MAPPING GEOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT FEATURES IN THE BRASSFIELD QUARRY PARK, FAIRBORN, OHIO

The Reed North Quarry is an abandoned limestone quarry located near Fairborn, Ohio. The City of Fairborn is planning to transform the quarry into a park to be used for recreation, education and research. The park will facilitate education of the public in earth science through learning activities within the park as well as school programs. A trail will be developed where the fossiliferous Brassfield Limestone and other features of geologic interest can be viewed. Spoils piles will be preserved for fossil collecting. Atop the Brassfield Formation there are glacial striations and other evidence of Pleistocene glaciation.

The park will also be an area for continuing geologic research. Research on the Silurian Brassfield Formation exposed at the quarry includes studies of echinoderms, corals, and stromatoporoids. At least one small coral reef is exposed in the quarry. Research is also being conducted on the depositional environments and diagenetic history of the Brassfield Limestone.

An important first step in the development of the park was to make a map that shows the location of all the significant geologic features in the area including the coral reef, stromatoporoid and coral groupings, a cephalopod-rich bed, burrowed and cross-bedded limestones, covered areas, spoils piles, glacial striations, and glacial erratics. A base map of the quarry was drawn using topographic maps. Then, G.P.S. was used to obtain the position of each feature. Bearings of the glacial striations were taken and plotted. Data points obtained with G.P.S. were then downloaded from G.P.S. to “Arcview”, a G.I.S. program, to complete the map.

Over the next several years, the base map will be used to develop a route for the quarry trail, identify future research sites, and for development of educational materials for school groups.