Ohio Range Research Articles

Status and Distribution of the Least Darter (Etheostoma microperca Jordan and Gilbert) in Ohio: A State Listed Species of Concern

Abstract Up to date research on the historical and current distribution of the least darter (Etheostoma microperca) in Ohio is not available, despite its status as a Species of Concern. Using a dataset of 229 recorded occurrences, we compared 20th and 21st century presence/ absence of least darter in Ohio to detect changes in distribution and evaluate the need for conservation measures. We added 11 recent surveys for streams that lacked 21st century data. Before 2000 the least darter was known from 44 streams in 18 counties across the glaciated portion of Ohio. This decreased to 37 streams in 14 counties in surveys from 2000 to 2013 considering only temporally spaced collections (e.g., at least two collections per location – one from the 20th and one from the 21st century). Two streams added E. microperca populations since 2000. However, in spite of continued monitoring, nine streams lost populations including the disappearance from counties in its Northeastern Ohio range. Farm ditches with ample vegetati...

Soft-body preservation in the leaiid clam shrimp (Branchiopoda, Diplostraca) and its palaeoecological implications

Leaiais a special genus of extinct “conchostracan” branchiopods; its soft parts have not been known until now. The leaiid specimens with soft bodies reported in the present paper came from two localities: the Upper Carboniferous Canso Group of New Brunswick, Canada, and the Permian Mount Glossopteris Formation of the Ohio Range, Holick Mountains, Antarctica. They include head, biramous antennae, mandible, shell gland, male claspers, and digestive tube. These parts together fully demonstrate that the leaiid clam shrimp indeed should be attributed to the crustaceans, instead of Mollusca. Based on the ribbed valves and structure of soft parts it should be placed in the branchiopodan Diplostraca. We believe that this group, which went extinct at the end of the Permian, is quite different from those of Laevicaudata, Spinicaudata, and Cyclestheriida. Hence, it should have its own higher taxon, Leaiina. The well-developed and sharply pointed head, delicate and short biramous antennae, in concert with the radial ribs on the valves probably indicate a burrowing in-faunal habit.

Controls on interior West Antarctic Ice Sheet Elevations: inferences from geologic constraints and ice sheet modeling

Knowledge of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) response to past sea level and climate forcing is necessary to predict its response to warmer temperatures in the future. The timing and extent of past interior WAIS elevation changes provides insight to WAIS behavior and constraints for ice sheet models. Constraints prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) however, are rare. Surface exposure ages of glacial erratics near the WAIS divide at Mt. Waesche in Marie Byrd Land, and at the Ohio Range in the Transantarctic Mountains, range from ∼10 ka to >500 ka without a dependence on elevation. The probability distribution functions (PDF) of the exposure ages at both locations, are remarkably similar. During the last glaciation, maximum interior ice elevations as recorded by moraines and erratics were reached between 10 ka and 12 ka. However, most exposure ages are older than the LGM and cluster around ∼40 ka and ∼80 ka. The peak in the exposure age distributions at ∼40 ka includes ages of alpine moraine boulders at Mercer Ridge in the Ohio Range. Comparison of the PDF of exposures ages from the Ohio Range and Mt. Waesche with the temperature record from the Fuji Dome ice core indicates that the youngest peak in the exposure age distributions corresponds to the abrupt warming during the Last Glacial termination. A prominent peak in the Ohio Range PDF corresponds to the penultimate termination (stage 5e). During the intervening glacial period, there is not a consistent relationship between the peaks in the PDF at each location and temperature. A combined ice sheet/ice shelf model with forcing scaled to marine δ18O predicts that interior WAIS elevations near the ice divide have varied ∼300 m over the Last Glacial cycle. Peaks in the PDF correspond to model highstands over the last 200 ka. In the simulated elevation history, maximum ice elevations at Ohio Range (+100 m) and Mt. Waesche (+60 m) occur at ∼10 ka, in agreement with observations from these sites. During collapse of the marine portion of the WAIS, ice elevations at Ohio Range and Mt. Waesche are drawn down at least 200 m below the present ice elevation. The good correspondence between the model results and observations at both the Ohio Range and Mt. Waesche supports the conclusion that interior WAIS highstands do not occur during glacial maximums. Rather, the highstands are controlled primarily by increased accumulation during temperature maximums that occur early in the interglacials. Interior down-draw events follow highstands, resulting from the arrival of a wave of thinning triggered by retreat of the WAIS grounding line coupled with decreasing accumulation rates.

The Taylor Group (Beacon Supergroup): the Devonian sediments of Antarctica

Abstract The Taylor Group, the lower division of the Beacon Supergroup, comprises mainly quartzose sandstones of Devonian age deposited after the development of the Kukri Erosion Surface across the Cambrian Ross orogen. Devonian sediments accumulated in a McMurdo Basin that now incorporates most of the Transantarctic Mountains, and a larger Ellsworth Basin that extends from West Antarctica into southern Africa. In southern Victoria Land (McMurdo Basin) the seven formations total around 1200 m in thickness. Sequence stratigraphy suggests five sedimentary cycles, the lower four of which may show shallow marine influence. Provenance studies indicate derivation solely from Ross Orogen sources. The Taylor Group in the central Transantarctic Mountains consists of two thin formations, only one of which is extensive. In the Ellsworth Basin, Taylor Group equivalents rest concordantly on thick piles of post-Ross Palaeozoic sediment. Shallow-water Devonian sediments in the Ohio Range contain a marine fauna linked with those of the Ellsworth Mountains, southern Africa, South America, New Zealand and Australia. A seaway probably existed along the Pacific edge of the East Antarctic craton, allowing these faunal links, and may also have communicated with the McMurdo Basin to drive the five sedimentary sequences.

Miocene to recent ice elevation variations from the interior of the West Antarctic ice sheet: Constraints from geologic observations, cosmogenic nuclides and ice sheet modeling

Observations of long-term West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) behavior can be used to test and constrain dynamic ice sheet models. Long-term observational constraints are however, rare. Here we present the first constraints on long-term (Miocene–Holocene) WAIS elevation from the interior of the ice sheet near the WAIS divide. We use geologic observations and measurements of cosmogenic 21Ne and 10Be in bedrock surfaces to constrain WAIS elevation variations to <160m above the present-day ice levels since 7Ma, and <110m above present-day ice levels since 5.4Ma. The cosmogenic nuclide data indicate that bedrock surfaces 35m above the present-day ice levels had near continuous exposure over the past 3.5Ma, requiring average interior WAIS elevations to have been similar to, or lower than present, since the beginning of the Pliocene warm period. We use a continental ice sheet model to simulate the history of ice cover at our sampling sites and thereby compute the expected concentration of the cosmogenic nuclides. The ice sheet model indicates that during the past 5Ma interior WAIS elevations of >65m above present-day ice levels at the Ohio Range occur only rarely during brief ice sheet highstands, consistent with the observed cosmogenic nuclide data. Furthermore, the model's prediction that highstand elevations have increased on average since the Pliocene is in good agreement with the cosmogenic nuclide data that indicate the highest ice elevation over the past 5Ma was reached during the highstand at 11ka. Since the simulated cosmogenic nuclide concentrations derived from the model's ice elevation history are in good agreement with our measurements, we suggest that the model's prediction of more frequent collapsed-WAIS states and smaller WAIS volumes during the Pliocene are also correct.

West Antarctic Ice Sheet elevations in the Ohio Range: Geologic constraints and ice sheet modeling prior to the last highstand

Knowledge of the timing and extent of past West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) elevation changes provides insight to the WAIS response to sea level and climate forcing, as well as constraints for ice sheet models. Trimlines and erratics indicate that maximum ice elevation at the Ohio Range, located near the WAIS divide, was 125 m above the present ice surface and was reached at ~ 10 ka. However, 3He and 10Be exposure ages of most granitic erratics and supra-glacial boulders in adjacent blue ice areas are older than the last highstand and provide constraints on earlier interior WAIS elevation changes. Although diffusive loss of 3He occurs in quartz, an excellent correlation between 3He and 10Be concentrations in samples up to 400 ka is observed in the Ohio Range, demonstrating the utility of 3He measurements in Antarctic quartz. The correlation is used to calculate “equivalent 10Be exposure ages” from the larger 3He data set. The exposure ages occur in distinct clusters 10–20 ka, 70–80 ka, 130–140 ka and 180–190 ka that we relate to pulses in the emergence of englacial debris in localized blue ice ablation areas. A combined ice sheet/ice shelf model predicts that WAIS elevations near the Ohio Range have varied only ~ 125 m over the last 200 kyr with highstands at ~ 10 ka and ~ 130 ka, in good agreement with observations of trimlines and peaks in the exposure age distribution at the Ohio Range. In the model, interior WAIS elevations are controlled by the interaction of accumulation rates and ice dynamics related to ice sheet/ocean interactions at the grounding line. WAIS highstands occur early in interglacial periods during intervals of warmer temperatures and high accumulation rates, prior to the arrival of a wave of thinning. We hypothesize that the correspondence of rising regional WAIS elevation with debris pulses relates to increased ice (debris) flux and ablation in the local blue ice areas resulting from the warmer temperatures. The occurrence of clasts with exposure ages up to 200 ka on the WAIS surface indicates elevation changes near the Ohio Range were limited in extent during stage 5e. The geologic observations, combined with model results, place constraints on WAIS geometry during stage 5e and limit the WAIS contribution to the higher sea levels observed during the last interglacial to ~ 3 m.

Ice elevation near the West Antarctic Ice Sheet divide during the Last Glaciation

Interior ice elevations of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) during the last glaciation, which can serve as benchmarks for ice‐sheet models, are largely unconstrained. Here we report past ice elevation data from the Ohio Range, located near the WAIS divide and the onset region of the Mercer Ice Stream. Cosmogenic exposure ages of glacial erratics that record a WAIS highstand ∼125 m above the present surface date to ∼11.5 ka. The deglacial chronology prohibits an interior WAIS contribution to meltwater pulse 1A. Our observational data of ice elevation changes compare well with predictions of a thermomechanical ice‐sheet model that incorporates very low basal shear stress downstream of the present day grounding line. We conclude that ice streams in the Ross Sea Embayment had thin, low‐slope profiles during the last glaciation and interior WAIS ice elevations during this period were several hundred meters lower than previous reconstructions.

The sedimentary geology, palaeoenvironments and ichnocoenoses of the Lower Devonian Horlick Formation, Ohio Range, Antarctica

Six ichnocoenoses in the clastic Devonian Horlick Formation (max. 56 m) confirm the nearshore marine character of eight of the nine lithofacies present. Abasal sand sheet overlies a weathered granitic land surface (Kukri Erosion Surface) on Cambro–Ordovician granitoids. The level nature of this surface and the way it cuts across weathering profiles, suggests that the surface had been modified by marine processes prior to deposition. The basal sand sheet (Cross-bedded Sand sheet Lithofacies) contains tidal bundles, and at its top, abundant Monocraterion (Monocraterion Ichnocoenosis). The second sand sheet (Pleurothyrella Lithofacies) is heavily burrowed and shows alternating periods of sedimentation, burrowing, and erosion below wave base as the sea deepened (Catenarichnus Ichnocoenosis). With increasing transgression, finer sediments were deposited (Laminated Mudstone and Feldspathic lithofacies) in an unstable pattern of coarse sandbars and finer troughs (Cruziana-Rusophycus and Arenicolites ichnocoenoses) crossed by active longshore marine channels (Poorly-sorted Lithofacies, Spirophyton Ichnoocoenosis). Short-lived but powerful storms produced thin shelly tempestites (Shell-bed Lithofacies), whereas sporadic, very thin phosphate rich beds (Phosphatic Lithofacies) may have resulted from marine transgressions across the basin. The deepest water is probably represented by sediments of the Spirifer Lithofacies (Rosselia Ichnocoenosis). The Schulthess Lithofacies is regarded as fluvial, deposited in the lower reaches of a river draining a land area that lay towards Marie Byrd Land. Channels in the basal sand sheet indicate movement to the southwest, but orientation became more variable higher in the sequence. Four new measured sections are figured. The relationship of the Ohio Range to the rest of Antarctica during the Devonian is suggested.

The Kukri Erosion Surface; a reassessment of its relationship to rocks of the Beacon Supergroup in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

Much of Antarctica's Devonian to Jurassic geological history is interpreted from the study of the Beacon Supergroup in the central Transantarctic Mountains. The upper part of the succession has been extensively investigated, although, few studies focus on the basal rocks. Deposition occurred within a Transantarctic basin believed to have extended along the edge of the East Antarctic Craton in early Beacon time, either as a marginal, passive margin, or a cratonic basin. Early basinal deposits include the Devonian Taylor Group and Upper Carboniferous–Lower Permian glacial sediments. Previous studies concluded that the Taylor Group in CTM was deposited as a continuous sheet across the low-relief Kukri Erosion Surface that developed on the planed Ross orogenic belt. These interpretations also concluded that late Palaeozoic glaciation truncated the Devonian sheet. New data suggest that this view, and current models for the early Beacon basin, maybe incorrect. Lithofacies, palaeocurrent orientations, sandstone composition, and stratigraphical relationships of central Transantarctic Mountains rocks suggest that deposition occurred within two intermontane or successor basins following post-orogenic uplift of the Ross terrain. Segregation of lithofacies and onlap of Taylor Group rocks onto an undulating Kukri Erosion Surface show that a basement high separated non-marine deposits between the Byrd and Ramsey glaciers from marine sediment in the Ohio Range. Onlap of glacial rocks and palaeocurrent data suggest intermontane conditions continued until the Early Permian.

Late Permian palynomorphs from the Buckley formation, central transantarctic mountains, Antarctica

Thirty species of dispersed plant microfossils were recovered from Glossopteris-bearing shales and coals of the Buckley Formation (Permian) on Mount Achernar in the central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica. Palynoassemblages of variable diversity, thermal maturity and preservation were also recovered from other Buckley outcrops at Mount Picciotto, Mount Sirius and Coalsack Bluff. Although Jurassic volcanic activity in the region thermally altered all palynomorphs, they could usually be sufficiently cleared with Schulze's Solution for photomicrography and identification. Recovered taxa, some of which suggest a Late Permian age (equivalent to Australian Stage 5) for the section, include: Didecitriletes ericianus, Lophotriletes novicus, Marsupipollenites triradiatus, Praecolpatites sinuosus, Retusotriletes nigritellus, Protohaploxypinus amplus, P. limpidus, P. microcorpus, P. samoilovichii, Striatopodocarpites fusus, S. cancellatus and S. gondwanensis. These taxa provide the first palynological evidence supporting correlation of this part of the Buckley Formation with previously published Late Permian assemblages from the Nilsen Plateau, Ohio Range and Prince Charles Mountains in Antarctica.

Palaeoecology and systematics of Early Devonian bivalves from the Horlick Formation, Ohio Range, Antarctica

A fauna of bivalves, many of them large and thick-shelled, occurs in the 50-metre-thick, clastic, Early Devonian Horlick Formation of the Ohio Range, Antarctica. Together with the ecology of other fossils, the bivalves indicate a high-energy, near-shore environment, with deposition strongly influenced by storm activity. The distribution of bivalves and other fossils is related to nine lithofacies. Most of the fauna comprises death assemblages. Thick external bryozoan growths on parts of certain bivalves and brachiopods suggest partial burial of shells during life. Other evidence indicates that some shells were exhumed and reburied. In terms of bottom communities, most of the fauna falls within Benthic Assemblages 1 and 2, and was close to shore, but the Australospirifer and crinoid-dominated fauna of lithofacies 8 at the top of the sequence indicates Benthic Assemblage 4 or 5, and lay further offshore. The fauna shows strong Malvinokaffric affinities and lesser connections with the Devonian of Reefton, Ne...

Lithofacies and origin of the buckeye formation: Late paleozoic glacial and glaciomarine sediments, Ohio range, transantarctic mountains, Antarctica

Up to 300 m of glaciogenic late Paleozoic Buckeye Formation rest unconformably upon an erosional surface cut on, and in places through, early Devonian Horlick Formation in the Ohio Range, Antarctica. The diamictite exhibits a gradual transition upsection from direct glacial to subsequent glaciomarine deposition. Lowermost beds include diamictite deposited directly from grounded ice. Numerous striated pavements indicate paleo-ice-flow from west to east. Upsection many beds are internally stratified and this, with the presence of fine laminated interbeds, provides evidence of subaqueous deposition. Geochemical, textural and paleontological data suggest a marine influence. Towards the top of the Buckeye most diamictite horizons are horizontally stratified with a decreasing proportion of small dropstones. Buckeye Formation is conformably overlain by Discovery Ridge Formation beds of probable shallow marine origin.

A paleomagnetic investigation of rocks from the Ohio Range and the Dry Valleys, Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

Abstract Two well-defined virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) for East Antarctica were obtained from the Middle Jurassic Ferrar Dolerite, sampled from a thick sill on Mt Schopf in the Ohio Range, and from a horizontal sheet intruding Paleozoic granitic rocks at Mt Cerberus in the Dry Valleys. The VGP from the sill at Mt Schopf lies at lat. 58°.0S, long. 129°.0W (dm=13°, dp=12°), and the VGP from Mt Cerberus lies at lat. 57°.8S, long. 135°.7W (dm=6°, dp=6°). Rocks from both localities have normal polarity magnetisations. These data, together with 15 other acceptable pole positions reported in the literature, define a Middle Jurassic paleomagnetic pole at 52°.7S, 139°.6W (α95=4°.4), which is not significantly different from previously reported mean Middle Jurassic paleomagnetic poles from East Antarctica. Paleomagnetic investigations in the Ohio Range of mafic inclusions in Ordovician granitic and sedimentary rocks of Devonian and Permian ages found that the rocks are magnetically unstable and are unreliable f...

Early Devonian fish material from the Horlick Formation, Ohio Range, Antarctica

Some of the oldest (Early Devonian) fossil fish remains from Antarctica found so far are described and include spines of the acanthodian Machaeracanthus sp. and plates of an actinolepid arthrodire. A summary of the finds of Devonian fish from Antarctica recovered so far is provided. Most of them are of Middle or Late Devonian age from Victoria Land. The material reported on here is thus significant in being Early Devonian in age.

The ohio state university compact radar cross-section measurement range

The ElectroScience Laboratory at The Ohio State University has recently installed a new radar cross-section measurement system. The system uses a Scientific Atlanta compact range reflector (an offset parabolic reflector) to generate a far-field plane wave in the confines of a 40 \times 20 \times 60 ft anechoic chamber. The system uses a computer controlled microwave frequency synthesizer and a multichannel computer controlled receiver. The target support/positioning system and an optical target alignment system are also interfaced to the computer. The parameters of the system are 1) operation from 1 to 30 GHz (eventual operation to 96 GHz has been confirmed by field probing); 2) a plane wave volume (test area volume) of 1.3 m diameter; and 3) a sensitivity of -50 dBsm. Of particular importance is the ability of the system to measure phase as well as amplitude. This permits vector subtraction of the background and system calibration using a reference (sphere) target. The development of this system and the performance characteristics obtained so far will be discussed. Some results which demonstrate the system performance will be shown. Of particular interest is the broad-band measurement of both amplitude and phase. This permits conversion of the results to the time domain. Examples will be shown in which the various system components (antennas, reflector, walls, ceiling, etc.) are separated in the time domain by this technique. The development of the range is continuing and planned future improvements will also be discussed.

Permian nonmarine bivalves from the Ohio Range, Antarctica

Compressed bivalve fossils collected from the Permian Mount Glossopteris Formation on Mount Glossopteris in the Ohio Range, Horlick Mountains, are identified and described as Palaeanodonta fischeri (Amalitsky). The bivalves are accompanied by fragmented plant material, mainly Glossopteris, and occur roughly at the same stratigraphic horizon as conchostracans on Mount Schopf 10 km to the south.

Mercury in soil from the area of Dayton, Ohio

Mercury concentrations in “A-zone” soil from seventeen urban, suburban, and rural town locations in the area of Dayton, Ohio range from 0.24 to 1.50 ppm. A positive correlation is indicated between the mercury concentrations and the amount of fallout of settleable particulate matter from the air at these sites. Airborne pollution may be an important source of the element in Dayton area soils.

Acetate Peel and Other Biotic Data from Selected Antarctic Permian Beds

Introduction Published data on fossil biotic elements from the Antarctic Paleotoic, particularly the Permian, are most sparse. Additions of any kind, for example, reports on spoor, fragmentary fossils artifacts among others, can help to expand available knowledge. The present study a spin-of3 of a larger research project, supplements previous reports on the same theme (Tasch, 1968a. 19685). Collections during austral summer 1966-67 included samples from fossiliferous and ncyn-fossiliferous l)eds. Of these, samples studied by the acetate peel technique incIuded in this report came from the following localities and beds: Ohio Range beds 0-17, 0^19 (for details see Tasch and Gaffordn 1968; Tasch, 1970); Sentinel Mts.-bed S-14 Whiteout Nunatak near the contact of the Polarstar Formation and the Whiteout Conglomerate. Standard acetate peel techniques were used (Stewart and Taylor, 1965) . In addition to acetate peel stlldies, an object attached to a leaiid conchostracan valve from the Ohio Range Levia Zone (Bed 0-21.8), not previously reported in the literature is figured and described.

Weathering of an Antarctic argillite; field, geochemical and mineraloical observations

ABSTRACT Color stratification in carbonaceous argillites was quantitatively studied to obtain data on weathering under cold desert conditions (Antarctica, Ohio Range). The weathered outer light zone had markedly less organic carbon due to oxidation than the unweathered darker, inner zone. Trace element content did not significantly differ between the two zones. Illite (stripped form) characterized the inner zone and mixed layer clay the outer zone.

Critique of Hypothesis of Continental Drift--Discussion: Evidence for Continental Drift: DISCUSSION

Critique of Hypothesis of Continental Drift--Discussion: Evidence for Continental Drift: DISCUSSION