges, reeds and other herbaceous hydrophytic plants associated with natural lakes,
streams and wetlands (Kapp, 1999). Relatively little forest cover remains, even in the surrounding suburban areas.
Figure 1. Location of metropolitan Detroit and the Detroit quadrangle study area in southeastern Great Lakes region.
Continental platform lies south of the Canadian Shield. GFTZ, Grenville Frontal Thrust Zone. Moraines (hatchured):
WYM, Wyoming-Port Huron; PGM, Paris-Galt; DFM, Defiance; DTM, Detroit moraine; FWM, Ft. Wayne; MSM,
Mississinewa. Cities: D, Detroit; T, Toronto; O, Toledo; N, Niagra Falls; P, Pittsburgh; C, Cinncinnati; F, Ft. Wayne.
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Figure 2. Late Pleistocene glacial geologic map of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan.
Southeastern Michigan is generally characterized by low relief with few natural exposures of Quaternary
sediments. It is part of a relict late Pleistocene glacial landscape in the southeastern Great Lakes region that includes
an extensive series of morainal uplands and glaciolacustrine lowlands. These landforms were formed by successive
advances of the Laurentide ice sheet (LIS) after it reached its maximum extent about 23 kA BP (Farrand and
Eschman, 1974; Mickelson et al., 1983; Farrand, 1988). During subsequent maxima, at about 15, 13 and 11 kA BP,
the region was affected by three distinct glacial lobes (Saginaw, Huron and Erie) that deposited the lobe-shaped
pattern of moraines surrounding each respective modern lake. As the LIS advanced and retreated over the course of
late Wisconsinan time, proglacial lakes developed along the ice front, which fluctuated in size and shape over time
(Calkin and Feenstra, 1985; Eschman and Karrow, 1985; Teller, 1987).
The Detroit quadrangle lies in the Detroit lowland (Fig. 3) of Howard (2010), southeast of the northeasttrending Defiance moraine. The Detroit lowland is part of the Huron-Erie lowland, which is characterized by relict
shorelines and lakebed plains that define a series of lacustrine terraces related to glacial paleolakes Maumee,
Arkona, Whittlesey, Wayne, Warren, Grassmere, Elkton and Rouge (Leverett and Taylor, 1915; Scherzer, 1915).
Detroit is situated on the lakebed plains of paleolakes Grassmere and Elkton which existed during the Port Huron
phase of the late Wisconsinan (Fig. 4) about 12, 400 yr BP (Howard, 2010). Radiocarbon dates suggest that the
Detroit River developed about 4,000 14C yr BP (Dorr and Eschman, 1971; Raphael and Jaworski, 1982; Herdendorf
and Bailey, 1989). Metropolitan Detroit is underlain by a sequence of mainly clastic late Quaternary sediments up to
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150 m thick (Rieck, 1981) resting unconformably on Devonian sedimentary rocks of the Michigan basin (Mozola,
1969).
Figure 3. Major geomorphic delineations of the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan area, and location of Detroit (D) and the
Detroit quadrangle map area.
Figure 4. Chronostratigraphic relations of Quaternary geologic units in the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan area
(Howard, 2010; Howard et al., 2013).
METHODS AND TERMINOLOGY
Where possible, surface mapping was done by boring down into soil C-horizons using standard five-footlong hand (soil) augers with 3 1/4 in. diameter buckets. The strata were identified and plotted on the map according
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to the textural lithosome classification in Table 1, which has served as the basis for the recognition of map units in
quadrangles previously mapped. The locations of key sites (e.g. soil pits, 14C and OSL samples) were determined
using GPS and plotted using National Geographic's TOPO! software. Geomorphic features not evident on
topographic maps were identified using LiDAR imagery obtained from the USDA National Resource Conservation
Srevice (NRCS), and the nature of inaccessible industrial sites was assessed using satellite imagery obtained from
Google Earth. Additional subsurface data were obtained using a Geoprobe operated by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA), geotechnical soil boring logs obtained from the Michigan Department of
Transportation (MDOT) and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and water well logs
were obtained from the MDEQ. The ages of demolition sites were obtained from historic records owned by the
Burton Historic Collection (Detroit Public Library) and the city of Detroit Department of Demolition and Dangerous
Buildings. Two charcoal samples were obtained for 14C dating by Beta Analytics (Miami, FL), and four sand
samples for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating by the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Table 1. Lithosome classification used in this study.
Map Symbol
Dg
Ds
Dsi
Dc
G
Gs
Sg
S
Si
C
P
M
F
Lithofacies
gravelly diamicton
sandy diamicton
silty diamicton
clayey diamicton
gravel
sandy gravel
gravelly sand
sand
silt
clay
peat
marl
artificial fill
Interpretation
debris flow
debris flow
debris flow
debris flow or till
fluvial or lacustrine (beach ridge)
fluvial, lacustrine, eolian
fluvial or eolian
fluvial or lacustrine
lacustrine swamp or bog
lacustrine swamp or bog
anthropogenic
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Geomorphology
The most prominent topographic feature in the Detroit quadrangle is the Detroit moraine, which appears as
a low-lying swell extending southeastward (Fig. 3) roughly along the course of Woodward Avenue. The feature is
striking on LiDAR imagery (Fig. 5). Most of the northwestern part of the quadrangle lies on the lakebed plain of
paleolake Grassmere at an elevation of ~635 feet. The paleoshoreline of this lake is indicated by a series of isolated,
irregularly shaped beach ridges at ~ 640 ft. in the Highland Park quadrangle. It may extend across the northwestern
extremity, but no definitive shoreline features are evident in the Detroit quadrangle. The paleoshoreline of glacial
Lake Elkton is well defined at 605 ft. elevation north of Jefferson Ave. near Elmwood Cemetery (Plate 1), but is
indistinct to the east and west. LiDAR imagery of the nearby Wayne quadrangle suggests that the Lake Elkton
shoreline is comprised of three well defined positions at 605, 615 and 620 ft. elevation. This is consistent with
Scherzer’s (1915) mapping of Detroit before urbanization. LiDAR imagery suggests that two Elkton paleoshorelines
at 605 and 620 ft. elevation, separated by a wave-cut shelf, are present east of Elmwood cemetery (Fig. 5). Another
well defined scarp is present at 585 ft. extending along Atwater St. near the Detroit River just east of the
Rennaissance Center. It also becomes indistinct to the east and west. Scherzer (1915) previously correlated this
feature with the lower of the two paleolake St. Clair shorelines, which are well defined in the Belle Isle quadrangle.
These shorelines were not mapped in this study, but a fluvial origin of the scarp seems to be equally plausible.
Stratigraphy
The Quaternary stratigraphic succession in the Detroit quadrangle (Fig. 6) is similar to that elsewhere in the
Detroit lowland (Howard, 2010). Subsurface data (Appendix Table 1; Plate 2) suggest that the Detroit quadrangle is
underlain by Devonian carbonate rocks of the Dundee Limestone and Traverse Group. Based on his compilation of
water well data, Mozola (1969) inferred that the surface of Paleozoic bedrock underlying Detroit is characterized a
system of paleotopographic channels, presumably of fluvial origin. Some channels are tens of kilometers long,
several kilometers wide, and up to 66 m (200 ft) deep (Mozola, 1954; 1969; Walston, 1967; Rogers,
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Figure 5. LiDar imagery of the Detroit quadrangle and surrounding areas in southeastern Michigan.
1996). Similar bedrock channels in northwestern Ohio have been ascribed to the Teays paleoriver of Tertiary (?)
age. Overall, the eroded Paleozoic bedrock surface slopes gently southeastward from about 217 m (650 ft) elevation
beneath the Defiance moraine, to about 158 m (475 ft) elevation under the Detroit River. The overlying Quaternary
section thickens northwestward from 27-47 m (80-140 ft) beneath the Detroit lowland, to about 75-120 m (225-360
ft) beneath the Defiance moraine near Northville and Novi. Elsewhere the Quaternary section is up to 130 m (390
ft) thick beneath the Defiance Moraine (Reick, 1981; USGS, 1994).
In some locations, the bedrock is overlain unconformably by a laterally discontinuous deposit of sand and
gravel corresponding to the Undifferentiated Subsurface Drift unit of Howard (2010), which seems to show a
reasonably good correlation with the spatial configuration of Mozola’s bedrock channels. Locally, the deposits
contain cobble- and boulder-sized material, and may be cemented by carbonate or iron oxide. Fragments of wood or
other plant remains, layers of peat or carbonaceous materials, and oxidized soil-like horizons are reported locally in
the uppermost part of this unit (Leverett and Taylor, 1915; Scherzer, 1916; Stanley, 1936; Mozola, 1954). Rogers
(1996) described the sediments as stratified and ascribed a fluvial origin, but the lithologic characteristics and origin
of the unit is problematic. The Undifferentiated Subsurface Drift unit could represent Tertiary (?) fluvial fill, but age
control is lacking. The Subsurface Drift unit probably correlates with deposits referred to previously as "preWisconsin drift" (Russell and Leverett, 1915; Leverett and Taylor, 1915; Scherzer, 1916; Stanley, 1936), and
undifferentiated fluvial deposits and till (Rogers, 1996). Such deposits are reportedly found sporadically beneath the
Detroit lowland throughout the metropolitan Detroit area, where they are typically 2-3 m thick, and at least 16 m
thick beneath the western part of Livonia (Rogers, 1996). Relatively thick, stratified deposits of subsurface sand and
gravel are also reported beneath Plymouth and Farmington (Mozola, 1954; Rogers, 1996).
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Plate 1. Preliminary Quaternary geologic map of the Detroit, Michigan quadrangle. See
Appendix Table 1 for index of industrial sites.
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Plate 2. Preliminary geologic cross section, Detroit, Michigan quadrangle. See Plate 1, Appendix
Table 2, and Figure 6 for further explanation.
Series
Late Pleistocene
Quaternary
Holocene
System
Paleozoic
Map
Symbol
Geologic Unit
Qha
Recent Alluvium
Qhw
Recent Lake and
Wetland Deposits
Qpl
Lacustrine Terrace
Deposits
(undifferentiated)
Qpr
River Rouge Till
Qpu
Subsurface Drift
(undifferentiated)
PZ
Paleozoic Bedrock
(undifferentiated)
Description
Stratified gravel, sand and mud of active stream channels and
floodplains. Possibly contains appreciable organic matter.
Maximum thickness about 3 m.
Peat, muck and marl in lakes, bogs and river floodplains: wn,
natural wetlands; wa, artificial wetlands. Possibly contains
appreciable clastic sediment. Maximum thickness about 20 m.
Stratified clayey diamicton, cross-bedded sand and gravel, and
minor argillaceous rhythmite underlying lacustrine terraces.
Unstratified, calcareous, clayey diamicton containing glacially
striated and faceted clasts; locally bouldery. Found only in
subsurface. Maximum thickness about 60 m.
Stratified sand and gravel overlying irregular bedrock surface.
May contain appreciable organic matter. Found only in
subsurface. Maximum thickness about 30 m.
Limestone; dolostone; carbonaceous shale and mudrock;
quartzose and micaceous sandstone.
Figure 6. Quaternary stratigraphic units in the Detroit, Michigan quadrangle.
The Quaternary section in the Detroit quadrangle is comprised primarily of a 90-150 ft. thick sequence of
River Rouge till (RRT) resting either directly on bedrock, or on the Undifferentiated Subsurface drift unit (Fig. 7;
Plate 2). The RRT consists primarily of unstratified, highly compacted, calcareous, clayey diamicton containing
gravel-sized clasts of variable size, shape and lithology. It is characterized by a heavy clay matrix that is generally
firm to very firm when moist, and hard to extremely hard when dry. The clayey matrix is naturally light gray
(10YR7/1, dry) to gray (10YR5/1, moist), but pale yellowish-brown (10YR6/2, dry) to dark yellowish-brown
(10YR4/2, moist) where oxidation has occurred in the shallow subsurface. The upper 3 to 5 m of the unit is often
characterized by a steeply dipping, rectilinear set of joints or fractures, along which pedogenic clay and/or carbonate
appear to have accumulated by illuviation. The RRT correlates with Roger's (1996) "lower clay" (ground moraine)
unit, and probably corresponds, at least in part, to pre-Wisconsinan drift of Leverett and Taylor (1915) and Russell
and Taylor
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Figure 7. Stratigraphic sections across the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan area. PZ, Paleozoic bedrock; R, River Rouge
till; F, Farmington Hills fm.; N, Novi till; W, Walled Lake fm. See Figures X and X for further explanation.
(1916). The RRT probably correlates with the Catfish Creek drift and Cartersburg tills (Dreimanis and Goldthwaite,
1973; Farrand and Eschman, 1974; Fullerton, 1980; Mickelson et al., 1983) of neighboring regions.
The upper part of the Quaternary section is comprised of the Lacustrine Terrace Deposits (LTD) unit. LTD
rest disconformably on the RRT, the lower contact being drawn at the uppermost bed of massive clayey diamicton
(lithofacies Dcm of Howard, 2010). The LTD unit (Fig. 8) is comprised of a lower member of weakly stratified or
wavy-bedded clayey diamicton (lithofacies Dcw), and an upper member of massive (Sm), horizontally stratified
(Sh), or cross-stratified sand or gravelly sand (Sx, Sgx). The USEPA’s cores obtained by Geoprobe from the
southwest flank of the Detroit moraine show that lithofacies Dcw comprising the lower member consists of an
interstratified sequence of very thin bedded clayey diamicton and sand (Fig. 9) ~ 5 m thick which grades abruptly
downward into RRT. The upper part is oxidized brown and there is a consistent color change to gray at about 4 m
depth. Similar deposits were encountered on the eastern flank of the Detroit moraine, but sandy interbeds were
absent. These results are consistent with previous data indicating that the Dcw lithosome is ubiquitous in the Detroit
lowland (Fig. 10). The Dcw lithofacies was formed by a combination of glacial processes including subaqueous
debris flow and ice rafting, and that on the southwestern flank of the Detroit moraine was probably formed as part of
the Rochester delta of Howard (2010). The LTD unit was previously mapped as lacustrine or deltaic clay and sand
(Leverett and Taylor, 1915; Scherzer, 1916; Bay, 1938; Bergquist and MacLachlan, 1951; Mozola, 1969; Farrand
and Bell, 1982; Fullerton and Richmond, 1991). Dcw correlates with the "upper clay" unit of Rogers (1996), and
apparently corresponds to areas mapped as "water-laid moraine" (Leverett and Taylor, 1915; Scherzer, 1916; Bay,
1938; Bergquist and MacLachlan, 1951).
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Figure 8. Lithofacies of the LTD unit.
The upper member of the LTD unit in the Detroit quadrangle is comprised of sand and gravel associated
with paleolakes Grassmere and Elkton, and is highly variable in thickness and geographic distribution. These
arenaceous deposits were formed by winnowing of Dcw by lacustrine wave action, but because these lakes were so
short lived, shoreline features are poorly developed compared with those of older paleolakes in the western
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Figure 9. Geoprobe cores of glacial sediments near Detroit: left, Interbedded clayey diamicton (gray) and sand related to
Rochester delta; right, Vertical fractures in clayey diamicton of River Rouge till accentuated by brown Fe-oxide staining.
Scale in inches.
Detroit lowland (Howard, 2010). Theoretically, the LTD unit could be mapped as distinct subunits in the study
area, corresponding to sediments deposited in glacial Lakes Grassmere and Elkton. This is not possible in practice
because: 1) LTD are undifferentiated in the subsurface beneath lakebed plains where older lake sediments may be
disconformably overlapped by younger ones without any visible evidence of discontinuity, and 2) LTD are
undifferentiated along constructional shorelines, where beach ridge deposits of a younger lake sequence overlap
onto older lake deposits with no discernible boundary, or may have been reworked by eolian activity to an unknown
extent. Closely spaced test borings show that either the Dcw or sand and gravel lithosomes may be found directly
beneath the land surface, apparently in a random and unpredictable pattern. Locally, the complex map pattern is
probably the result of interstratification of sand and gravel with Dcw, and lateral gradation from one facies to the
other. Elsewhere, erosion by lacustrine wave activity, stream dissection, mass wasting or eolian action has removed
the surficial sand and gravel deposit, thereby exposing the underlying Dcw. These relationships account for the
complex pattern of surficial sand and clay shown on previous geologic maps (Sherzer, 1916; Mozola, 1969; Farrand
and Bell, 1982), although much of what was previously delineated simply as "lacustrine clay" in the map area is
likely Dcw.
The Holocene in the Detroit quadrangle is represented by the Recent Lake and Wetlands map unit,
associated with natural and artificial lakes, ponds and wetlands (swamps, marshes, bogs and fens). In this study,
lakes and ponds are defined as standing bodies of open water, whereas wetlands are areas of land whose soil is
permanently or seasonally saturated with water (hydric soil). Wetlands may, or may not, be partially or totally
covered by shallow pools of water. They are usually characterized by organic materials (peat and muck), or organicrich sediments. Artificial wetlands are usually orthogonal in plan, less than 100-200 ft in length and width,
constructed from fill derived from clayey diamicton, and occupied by cattails and a few other hydrophytic plant
species. Almost no Holocene deposits are present in the Detroit quadrangle, partly as a result of intense
urbanization. The only wetlands seen are in Elmwood Cemetery, and a few artificial wetlands found along the
Detroit Riverwalk just east of the Rennaissance Center. Some wetlands and artificial lakes are present on Belle Isle
in the Belle Isle quadrangle, and on the floodplain of the River Rouge in the Dearborn quadrangle. In the
neighboring Highland Park quadrangle, Palmer Park contains some wetlands, but these probably resulted from
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Figure 10. Stratigraphic sections of the Lacustrine Terrace Deposits unit. See text for further explanation.
human activity. The surface drainage has also been extensively modified by urbanization, hence Recent deposits of
alluvium are essentially non-existent. The only existing tributary to the Detroit River is in Elmwood cemetery. It is
less than 1 km in length and the lower part drains into a sewer pipe. Recent alluvium is presumably present along
the lower River Rouge at its confluence with the Detroit River but if so, it is buried beneath an extensive amount of
artificial fill of industrial origin. The Detroit River is anomalous in the sense that it lacks a floodplain. It is
classified better as a “chute.” The Detroit River was formed only about 4000 yr BP as a result of glacial rebound,
which uplifted and tilted Lake Huron southward, causing it to spill over to the south forming the modern St. Clair
River-Lake St. Clair- Detroit River system draining into Lake Erie. The initial spill-over may be reflected in the
presence of an abandoned network of braided channels mapped previously along the lower Detroit River (Sherzer,
1916; Bay, 1936), and apparently visible on LiDar imagery (Fig. 5).
The present floodplain of the River Rouge is occupied by hydrophytic tree species such as willow, cottonwood
and elm, along with dense underbrush. Severe historic flooding is indicated locally by barren, or sparsely vegetated,
sand and gravel bars on floodplains littered with trash and other human artifacts of recent origin. Enormous masses
of cement building materials, perhaps derived from bridges destroyed by catastrophic flooding, were observed in a
few areas. Historic records suggest that flooding is generally confined between the sharply defined valley walls
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bounding floodplains of the River Rouge. The largest recorded flood occurred April 4-5, 1947 (coincidentally the
evening of the death of Henry Ford) when as much as 3.7 in of rain fell on frozen ground (Knutilla, 1970).
Figure 11. Left: Detroit, Michigan as it appeared in 1853. Main urban area lay south of Grand Circus Park. Note
northwest-trending pattern of “ribbon-farms” established by the first French settlers during the early 1700s. Right:
Early configuration of roads (dark shading) was inherited from French settlement pattern. Later north-south road
pattern (light shading) developed according to Thomas Jefferson’s (1785) Public Land Survey System.
URBAN GEOLOGIC MAPPING
Although it is possible to produce the usual sort of Quaternary geologic map from scattered patches of in situ
Pleistocene sediments, and remnants of relict glacial landforms, it seems clear from the mapping carried out so far
that most of the natural landforms once present have been completely destroyed by grading and excavation, and
artificial landforms constructed subsequently from fill materials. This suggests that what will be of greater societal
value is a geologic map of Detroit that delineates surficial deposits of anthropogenic origin. Producing such a map
required an experimental approach because techniques for urban mapping are not well established. In this study, a
surficial geologic map was produced by classifying the map area into urban geomorphic provinces, and then
delineating the map using anthrostratigraphic units.
Urban Geomorphic Classification
A useful urban geomorphic classification can be derived from the historic settlement and land use pattern of
Detroit, which was controlled by: 1) the configuration of the Detroit River, and 2) the growth of the automobile
industry following the geographic distribution of railroad lines. After its founding in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe
Cadillac, the early growth of Detroit occurred perpendicular to the course of the Detroit River. The radial pattern of
main roads was inherited from early Indian trails which radiated away from Cadillac’s Fort Pontchartrain (Farmer,
1890). These trails became military roads during the early period of American settlement. They subsequently
evolved into the arterial streets of Detroit city which eventually formed the framework for the growth of urban
corridors.
The early configuration of Detroit’s road pattern was derived from the “long lots” or “ribbon farms” of the
original French settlers (Fig. 11). These farms had narrow river frontages, 400-900 feet wide, which extended
inland at right angles to the water for distances of as much as three miles. The orientation of these farms, trending
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Figure 12. Industrial corridors in Detroit circa 1968.
about N30°W, determined the local street pattern of Detroit, and Windsor on the Canadian side of the river (Sinclair,
1972). Upriver and downriver communities developed in slightly offset patterns corresponding to bends in the
shorelines of Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River, respectively. In Detroit, streets became aligned along the edges of
ribbon farms, and city blocks grew following this pattern. Farther inland, initially beginning at Six Mile Rd., the
city was settled using a north-south trending road pattern, and an associated system of east-west trending “mile
roads,” according to the Jeffersonian Township and Range survey system probably beginning locally about 1850.
During the Industrial revolution of the late 19th century, heavy industry developed along the bank of the Detroit
River, which not only provided a pathway for transportation, but served as a source of fresh water, and a sink for
waste water.
The geographic pattern of the growth of the automobile industry, beginning about 1900, was controlled by the
locations of railroad lines and open space. Each major automobile factory was built on a major railroad track in
open space just beyond the existing city limits, but near enough to ensure an ample labor supply. The establishment
of a factory was followed by a swarm of supporting metal-working and machining industries. The expansion of
residential subdivisions extended outward to the factory site and eventually encircled it (Sinclair, 1972). Although
the car industry was first developed in workshops scattered across the city, the first major car factories were
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Figure 13. Historical timing of housing and urban development in Detroit city (Dioxidis et al., 1970),
and locations of EPA Geoprobe cores (sites 1-14), and hand-dug soil pits (sites 15-25) studied in detail
by Howard and Olszewska (2011), Howard et al. (2013), and in this study (sites 26-27).
established along the Michigan Central, Grand Trunk and Detroit Terminal railroad lines, which surrounded and
extended into central Detroit. The first concentration of factories was on the East Side, where the largest plants (i.e.
Oldsmobile, Packard, Hudson, Ford) were established. Around these plants developed the main industrial districts
of the city, and surrounding residential areas. Remnants of these old industrial districts can still be seen today and
account for the distinct linear industrial pattern shown on land use maps (Fig. 12). The second major episode of car
factory construction was on the outskirts of the city in Highland Park (Ford) and Hamtramck (Dodge). These two
areas also became centers of industry, and were gradually engulfed by the industrial and residential development
that followed. The third episode was southwest of Detroit, (Ford’s Highland Park plant having been outgrown in a
mere six years) where the massive Ford Rouge plant was built in what was to become East Dearborn. This pattern
17
Figure 14. Urban geomorphic provinces comprising Detroit, Michigan.
of development continued and expanded during, and after, WWII resulting in Detroit’s characteristic pattern of
industrial corridors following major railroad lines and interstate highways.
Figure 13 shows the historic timing of urban development, and the locations at which detailed shallow
subsurface data were collected and compiled for this study. The data suggest that areas developed by 1919, or
earlier, are characterized today by an existing (often derelict and abandoned) structure built on one or more layers of
fill produced by previous cycles of building demolition during the 19th century. Areas developed after ~1919 are
characterized by an existing (possibly derelict and abandoned) structure built on relatively undisturbed native soil. It
is also evident from the historical patterns of settlement and land use (and existing physical conditions) that the
Detroit riverfront can be delineated as an area of predominantly industrial development, and the downtown area as a
zone of predominantly manufactured land. Thus, in this study, Detroit is delineated into four urban geomorphic
provinces (Fig. 14): 1) Riverfront Industrial province, 2) Inner City province, 3) Middle City province, and 4) Outer
City province. These cartographic delineations are hypothesized to have geologic significance in terms age and
18
magnitude of human disturbance, thickness and type of fill, water table and groundwater flow characteristics, and
type and amount of soil contamination.
The Riverfront Industrial province (Fig. 14) is defined here as the low-lying area south of Jefferson Ave. and
Fort St., and extending from Ecorse to the eastern limit of the map area. The Riverfront province was the focus of
industrial development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Fig. 15), particularly in the form of chemical
manufacturing (e.g. Solvay process), manufactured gas operations, and stove, railroad car and ship making (Hyde,
1980). Heavy industry is still present in the lower River Rouge area and includes such operations as U. S. Steel,
Marathon Oil, Scott Paper, U. S. Gypsum, Carmeuse Lime, and Detroit Edison’s River Rouge coal-fired power
plant. The gigantic Ford Rouge Plant, and many other major industrial operations, lay just to the west of the
Riverfront province in the eastern Dearborn quadrangle.
The Inner City province (Fig. 14) is defined as the area of manufactured land that is almost completely covered
by buildings, including the main area of skyscrapers and high rise buildings, parking structures and pavement. It is
bounded by Interstates 75 and 375 on the north and east, respectively. The Lodge Freeway (M-10) and the
Riverfront Industrial Land province form the boundaries on the west and south, respectively (Fig. 16). The Inner
City includes Grand Circus Park, Cadillac Square and Campus Martius Park. Excavations done during construction,
and by archaeologists, show that the area has a long and complex history of cut-and-fill locally with four or more
episodes. Archaeological excavations during the late 1960s during construction of the Rennaissance Center (now
headquarters of General Motors Corporation), revealed a complex and as yet undeciphered anthropogenic
stratigraphic record. The Inner City province rests on the bed of, and contains the paleoshoreline of, glacial Lake
Elkton.
The Middle City province (Fig. 14) is defined as the part of Detroit, outside of the Inner City, built before 1919
and characterized by the N30°W-trending road network inherited from French settlement pattern (Fig. 13). The
Middle City includes, but extends beyond, the Inner City Zone of Sinclair and Thompson (1977), which they
defined as bounded by Grand Boulevard. The outer boundary of the Middle City in the Detroit quadrangle
corresponds to the city limits of Detroit as it appeared ~1910, hence the Middle City is delineated approximately as
the land area disturbed by human activity during the 19th century or earlier. Soil pits and borings excavated thus far
suggest that in the Middle City, there is generally a higher probability of encountering an underlying layer of fill.
Figure 15. Industrialized Detroit riverfront as it appeared in the 1920s. Left: Belle Isle Bridge and heavy industry along
banks of Detroit River includes the Detroit Stove Works and Uniroyal Rubber. Right: Coal stock pile for coal gasification
or iron smelting operation.
19
Figure 16. The area of manufactured land comprising the Inner City province of Detroit.
These fill deposits typically contain predominantly demolition debris from 19th century buildings and overlie buried
native soil. The northwestern part of the Middle City is located on the bed of glacial Lake Wayne. Elsewhere it lies
on the lakebed plains of paleolakes Grassmere and Elkton. The Middle City province comprises the bulk of the
Detroit quadrangle.
The Outer city province (Fig. 14) is defined as the part of Detroit lying beyond the Middle City and inside the
present city limits. It is readily delineated by the north-south and east-west trending road pattern (Fig. 13), but
includes some parts of the N30°W-trending road network. The Outer City includes the Middle City Zone of Sinclair
and Thompson (1977), and represents the part of Detroit originally constructed during the early boom period of the
automobile industry during the 1920s-1930s. In the Outer City province is delineated approximately as the land area
disturbed by human activity during the 20th century. It is typically characterized by a first generation of buildings,
many now derelict, abandoned and affected by arson, built directly on relatively undisturbed native soil. The
northwestern part of the Outer City is located on the lakebed plain of glacial Lake Wayne, but the Outer City
generally lies on the beds of paleolakes Grassmere and Elkton.
20
Anthrostratigraphic Units
Although there are some areas locally where the original (natural) surficial deposit is still present in situ, or it
has been stripped-off and the underlying in situ sediment left exposed, many areas are underlain by one or more
layers of artificial fill separately by obvious disconformities. In some places fill is locally derived but in many
places, such as demolition or soil remediation sites, earthy fill materials were trucked-in from unknown sources
offsite. Hence, given the possible allochthonous and variable nature of anthropogenic fill, urban geologic mapping
requires a non-traditional stratigraphic approach which has yet to be established. In this study, surficial deposits are
classified informally into “anthrostratigraphic units” (ASUs) using a lithostratigraphic approach modified to
accommodate the presence of artifacts. An ASU is defined here as the surficial deposit lying directly beneath, and
genetically related to, a constructional anthropogenic landform. To facilitate correlations with soil maps, artifacts
are defined as coarse fragments of anthropogenic origin, following Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 2010ab;
Galbraith, 2011). However, it is also recognized that fill deposits may contain considerable artifactual material < 2
mm in size. By definition, an ASU is the anthropogenic equivalent of a morphostratigraphic (Frye and Willman,
1970) or allostratigraphic (Stratigraphic Code of Nomenclature, 1993) unit. Recently, the term “Anthropocene” has
been used to distinguish the modern stratigraphic interval affected by human activity. Although it is not formally
accepted by the scientific community at large (Zalasiewicz et al., 2008, 2011; Autin and Holbrook, 2012), the term
is potentially useful for stratigraphic classification of anthropogenic deposits in urban areas. Justification of the term
for formal stratigraphic acceptance is beyond the scope of this study. Hence, the term “Anthropocene” is used
informally here, i.e. in a purely descriptive sense, to distinguish anthropogenic map units from Holocene surficial
deposits of natural origin (Figure 16). Two basic types of ASUs were mapped in the Detroit quadrangle:
1) Manufactured land, and 2) Artificial fill (Plate 1).
Series
Holocene
Late Pleistocene
Quaternary
Anthropocene
System
Paleozoic
Map Symbol
QaFd
QaFs
QaFc
QaFa
QaFl
QaFr
QaFe
Geologic Unit
Fill Type D
Fill Type S
Fill Type C
Fill Type A
Fill Type L
Fill Type R
Fill Type E
QaFg
QaFu
QaMl
Fill Type G
Fill Type U
Manufactured
Land
Qha
Recent Alluvium
Qhw
Recent Lake and
Wetland Deposits
Qpl
Lacustrine
Terrace Deposits
(undifferentiated)
Qpr
River Rouge Till
Qpu
Subsurface Drift
(undifferentiated)
PZ
Paleozoic
Bedrock
(undifferentiated)
Description
Demolition site debris
Steel-making slag
Carbonaceous coal-wastes related
Asphalt and asphaltic concrete
Limey wastes from Solvay or manufactured gas processes
Dredged sediment from Detroit River backfilled on land
Clay-rich diamicton excavated during construction backfilled
at other sites
Gravesites and backfilled soil in cemeteries
Undifferentiated fill of industrial origin
Ground surface covered by buildings, parking structures,
sidewalks and pavement
Stratified gravel, sand and mud of active stream channels and
floodplains. Possibly contains appreciable organic matter.
Peat, muck and marl in lakes, bogs and river floodplains: wn,
natural wetlands; wa, artificial wetlands. Possibly contains
appreciable clastic sediment. Maximum thickness about 20
m.
Stratified clayey diamicton, cross-bedded sand and gravel,
and minor argillaceous rhythmite underlying lacustrine
terraces. Maximum thickness about 10 m.
Unstratified, calcareous, clayey diamicton containing
glacially striated and faceted clasts; locally bouldery. Found
only in subsurface. Maximum thickness about 60 m.
Stratified sand and gravel overlying irregular bedrock
surface. May contain appreciable organic matter. Found
only in subsurface. Maximum thickness about 30 m.
Limestone; dolostone; carbonaceous shale and mudrock;
quartzose and micaceous sandstone.
Figure 17. Stratigraphic units in the Detroit quadrangle and anthrostratigraphic classification used in this
study.
21
Manufactured Land
The Inner City province is manufactured land as defined in Soil Taxonomy (2012a), the underlying stratigraphic
record being covered and inaccessible. Historic photographs show that although the earliest brick-and-mortar
buildings date from ~1845 (e.g. Moross House and Ft. Wayne), the streets of Inner City Detroit were still largely
unpaved during the horse-and-buggy era of the 1880s-1890s. Streets paved with brick or tar began to appear
between about 1895 and 1900, and the pace of road-paving greatly accelerated with the growth of the car industry.
Woodward Avenue was already paved downtown by 1907, and Michigan Avenue was being paved in 1908,
aided by the use of steam-powered tractors. Much of downtown was still clearly uncovered when the field work for
Sherzer’s (1915) geologic map was done, but by 1925 even the streets of “black bottom” and Paradise Valley were
paved. Although the first high-rise building was constructed in 1899 (Penobscot Building), the main period of
skyscraper construction was during the 1920s-1930s. Thus, the Inner City province was probably covered in
manufactured land by the end of the 1930s, facilitated by the use of diesel-powered earthmoving equipment
beginning about 1929.
Artificial Fill
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Detroit landscape is the incredible number of abandoned and
derelict buildings. They span the full gamete of types, from small single-family dwellings in residential areas, to
large hotels, commercial buildings, and even some skyscrapers in the Inner City. Many abandoned wood-frame
homes throughout the city were burned by arsonists, often during the infamous Halloween tradition of “Devil’s
Night.” Hence, building demolition has been an ongoing aspect of the urban renewal process since the 1960s. On
average, about 5000 residential buildings have been demolished each year in Detroit city (SEMCOG, 2010). So
many buildings have been razed since 1969, that it is now estimated that Detroit has 40 square miles of vacant land
(28.7% of the city), more than any other U.S. city. Thus, artificial fill comprises the bulk of the Anthropocene
record in Detroit. Essentially the entire extent of the Riverfront Industrial Land, Inner and Middle City provinces is
underlain by one or more layers of fill. Many demolition sites are lots that have remained vacant for decades. Fill
stratigraphy may be complex and multisequel, as in the Corktown site shown in Figure 18. However, many of the
fill sequences examined thus far in the Middle City are bisequel, comprised of a layer of fill usually less than 1 m
Figure 18. Multisequel Type D fill profile showing complex stratigraphy exposed in archaeological excavation behind
“Workers Rowhouse” in Corktown, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Detroit city. Note charcoal and ash in upper layer
from past fire.
thick, resting on buried in situ native soil. The oldest sites yet identified are in Cass Park, constructed in 1875, and
Roosevelt Park, constructed in 1918. These sites are covered by thin layers of fill 30-35 cm thick, whereas
demolition sites post-dating the advent of diesel-powered earthmoving equipment in the 1930s are typically 75-100
cm thick or more. Soil test borings at industrial sites along the Detroit River show that fills there can be 10 m thick
22
or more. Sites where soil remediation has taken place may also be characterized by very thick, intentionally placed
fills.
In this study, artificial fills are classified into eight distinct mappable types based on lithologic
characteristics (Table 2). Artifacts are often the distinguishing lithologic feature of fills. Artifacts are classified here
into distinct types based on chemical and mineralogical composition (Table 3). The geographic distribution of fills at
industrial sites is generally concentrated in five main areas related to the historic pattern of development: 1) Eastern
Riverfront, 2) Western Riverfront, 3) Milwaukee junction, 4) West Detroit junction, 5) Downriver. Residential
areas encompass industrial centers, with commercial buildings being concentrated along arterial roads (Woodward
Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Grand Boulevard, Grand River Avenue, Gratiot Avenue), and along the major mile
roads (McNichols Road, i.e. 6 Mile Road, 7 Mile Road and 8 Mile Road).
Figure 19. Typical demolition operation in Detroit. Debris is sorted into categories for recycling, and includes a
considerable amount of rock-like building materials.
Table 2. Classification and characteristics of various types of artificial fill mapped in the Detroit quadrangle.
Map Symbol
QaFd
Fill Type
Type D
Source
Demolition site
QaFs
Type S
Steel-making; smelters
QaFc
Type C
QaFt
Type A
Domestic and commercial wood and
coal use; Town gas operations (coal
gasification)
Commercial oil production
QaFb
Type L
Chemical manufacturing,
manufactured gas operations, coalfired power plants
QaFr
Type R
Dredging of Detroit River
QaFe
QaFg
Type E
Type G
Deeper excavations
Cemeteries
QaFu
Type U
Undifferentiated
Characteristics
Primarily waste building materials, e.g. brick, mortar,
concrete, wood, bone, nails, wire, glass, ceramic tile;
may contain minor archaeological artifacts, charcoal,
wood-ash or coal-related waste
Slag possibly mixed with soil or sediment; calcareous
(CaO, Ca(OH)2, CaCO3), glassy or crystalline Ca-AlMg silicates; maybe Fe- or Mn-rich
Carbonaceous materials in the form of wood, charcoal,
unspent coal, carbonaceous shale, coal cinders, coalash and coal-tar
Asphalt derived from oxidation or distillation of crude
oil
Limey wastes produced by Solvay process; coal
gasification aka “distiller blowoff” and “blue billy”;
flue gas desulfurization waste; fluidized bed boiler
waste
Sandy and silty fluvial sediments; often carbonaceous
and/or calcareous
Clayey, calcareous diamicton; locally gravelly
Earthy fill and other materials associated with
gravesites
Fill of unknown character at industrial sites
23
Table 3. Classification and characteristics of artifacts found in anthropogenic fills in Detroit, Michigan.
Particle Type
Source
Composition
Coal
Domestic, commercial
Mainly bitumen with
use
minor quartz, illite,
kaolinite, feldspar,
calcite, dolomite, pyrite,
galena
Raw Material
Carbonaceous
Incidentally related to
Mainly illite and
shale
coal use
kaolinite, with minor
Carbonaceous
bitumen, quartz,
feldspar
Asphaltic concrete Road pavement;
Mainly bitumen with
thermal distillation of
rock aggregate
petroleum
Tar
Roofing; road
Mainly bitumen,
pavement; thermal
possibly with aggregate
distillation of coal
Wood
Construction; sawed
Mainly lignin
and possibly treated
Cinders
Coal
Glass, mullite, quartz,
Combustion
magnetite, hematite
Byproducts
Charcoal
Concrete
Mortar
Cinder block
Calcareous
Slag
Manufacturing
waste
Glass
Plant material burned
under normal oxidizing
conditions
Artificial; contains
gravel-sized aggregate
sand-sized aggregate
gravel-size slag
Artificial; iron- and
steel-making waste
Artificial; Solvay
process wastes
References
Hofrichter and
Fakoussa
(2001); Ward
(2002)
Yang et al.
(2010)
Yang et al.
(2010)
Calcite, belite, ettringite
El-Mogazi et al.
(1988); Ward
and French
(2005);
Akinyemi et al.
(2011)
Forbes et al.
(2006); Barrow
(2012)
Van Oss (2005)
Portlandite, belite
Van Oss (2005)
Mainly black carbon
Slag, Portland cement or
ground-granulated blast
furnace slag
Glass, free lime, calcite,
portlandite, merwinite,
melilite, wollastonite,
belite, forsterite,
fayalite, wustite,
magnetite, hematite
CaCl2 and CaCO3
Yildirim and
Prezzi (2011);
Tsakiridis et al.
(2008); Muralha
et al., (2011)
Na-rich amorphous
silica
Fill Type D
Type D fill contains variable amounts of artifacts produced by demolition of mainly buildings, or left onsite
from previous land use. During a typical demolition operation in Detroit, most of the waste is hauled away to be
scrapped or landfilled (Fig. 19). Earthmoving equipment then backfills the site with earth materials, usually
imported from a nearby location offsite, along with any remaining demolition debris. The artificial fill created by
this process is typically comprised of a mixture of soil, sediment and artifacts. Compaction is caused by
earthmoving equipment, and is usually done intentionally to prepare the site for future construction. In the past, a
large volume of artifacts was often left in demolition site soils to form what was locally called “hardcore” (Fig. 20),
which was intended to serve as a foundation for future building construction. Fill Type D can be found in virtually
every part of the city, but is most widespread in the Riverfront Industrial Land and Middle City provinces.
24
The artifactual composition of Type D fill depends on the type and age of building demolished. A much
greater volume of rock-like artifacts is generally produced by demolition of masonry than wood-frame buildings,
particularly at former industrial sites. The age of the building is important because the nature and composition of
building materials has evolved over time. The amount of regulation regarding demolition practices and recycling
has also increased over time. Four hypothetical artifact assemblages are distinguished informally in this study based
the historical development of Detroit, and the technological evolution of building materials (Table 4). For
convenience, artifact assemblages are classified into Pre-Industrial and Industrial eras. Historically speaking, the
Industrial Revolution includes the “Guilded Age” of the 1880s-1890s, but the beginning of the Industrial era is
drawn here at 1900 based on hypothesized changes in types of artifacts. The early Pre-Industrial era dates from the
founding of Detroit in 1701 to 1845. During this era, all building construction utilized wood, and the region was
characterized primarily by hunting and farming (crops, livestock). Artifacts are expected to be sparse and include
cut (wrought-iron) nails and perhaps scattered pottery, hand-blown glass, and the bones of livestock. Carbonaceous
artifacts are exclusively wood and charcoal. The late Pre-Industrial era (1845-1900) is characterized by a mixture of
wood-frame and brick-and-mortar construction. The onset of brick-and-mortar construction in 1845 is significant
because rock-like building materials are more durable and potentially have a greater long-term effect on urban soils
when weathered. Bricks were unglazed, undecorated, of irregular sizes, and held in place with mortar produced
from natural hydraulic cement. In contrast to modern Portland cement, which is a carefully blended mixture of
clinker, lime, gypsum and aggregate, "natural cement" was produced by calcination of argillaceous limestone (Van
Oss, 2005). Plaster walls and cut (wrought-iron) nails are also characteristic. During this era, urban and agricultural
land uses were mixed, and there was considerable reliance on coal and the early use of manufactured gas for
domestic lighting, cooking and heating. Early steam power came into existence, along with very primitive
demolition techniques
The early Industrial era (1900-1945) saw the development of more sophisticated wood-frame and brickand-mortar construction techniques, and the widespread use of coked coal for iron smelting, manufactured gas
production and many other purposes. The electric power, steel and automotive industries were born, and the use of
gasoline, diesel power, natural gas, steel and reinforced concrete became widespread. The era of skyscraper
construction began, aided by the invention of the steam shovel, and accelerated during the 1920s and 30s (e.g.
Chrysler and General Motors Buildings). Artifacts are expected to include wire (steel) nails, glazed and decorated
bricks, clinker brick, concrete and cinder blocks, and Portland cement-based mortar. Plaster was still used on walls,
but the use of coal waned, and domestic use of gas and electricity became common. This era also saw the advent of
iron plumbing with Pb solder, and the widespread use of Pb in paint and gasoline. Demolition techniques evolved,
but remained primitive. During the late Industrial era (1945-present), skyscraper construction became highly
Figure 20. Large volume of cobble-sized artifacts intentionally left at a demolition site
to form “hardcore” used as a foundation for future construction. Scale in 10 cm increments.
25
Table 4. Classification of hypothetical artifact assemblages in urban demolition site soils of downtown Detroit, Michigan.
Artifact
Assemblage
I
II
Type
Time Range
Description
Early Pre-Industrial
Late Pre-Industrial
1701-1845
1845-1900
III
Early Industrial
1900-1945
IV
Late Industrial
1945-present
Wood, hand-forged iron nails, pottery, bones
Hand-blown glass, wrought-iron (cut) nails, unglazed brick,
natural cement mortar, plaster, coal-related waste; bones
(livestock), melanization (farming), high phosphorous content
Plate glass, molded glass, glazed brick, wire nails, Portland
cement mortar and concrete, plaster wall material, domestic
coal-burning wans; Pb plumbing; paint-Pb; auto Pb
Plate glass, wire nails, advanced Portland cement mortar and
concrete; cinder block common; drywall; galvanized nails;
plastic, asbestos use peaks, copper pipe, pvc pipe, Pb-plumbing
wans; paint-Pb wans; auto-Pb wans
Figure 21. Urban soil profiles at former demolition sites in the Middle City province: A, 3 year-old site; B, 24 years
old; C, 68 years old.
Table 5. Artifacts found in demolition site soils in downtown Detroit, Michigan (after Howard et al., 2013). See Figure 26
for site locations.
Artifact Type
Wood
Glass
Brick
Mortar
Concrete
Plaster
Nails
Bone
Ceramics
Lineoleum
Coal
Cinders
Asphalt
1
2
3
4
●
●
●
●
○
○
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
○
○
○
○
○
●
○
●
○
●
●
●
●
○
●
○
●
○
○
●
○
○
●
●
●
○
○
●
○
●
○
●
●
●
Site Number
5
Artifacts
○
●
●
●
○
○
○
○
●
○
○
●
●
6
7
8
9
●
●
●
●
●
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●
●
●
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○
○
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●
●
●
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●
●
●
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●
●
●
●
○
●
●
●
26
sophisticated (e.g. Rennaissance Center, 1970), advanced brick and cement making techniques evolved, and there
was widespread use of galvanized nails, drywall, copper and PVC piping, asbestos, plastic, and a multitude of other
synthetic materials. Utilization of asbestos, leaded gasoline, Pb-bearing paint and plumbing waned, and was phased
out.
Howard et al. (2013) studied fills at nine sites in the Middle City province of Detroit where masonry
buildings were demolished (Fig. 21). The most common artifacts found were brick, mortar, wrought-iron nails, and
glass (Table 5). Wood artifacts were generally not common in the fills because wood is poorly suited as a substrate
for foundations, and is often recycled as a combustible fuel source. Coal cinders were ubiquitous and locally
unspent coal and carbonaceous shale wastes were abundant. Plaster was rarely found perhaps because it is
susceptible to comminution during demolition, or was subsequently weathered away. In a few places, only 19th
century archaeological materials (Assemblage II) were encountered. Elsewhere, there was a mixture of Assemblage
II, III and IV artifacts, depending on when the building was demolished. The mixing of artifactual assemblages is
attributed to the fact that more modern construction materials are often added to older buildings during remodeling.
Fill Type S
Fill Type S is comprised of ferruginous wastes in the form of slag and scrap metal. Slag is a rock-like waste
material produced by the smelting of metaliferous ores. There are three types of iron industry slag (Proctor et al.,
2000): 1) blast furnace (BF) slag, 2) basic-oxygen furnace (BOF) slag, and 3) electric arc furnace (EAF) slag. BF
slag is produced by the smelting of iron ore to produce cast-iron, whereas BOF and EAF slags are generated during
steel-making. All three types are comprised of fluxing agents (Ca and Mg lime) and the molten impurities of iron
ore. They are similar in chemical composition, but steel-making slags are generally higher in Fe and Mn. Smelting
is a process in which heat and a chemical reducing agent are used to selectively extract a metal by melting and
driving off other elements as gasses or slag. The reducing agent is commonly carbon in the form of coke. The
carbon is typically oxidized in two stages, producing first carbon monoxide and then carbon dioxide. The carbon
compounds remove oxygen from the ore, leaving elemental metal behind. Most ores contain silicate and other
mineral impurities, hence it is usually necessary to use a flux to remove the accompanying rock gangue as slag.
During a typical steel-making operation, Fe-ore, coke and flux (limestone or dolostone) are heated to ~2000°C in a
refractory brick-lined blast furnace. Quicklime is formed by calcination of calcite which reacts with silica to
produce slag as follows:
CaCO3 → CaO + CO2
CaO + SiO2 → CaSiO3 (wollastonite)
The liquid slag floats on the molten iron and is separated by decantation. The flux is added to remove impurities
(e.g. sulfur and phosphorous) and lower the viscosity of the slag (Yildirim and Prezzi, 2011). Ordinary blast furnace
slag is typically a mixture of metal oxides and silica in the form of glass. However, the glass phase is much less
common in slag produced during the more advanced stages of refining (Yildirim and Prezzi, 2011). Common
mineral components include magnetite, hematite, wustite, merwinite, melilite, forsterite, monticellite, and
wollastonite (Muralha et al., 2011; Yildirim and Prezzi, 2011). Slag is characteristically high in lime (Table 6),
which reacts readily with water to produce portlandite and then undergoes carbonation:
CaO + H2O → Ca(OH)2.
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2O
These reactions give calcareous steel slag its cementitious properties (Tsakiridis et al., 2008). Slow cooling of slag
produces an unreactive Ca-Al-Mg silicate, but rapid cooling below 800°C produces a granular material with the
properties of sand. This material is often ground into a fine powder (ground-granulated blast furnace slag) which is
combined with aggregate to produce concrete (cinder) block and other building materials. Slag is known to sorb
heavy metals (Kim et al., 2008; Oh et al., 2012), and calcareous slag produced by the Bessemer or Linz-Donowitz
processes may have agricultural value because of its high lime and phosphorous content (Kim et al., 2012).
However, its exceptionally high pH (8-10) makes revegetation of steel slag difficult (Cremeens et al., 2012). In the
past, steel slag was marketed in Detroit as good fill for construction sites.
27
Figure 22. Steel slag, some pieces having a glassy, obsidian-like appearance.
Table 6. Chemical composition (wt%) of steel slag from different regions.
Sample location
Korea
Korea
Korea
Greece
Indiana
Japan
CaO
65.8
44.6
35.0
45-60
39.4
49.9
SiO2
10.8
6.1
14.2
10-15
12.0
15.5
Al2O3
1.6
3.9
5.2
1-5
2.2
6.0
MgO
3.5
2.7
3.0
7-13
9.7
5.3
MnO
-1.0
3.6
2.5
2.7
4.9
Total Fe
13.4
28.3
35.7
7-20
30.2
13.8
References
Kim et al. (2008)
Kim et al. (2008)
Oh et al. (2012)
Tsakiridis et al. (2008)
Yildirim and Prezzi (2011)
Kim et al. (2012)
The largest producer (~3.8 million tons per year) of Fe-slag in the Detroit quadrangle probably is U. S.
Steel’s Great Lakes Works on Zug Island (Fig. 20), and its former incarnations as National Steel (1929-2003) and
the Detroit Iron Works (1903-1929). The giant blast furnaces at the Ford Rouge Plant in the neighboring Dearborn
quadrangle (now owned by Severstal Dearborn Inc.) also produce a tremendous volume of slag. Copious quantities
of slag were also certainly produced at the many foundries associated with former stove-, ship- and railroad carmaking industries once located primarily in the Riverfront and Milwaukee Junction areas.
Fill Type C
Type C fill is defined by an excessive abundance of carbonaceous artifacts (and other materials), mainly in the
form of coal-cinders, and locally including unspent coal, carbonaceous shale, or coal-tar. Huge quantities of coal
were burned domestically and commercially in Detroit during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and coal
continues to be used at iron smelters and electric power plants today. Coal replaced wood as a domestic fuel source
about 1850. It was delivered to residences via horse-drawn wagons, stored in basement bins, and widely used for
lighting, cooking and heating. Domestic coal use was prominent between about 1850 and 1930, reaching a peak
around 1900. The Michigan Stove Company opened in 1871 and by the time its production peaked in 1889, there
were numerous stove-making companies in the city. Coal fueled the Industrial Revolution, and was used
extensively in steam engines, and blast furnaces in foundries (to produce cast iron) and steel mills. Coked coal was
used for most industrial purposes. Coking is a process in which coal is heated in an oven in the absence of oxygen
to drive off volatile hydrocarbons, sulfurous gases, and water. Coking coal was used in blast furnaces to extract iron
28
from ore. It was widely used in foundries to make cast iron, and is especially important in the manufacture of steel,
where the carbon must be free of volatiles and ash.
The coking process was also used to manufacture gas in so-called “town gashouses.” In the gasification process,
bituminous coal was heated in airtight ovens, and the gas driven off was then distributed through a system of pipes
to nearby homes and commercial buildings. The Detroit Gas Company was established in 1848, and supplied
manufactured gas for the first streetlights on Woodward Ave. in 1851. The use of manufactured gas for lighting
flourished locally until about 1892, when gas lights began to be replaced by electric lights powered by Edison
Illuminating Company (founded in 1886). Nevertheless, gas-fueled stoves and furnaces were in great demand by
1890. In 1889, the Michigan Gas Company built a 90 mile-long natural gas pipeline from Findlay, Ohio to Detroit,
but when the supply dwindled in1892, there was a great resurgence in the manufactured gas industry. The great
Figure 23. U. S. Steel’s Great Lakes Works plant on Zug Island.
anthracite coal strike of 1902, and shortages of coal brought on by WWI, caused the demand for gas to increase even
further. By the 1930s, most of Detroit’s stove companies had closed. The manufactured gas industry also began to
decline with the reintroduction of natural gas via a high-pressure pipeline from Texas to Michigan. The “big
switch” to natural gas occurred in 1936, and the era of manufactured gas ended in Detroit between about 1955 and
1975.
Coal combustion generates a variety of non-limey wastes including fly ash, coal gasification ash, bottom ash,
boiler slag and cinders. These materials are formed from the non-combustible mineral matter in coal and associated
rocks (Carlson and Adriano, 1993). Fly ash is composed of the finest particles, which are transported from the
combustion chamber via exhaust gases, and then may or may not be collected by emission control devices (e.g.
electrostatic precipitators). Bottom ash, coal gasification ash and boiler slag are typically sand-sized particles,
whereas coal cinders (aka clinker or slag) are gravel-sized clasts that resemble volcanic cinders. Coal combustion
also produces soot and char, which are the carbonaceous byproducts of incomplete combustion. Thus, evidence for
the coal-burning era in Detroit includes sooty patinas seen on the 1896 Old Main Building at Wayne State
29
University (prior to cleaning in 1995), and older churches built between about 1850 and 1910. It is also evident in
the soot-bearing black topsoils seen around buildings dating from the 1930s and earlier (Howard et al., 2013).
Cinders are the most common artifact found in Type C fill. Large volumes of coal cinders were generated in the
past by foundries, coking and gasification operations, coal-fired power plants, and steam-powered ships and trains.
This is due to the fact that in the field, coal beds are associated with overlying and underlying layers of rock which
are often carbonaceous, but comprised primarily of silicate, oxide and carbonate minerals. These incombustible
rock materials are inevitably excavated along with coal, and are considered by miners to be “slag”, i.e. rock and
mineral impurities. Prior to the development of coal preparation plants (aka coal washers) during the late 1970s,
which crush, screen and separate coal from “slag”, teams of workers separated these rock impurities from high grade
coal by hand, or not at all. The carbonaceous rock wastes accumulated in large piles called slag heaps, which often
caught on fire via spontaneous combustion, and burned for years at high temperatures. Thus, cinders form from
rock impurities either by fires burning in slag heaps, or by burning directly in combustion chambers. Previous work
shows that the most common minerals in coal are quartz, layer silicates (kaolinite, illite), feldspar, calcite, dolomite,
and pyrite (Ward, 2002). Given a combustion temperature of about 1200°C, followed by rapid cooling, some
minerals recrystallize as high-temperature phases, whereas others melt to form glass. Thus, coal ash and cinders are
generally comprised of mostly glass, with variable amounts of quartz, cristobalite (high temperature polymorph of
quartz), mullite (aka porcelainite, 3Al2O3 -2SiO2), lime (CaO), hematite and magnetite, as well as particles of black
carbon (Ward and French, 2005; Van Dyk et al., 2009; Blissett and Rowson, 2012).
Type C fill is expected to be produced in association with coal stockpiles, and the disposal of coal combustion
products. Likely sources are foundries, steel-making factories, electric power plants, manufactured gas and coking
operations, and kilns used in glass-, cement- and brick-making operations. Major coal-fired power plants active in
the Detroit quadrangle include Detroit Edison’s River Rouge Plant near Zug Island, and the Willis Street and
Beacons Street plants in the Middle City province. Coal was used extensively in steam-powered trains and ships,
hence former “coaling stations” in train and ship yards are additional sources. Figure 24 shows a site in Boyer
Playground in southwestern Detroit where at large volume of cinders comprises Type C fill just south of the
Livernois Train Yard. A large volume of carbonaceous artifacts in the form of unspent coal, carbonaceous shale,
cinders and ash was also found in Roosevelt Park adjacent to the derelict Michigan Central Train Station.
Coal tar is a black, sticky thermoplastic material produced along with ammonia when coal is carbonized to
make coke, or gasified in manufactured gas operations. Coal tars and ammonia were important chemical feed stocks
for chemical manufacturing industries, and used to make various products including artificial dye colors. Coal tar
wastes from manufactured gas operations were often stored in large underground tanks, and sold as a waterproofing
material, or a binder for road aggregates. Large volumes of coal-tar wastes were remediated by the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quality at the former site of Detroit Coke (the Solvay Process Company) near Zug
Island in the downriver area (Fig. 25), and at the Uniroyal brownfield site in the Eastern Riverfront area (Appendix
Table 1_.
Fill Type A
Asphalt is a dark brown to black, cementitious, bituminous residue formed naturally by the surface oxidation of
crude oil (e.g. oil seep), or artificially by the thermal distillation of crude oil. It has properties similar to those of
coal tar, with which it is often confused (e.g. La Brea “Tar” Pits and Canadian “tar” sands). Asphalt is mixed with
aggregate to form asphaltic concrete and used for extensively for road paving. Type A fill is potentially present in
areas where petroleum has been spilled or leaked into the soil. Refineries and large petroleum storage areas owned
by Marathon Oil and Equilon Petroleum are located along the River Rouge in the Downriver area, but no areas of
Type A fill have yet been recognized in the Detroit quadrangle.
30
Figure 24. Soil profile in Boyer playground south of Livernois train yard
showing layer of coal cinders and ash 10-15 cm thick.
Fill Type L
Fill Type L is comprised of highly calcareous wastes generated as a byproduct of chemical manufacturing (e.g.
the Solvay process), manufactured gas operations, flue gas desulfurization, and fluidized bed combustion. Although
Fe-slag is also highly calcareous, it is delineated separately based on its high Fe content. The Solvay process was
invented by Ernest Solvay in the 1860s for the production of soda ash, which was originally produced from the ash
of certain plants. The process utilizes common ingredients, such as salt brine and limestone, and produces sodium
carbonate as follows:
2NaCl + CaCO3 → Na2CO3 + CaCl2
Sodium carbonate is widely used for the manufacturing of glass, paper, soaps and detergents. For example, bottle
and window glass are comprised of Na-lime glass produced by melting Na2CO3, CaCO3 and SiO2. The Solvay
process and purification of salt brine generates a highly calcareous, fine, powdery waste, known locally as “distiller
blowoff,” comprised of CaCl2 and CaCO3. The Solvay process is not used much today because extensive deposits of
Na carbonate, in the form of trona, are now known in Wyoming and California. Considerable Type L fill was
generated by the Solvay Process Company and Detroit Coke near Zug Island, and by the Detroit Ammonia Works
and other operations at the Uniroyal brownfield site. As noted above, these sites were remediated by the MDEQ
between 2001 and 2005. In the neighboring Wyandotte quadrangle, 20 million yd3 of highly acidic brine waste from
a soda ash plant owned by BASF (formerly Wyandotte Chemical Corporation and Michigan Alkali Company) was
dumped on Fighting Island (Fig. 26) from 1920-1980. BASF carried out remedial efforts on the island during the
1980s and 1990s. Similar Type L wastes were dumped at Pt. Hennepin on the north tip of Grosse Isle in the
Wyandotte quadrangle.
Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) waste is produced by the combustion of high sulfur coal. FGD waste, aka
scrubber gypsum, is a byproduct of the removal of SOx by passing the flue gas stream through a slurry of lime. It is
a mixture of fly ash, CaSO3, CaSO4, and CaCO3. Fluidized bed waste is similar in composition. It is generated
from the combustion of a mixture of coal and lime in a fluidized bed furnace and is comprised of a mixture of
CaSO3, CaSO4 and CaO. Large volumes of waste of this type are presumably generated by coal-fired power plants
31
in the map area, particularly Detroit Edison’s River Rouge Plant, but no areas of Type L fill are yet delineated.
Other Type L fills not yet delineated include noxious limey wastes, also known as “blue billy,” which were
generated by manufactured gas operations.
Figure 25. Large tanks of coal-tar at the former Detroit Coke site near Zug Island.
Fill Type R
The Detroit River is relatively deep in the upper part, but the lower part requires periodic dredging in order to
maintain shipping lanes. Type R fill is found in disposal sites, including constructed Confined Disposal Facilities
(CDFs), where dredged sediments have been placed on land. Early dredging dates from 1872, and major dredging
operations occurred three times during the 20th century; the last major episode occurred between 1958 and 1962. No
areas of Type R fill are known to be present in the Detroit quadrangle. However, it is present on Grasst Island and
part of Fighting Island in the neighboring Wyandotte quadrangle. Most dredged sediment, including that from from
the 2004-2005 remediation of Black Lagoon near Grosse Isle, has been disposed of in the CDF at Point Mouille.
32
Fill Type E
Most excavations in Detroit involve clayey diamicton comprising the River Rouge till, especially those more
than several meters deep. Clayey diamicton has been excavated locally on a large scale to construct the submerged
freeways characteristic of Detroit, as well as basements, foundations, and artificial lakes. The clay is then trucked to
Figure 26. Deposits of highly calcareous Solvay process wastes (white) on Fighting Island just
south of the Detroit quadrangle.
construction sites and used for foundations, landscaping, and berm construction. Clay diamicton comprising the
River Rouge till has a uniform composition throughout southeastern Michigan (Salim, 1994), and contains about
50% clay and 26% carbonate, with a clay fraction comprised mainly of illite (61%), kaolinite (13%) and chlorite
(8%), with minor (< 2%) hornblende, feldspar and quartz (Salim, 1994). Only one area of Type E fill has been
delineated in Detroit (Fig. 13, site 14). Other areas have been delineated in suburban areas as a result of artificial
lake construction.
Fill Type G
Type G fill, characterizing cemetery sites, is distinguished by the presence of gravesites and redistributed earth
material. Excess soil or sediment typically remains after a burial. Hence, a considerable amount of fill is typically
stockpiled onsite in certain designated areas, or redistributed about the property by grading. The map area includes
some of the oldest cemeteries in metro Detroit, including the oldest, Elmwood Cemetery located near the
paleoshoreline of glacial Lake Elkton north of Jefferson Ave. Cemeteries were historically sited on well drained
soils developed on beach ridges because of the generally swampy nature of the metropolitan Detroit area prior to
construction of an elaborate system of drains beginning in the 1830s.
Results of Radiocarbon and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) Dating
Four samples of arenaceous upper Pleistocene sediments were submitted to the University of Illinois at Chicago
for OSL dating by Steve Forman. Sand from the Farmington Hills and Walled Lake formations (Fig. 4) was
apparently dated successfully and partially constrain the age of much of the morainal sequence comprising the
Defiance moraine. The date on the Farmington Hills formation seems to affirm the inferred Nissourian age of the
lower depositional sequence (River Rouge till-Farmington Hills fm.). The date on the Walled Lake is much greater
than expected (~18 kA vs. 15 kA), and is interpreted to indicate that considerable pre-River Rouge till sediment was
33
reworked during overriding by the ice sheet during deposition of the Novi till, i.e. the Defiance moraine is a
palimpsest feature in which most of the relief is developed on the pre-Novi succession. Attempts to date paleolakes
Maumee and Grassmere strandline sediments were unsuccessful.
Table 7. Stratigraphic section at site 13 (Geoprobe) and soil profile description (pit) at site 25 (Fig. 13) showing location
of samples dated by radiocarbon method in the Detroit, Michigan area.
Depth (cm)
Description
Site 13: Maherus-Gentry Park near Detroit River(N42°21.35’; W082°56.983’)
0-25
Fill with 10% gravel
25-61
Fill with 30% concrete, brick and asphalt
61-102
Fill with 10% concrete and gravel
102-163
Sandy clay loam
163-208
Fill with 5% concrete and brick
208-264
Fill with concrete, brick, stone and asphalt
264-422
Fill with sparse brick
422-457
Gravelly river dredgings (?) with wood fragments**
Site 25: Near Former Vernor St. Police Station (N42°19’32.3”; W083°4’54.4”)
0-15
^Au1: Very dark grayish brown (10YR3/2) silt loam
15-28
^Au2: Very dark grayish brown (10YR3/2) silty clay loam
28-54
^C: Very dark gray (10YR3/1) gravelly heavy silty clay loam
54-78
2^Cd: Very dark brown (10YR2/2) gravelly heavy silty clay loam; Contains archaeological
artifacts and brick with charcoal** attached to it
78-96
3Ab: Very dark gray (10YR3/1) gravelly silt loam
96-106
3C: Yellowish-brown (10YR5/6) gravelly loamy silt
**Samples dated by radiocarbon method
A sample of wood buried beneath 4.6 m of anthropogenic fill (Table 7) along the Detroit River at site 13 (Fig.
13) was dated by accelerator mass spectrometry because of the limited amount of sample. The 2 sigma results
suggest three possible age ranges. No river dredging is known to have occurred in Detroit until the 19th century,
hence a 17th century age may be ruled out by the apparent association with dredged river sediments. A post-1950
age seems to be ruled out by historic records indicating that Maherus-Gentry Park was built in 1930. A late 19th
century age (Table 8) is consistent with historic records indicating that the extensive dredging and filling occurred
along the Detroit River during the 1890s. The strata containing the wood are also buried beneath one or more
deposits of fill containing waste building materials of 20th century vintage.
Stratigraphic relationships at site 25 (Fig. 13) suggest that two distinct deposits of anthropogenic fill are present,
resting disconformably on a buried profile of in situ native soil (Table 7). The charcoal recovered from horizon
2^Cd was attached to pieces of brick suggesting that the masonry structure originally present at the site was
destroyed by fire. The 2 sigma results suggest three possible age ranges. A post-1950 age seems to be ruled out by
the fact that the fills underlie an abandoned derelict building that was formerly the Vernor St. Police Station built in
1947. The oldest brick buildings in Detroit are thought to date from about 1845 (e.g. Ft. Wayne), hence a 17th
century age seems improbable. A mid 19th century age (Table 8) is consistent with the presence of undecorated,
unglazed brick and associated archaeological artifacts such as hand-forged wrought iron nails and hand-blown glass.
Horizon 2^Cd lies beneath a superjacent deposit of fill containing waste building materials of 20th century vintage.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Kevin Kincare, Larry Bean, W. Lee Daniels, Joe Calus, Eric Gano, and the many Wayne State
students who assisted with the mapping. Thanks to the U. S. Geological Survey for partially funding the work with
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program grants 00HQAG0090, 02HQAG0078, 05HQAG0054,
06HQAG0075, and G12AC20181. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the author
and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the
U. S. Government.
34
Table 8. Results of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of anthropogenic fill and late
Wisconsinan glacial sediments, respectively in the Detroit, Michigan area.
Sample
Location
Radiocarbon Age
Prob. 2 σ Age Range
OSL Age Range*
(kA)
Fill (EPA-13)
Fill (UC-07)
Farmington Hills fm.
(13RO-01)
Walled Lake fm.
(13PS-01)
Paleolake Maumee
sediments (13RD-01)
Paleolake Grassmere
sediments (13AS-02)
N42°19’32.3”/W083°4’54.4”
N42°39.6’/W083°09.5’
90 ± 60 yr BP
190 ± 60 yr BP
--
1810-1930 AD
1730-1810 AD
--
N42°34.8’/W083°17.4’
--
--
N42°28.8’/W083°18.5’
--
--
--18,545 ± 1230 to
18,965 ±1420
16,550 ± 1215 to
18, 615 ± 1220
unsuccessful
N42°24.03’/W083°5.57’
--
--
unsuccessful
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APPENDICES TO ACCOMPANY GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE DETROIT QUADRANGLE
Appendix 1. Index of Existing or Former Industrial Sites in Detroit, Michigan
Site Location
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Description
Western Riverfront Area
U.S. Steel Great Lakes Works
Detroit Edison Company
United Fuel and Supply Co.
Dunbar and Sullivan Dredging Co.
Standard (Marathon) Oil Co.
Detroit Sulphite Pulp and Paper Co.
Lowrie and Robinson Lumber Yard
Cement Block Works
Solvay Process Co.
Detroit Edison Co.
Fort Wayne
Michigan Copper and Brass
Detroit Lumber Co.
Peninsula Smelting and Refining Co.
Detroit Copper and Brass Rolling Mill
American Car and Foundry Co. Rolling Mill
Paige-Detroit Motor Car Co
Timkin Detroit Axle Co.
Studebaker Corp. Auto Plant #3
Detroit City Gas Co.
Union Depot Freight Yard
Michigan Central Railroad (MCRR) Yards
37
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
Cadillac Motor Car Plant #3
Michigan Malleable Iron Works
Commercial Truck Co./Monarch Steel Castings Co.
Fisher Body Co.
Detroit Manufacturing Co. (auto body hardware and stamping)
U.S. Radiator Co.
Edgar Sugar Co.
Eastern Riverfront Area (includes eastern MCRR corridor)
Packard Motor Car Co.
Power House
Cement works
Detroit Shipbuilding Co.
Michigan Steel Casting Co.
Imperial Shipbuilding
Sand and gravel yard
Parke, Davis and Co.
Iron works
Michigan Stove Works
Varnish works/tannery
Michigan Bolt and Nut Works
Michigan Ammonia Works
Detroit Gas Co. Works
Morgan and Wright (U.S. Tire Co., Uniroyal)
Detroit Stove Works
Stearns Pharmaceutical
Standard Motor Truck Co.
Woodworking/kiln
Coal yard
American Auto Trimming Co.
Rome and Davidson Iron and Steel
Milwaukee Junction Area
Detroit Cab
General Ice
Bagley’s Tobacco
Fisher Body Plant #10
Grasselli Chemical Co.
America Car and Foundry
Briggs Manufacturing (vacant)
American Radiator Co. Works
Cadillac Motor Car Co.
American Blower Co.
Detroit White Lead and Varnish
Manfield Steel Co.
Spring Bed and Matress Factory
Fisher Body Plant #27 and #7 (south)
Studebaker Car Plant #5 (west) and #10 (east); includes former Ford Piquette Plant
Martin Perry Corp. Truck Bodies (former)
General Motors Corp. Fisher Body Works (former)
Caille Brothers Perfection Motor Car Co.
Burroughs Adding Machine Co.
Chicago Auto Tool
Coal yard
Iron and Steel scrap yard
38
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
Penberthy Injection Co.
Lincoln Motor Car Co.
Detroit Lubricating Co.
West Detroit Junction Area
Northway Motor and Manufacturing Co.
Hayes Manufacturing Co.
Hopkins Manufacturing Co.
Detroit Paper Products Co.
Pittman and Dean Coal and Ice Yard
Cadillac Motor Car Co.
Railray Steel Spring Co.
America Bridge Co. (former)
Detroit Range and Boiler Works
Brennans Boiler Works
Iron storage yard
Federal Motor Truck Co.
MCRR car shops and stockyards
Ireland and Mathews Manufacturing Co. (auto parts)
Kelsey Wheel Co.
Atlas Iron Works
Appendix 2. Index of Subsurface Data for the Detroit quadrangle, Michigan
Map Symbol
W-01
W-02
W-03
W-04
W-05
W-06
W-07
SB-01
SB-02
SB-03
SB-04
Location
Parke, Davis & Co., 3220
Bellevue, Detroit
Stroh’s Brewery, Elizabeth and
Gratiot, Detroit
Federal Carbonic Co.,
Greenwood at GTRR
Solvay Process Co. Well#16 &?
Detroit Edison Power at Ft.
Wayne, Detroit
Zug Island well at mouth of
River Rouge
Marathon Oil brine disposal
Description
Water Well Logs
157 ft. of blue clay on gray Traverse sand rock
154 ft. of blue clay on limestone
0-142 ft. blue clay; 142-188 ft. gravel, Traverse lst at 188 ft. (el. 617 ft.)
80-87 ft. of clay over limestone (el. 575-577 ft.)
90 ft. of blue clay over Dundee limestone
73 ft. of blue clay on limestone (el. 575 ft.)
47 ft. of drift on dolomite (el. 609 ft.)
Geotechnical Boring Logs
Lodge Fwy between Warren and
0-156 ft. blue clay; 156-165 sand; 165-169 hardpan
Canfield
I-75 at Leland St.
0-8 ft. fill; 8-143 firm blue clay, 143-147 sand, 147 cobble or bedrock
I75 at Forest
0-3 ft fill; 3-143 firm blues clay; 143-153 sand; at 153 cobble or bedrock
Bellevue and Jefferson,
0-30 ft. fill with mixed sand and clay, slag, clinker, limey slurry
Michcon-Uniroyal site (west)
39
40

Quaternary Geology of the Detroit, Michigan Quadrangle and

Transcription

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