GEOLOGY OF MOSQUITO LAKE STATE PARK, TRUMBULL COUNTY, OHIO AND WEST BRANCH STATE PARK, PORTAGE COUNTY, OHIO

Mosquito Lake State Park and West Branch State Park are the home to two reservoirs in northeastern Ohio. Although these are manmade reservoirs, many are unaware of the natural geologic and glacial activities that shaped the area into what it is today. To better understand the unique geology that produced the right conditions to have a reservoir lake and park, research was conducted in the field to acquire surficial geology information, as well as utilizing well logs to better define the subsurface geology. Arcmap was used to produce a detailed geologic map and MicroDEM was used to obtain high quality DEM images for surface geomorphology. ArcScene and Adobe Illustrator were used to produce 3D cross sectional views of the park. Results of our study show that both are situated on the glaciated plateau of northeastern Ohio where Pleistocene glaciers were able to override the gentle hills and stream valleys of the land formerly uplifted as part of the Appalachian Mountain building process.

Mosquito Lake State Park is not only one of the largest lakes in Ohio but the park contains three distinct glacial features: portion of the Defiance End Moraine, 40 to 70 feet thick, located in the southeastern sections of the park; ground moraine, 10 to 20 feet thick, forming the relatively flat surface of the western section of the park; and lacustrine deposits of former Rock Creek Lake located in the northern part of the park.

West Brach State Parks subsurface bedrock units consist of Devonian to Pennsylvanian shales and sandstones. The bedrock was covered by several ice advances of the Wisconsinan Glacier that left behind three distinct glacial features: a buried stream valley filled with up to 350 feet of drift material, now occupied by the present stream and reservoir; ground moraine, 15 feet thick, covering the hills on the southern section of the park; and the Kent End Moraine on the northern part of the park.

The goal of our research is to gain an understanding of the geology in the state parks.