2011 Midwestern Cell

55th Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene
May 20-22nd, 2011, Carlyle, Illinois

Here is the guidebook. (136 MB pdf) This guidebook is sourced as an open file report from Illinois State Geological Survey and a hard copy can be purchased for $15 from their website here.

The 55th Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene field conference is set for the May 20-22nd weekend and is now open for registration. We encourage those interested to register and make hotel reservations as soon as possible, by April 1st at the latest. As mentioned in our earlier July e-mail, we plan a tour of Quaternary history the Kaskaskia Basin region of southwestern Illinois, an area where we have conducted detailed mapping and research over the past decade. Our tentative guidebook title is “Ridges, Mounds, and Valleys: Glacial-Interglacial History of the Kaskaskia Basin, Southwestern Illinois.”

DATE: May 20th – 22nd, 2011. A welcoming reception and guidebook handout will happen at 6 to 9 PM on Friday, May 20th at the Mariner’s Village Motel (www.carlylelake.com/marinersvillage/). Buses plan to be loaded at 7:45 AM on Saturday and Sunday mornings (end at midday Sunday).

LOCATION: The trip will be based out of Carlyle, Illinois. The primary location will be the Mariner’s Village Motel which is adjacent to Carlyle Lake (www.carlylelake.com/). I believe that swimming at the small beach will be open in May and there are several nearby campgrounds. The trip will be conducted on buses Saturday, May 21st and Sunday, May 22nd. The use of personal vehicles will not be allowed due to site access constraints. Carlyle Lake Ice-contact sands at Keyesport

COST: $110. Includes guidebook; buses; Saturday breakfast, lunch, and dinner (banquet); Sunday breakfast and lunch; snacks and most beverages. Fee does not include lodging.

REGISTRATION (required by April 1st): Please either send a check made out to “University of Illinois” (mail to Attn: LeAnn Benner, 615 E. Peabody Dr., Illinois State Geological Survey, Champaign, IL 61820) or use the ISGS online website (shop.inrs.illinois.edu/fop.html) for credit card purchases. If mailing a check, please also send along the attached mail-in form with it. DUE TO BUS AND SITE CONTRAINTS, THERE WILL BE A MAXIMUM OF 100 PEOPLE ALLOWED TO REGISTER FOR THE TRIP (first to register will have priority).

MOTELS/CAMPSITES: Please make your own reservations at either the Mariner’s Village Motel (block of 40 rooms @ $60/room; 618-594-7666; mention Illinois State Geological Survey), or the Super 8 Motel in Carlyle, IL (block of 15 rooms including 4 large suites @ $67-102; 618-594-8888; mention Friends of the Pleistocene). There are also campsites less than 0.5 mile from motel along the lake at he Dam West Recreation campground (www.carlylelake.com/Camping/index.htm). You can call Carlyle Lake visitor’s center at 618-594-2484 or make camping reservations at www.recreation.gov/ . Three additional motels are 25 minutes north in Greenville, IL. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SHARE ROOMS IF AT THE MARINER’S VILLAGE LOCATION SINCE MOST ROOMS ARE DOUBLES AND THIS WILL ALLOW MORE PEOPLE TO STAY HERE.

TRIP THEME: This area, glaciated during both the pre-Illinoian and Illinoian, includes the controversial Ridged-Drift area, a train of constructional hills of various forms which protrude from the dissected Illinoian till plain. During this trip, we will offer our current hypothesis for a Kaskaskia Basin Sublobe or ice stream within an overall glacial advance from the Lake Michigan Basin during oxygen isotope stage 6. We believe that such a sublobe may explain the presence and general distribution of morainal ridges, esker forms, and other ice-contact landforms in southwestern Illinois. Stops will include sand and gravel pits, natural exposures, and core samples of ridge deposits. Other stops will include exposures of last glacial slackwater lake deposits in Glacial Lake Kaskaskia, archeological sites in the vicinity of ridges, and sodium-affected surface soils. Sand pit at Vandalia Exposed deposits of Glacial Lake Kaskaskia

WHAT TO BRING: Hard hats (if you have), field boots, digging tools, pointed questions, etc. Hope to see many of you on the trip. Please register and reserve lodging as soon as possible !

Dave Grimley and Drew Phillips (co-leaders)

Illinois State Geological Survey

Other contributors:

Tim Larson (ISGS); Brad Koldehoff (Illinois State Archaeological Survey)

Sam Indorante (USDA-NRCS); Brandon Curry (ISGS); Nathan Webb (ISGS)