Rachel Elliot
Bedrock and surficial deposits of Griffy Teaching and Research Preserve.
BSES Senior Research 2003

Griffy Research and Teaching Preserve (RTP), located just north of Indiana University, was established in May 2001. Due to the newness of the preserve, large scale map data is lacking. The goal of this project is to establish large scale GIS layers of bedrock and surficial deposits for future research use. Also, the relationships of the deposits and topographic features will be examined and evaluated.

In the field, the contact between the Sanders group limestone and the Borden group siltstone was identified and marked on a topographic base map. Likewise, the surficial deposits, residuum, loess, fine and coarse-grained alluvium, and altered land were identified. This data was then digitized in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and layers were produced. The bedrock map (Figure 1) displays the difference in scale from the original small scale map with green representing Borden group and yellow representing the Sanders group. The red lines show the large scale data, with the green points marking each contact point verified in the field.

Due to hillslope and fluvial processes along with wind and weathering, the surficial deposits at Griffy RTP are in their current state. The surficial deposits map (Figure 2) shows these features overlying a pre-existing small scale map. The small scale map shows limestone as brown, siltstone as light yellow, and terra rossa as light green. The large scale map consists of more units and provides much finer detail which will be available for future researchers.