GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF WABASH RIVER IN WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA AND ITS AFFECT ON RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN RURAL AREAS

Digitized data recently produced for the State of Indiana have provided maps depicting elevations and parent materials available at a larger scale than previously available. Bedrock geology is to be added at a later date. (Schulze , 2010). This mapping provides more detail on landforms in Tippecanoe County including the area adjacent to the Wabash River. In West Lafayette, just west of the river, extensive urban growth is underway along a low lying area that contains Hadley Lake, with Burnett’s Creek running to northeast and Indian Creek to the southwest. Housing areas and a high in the bedrock below the glacial till deposits, extend parallel to this low level trough. Construction problems abound here: limited ground water supply from wells, sewage disposal limitations and excavation difficulties, A relationship between the bedrock high and the parallel trough seems apparent as well as the location of the tributary streams and Hadley Lake. The relationship between the construction problems in the area and the orientation of the tributary streams is discussed, including possible origins for the elongated depression.