THE GLACIATED SOIL OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY-PURDUE UNIVERSITY FORT WAYNE'S CAMPUS

Through entrainment, glaciers have the capability to transport and deposit large volumes of material of all sizes over great distances. Northern Indiana went through numerous glacial events during the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era. The campus of Indiana University- Purdue University at Fort Wayne (IPFW) represents an area affected by a significant glacial event during the period of the last glacial maximum. The glacier [Erie Lobe] deposited till upon the existing Silurian and Devonian bedrock as it encroached, forming the Fort Wayne moraine and the ancestral Lake Maumee during its eventual recession.

The intention of this study is to evaluate and create a soil profile of the IPFW campus, utilizing soil borings, which were taken during the construction of various buildings throughout the development of the campus. Reviewed are more than 30 soil borings, representing all parts of the campus, supplied eagerly through the university’s physical plant. Based on the soil borings, two cross sections were produced [north-south & east-west] using the assistance of computer software (Microsoft Paint and Excel). These sections allowed for the development of a two dimensional, cross-sectional representation of glacial deposits to be mapped. The findings indicate a wide variety of sediments were deposited during the last glacial maximum. The soil borings show poorly layered soil with unsorted layers of brown and grey clays, silts, and sands of various densities with fine gravel intermixed within these layers.