Further explorations into Ohio's fractured environment: introduction to the Ohio Journal of Science's second special issue on fractures in Ohio's glacial tills

Ohio Journal of Science, The, April, 2006 by Julie Weatherington-Rice, Ann D. Christy, Michael P. Angle

ABSTRACT. This paper summarizes the history of the Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group (OFFWG), describes their activities since the publication of the first special issue of The Ohio Journal of Science in 2000, and references selected recent publications by Ohio researchers, other researchers in the United States, and research efforts internationally. It also serves as an introduction to and overview of this second special issue of The Ohio Journal of Science.

DEDICATION. This special issue is dedicated to Jane L. Forsyth and Truman W. Bennett for their foundational contributions to glacial geology and hydrogeology, respectively, and their roles in understanding fractures in unconsolidated (glacial) materials.

INTRODUCTION

This second special issue on fractures of The Ohio Journal of Science comes to publication 13 years after the initial organization of the Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group (OFFWG) who gathered for the first time in March 1993 at The Ohio State University (OSU) to ask each other the fundamental questions "Do you see cracks in the tills?" and "What do they mean?" Functioning as an "ad hoc" research group under the umbrella of the Ohio Academy of Science, this working group was founded on the same basic principles as cooperative extension programs: simultaneous research, education, and outreach. The group has worked to solve and define the "who, what, when, where, why, and how?" of fracture formation and preservation in unconsolidated glacial materials. The solutions to those questions were presented in The Ohio Journal of Science's first special issue on fractures in Ohio's glacial tills (Weatherington-Rice and Christy 2000). This second special issue provides more research and documentation for the answers to these basic underlying questions and also takes these questions further to explore the "how fast do fractures ,form, how long do fractures persist, and how we can plan land use in fractured terrain?"

OFFWG Activities since the Last Special Issue in 2000

A rereading of the introduction to the first special issue on fractured tills (Weatherington-Rice and others 2000) notes planned OFFWG outreach efforts for 2000. In conjunction with the Water Management Association of Ohio, the OFFWG helped to organize a two-day conference and field trip on fractured glacial tills in May 2000 in Columbus, OH. Speakers from around the United States and Canada joined Ohio scientists and engineers in presentations and posters, and discussions at stops on the field trip. The abstracts and field guide for that conference are posted on the OFFWG web site at http:// www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/fractures.> In March 2001, Peter Gravesen and Knud Erik Klint of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (http://www.geus.dk) came to Columbus for a one-day symposium and field trip of shared research with OFFWG members and colleagues. While the OFFWG continues to have contacts with researchers throughout the United States and Canada (the news group membership extends from Minnesota and Iowa to Washington, DC), the relationship with Denmark is particularly strong. The similarities between the bedrock and glacial geology of Denmark and that of western Ohio reinforce the shared experiences and challenges. Members of the OFFWG also participated in fracture and ground water conferences in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1998 and 2000.

During the summer and fall of 2001, the OFFWG coordinated the updating of the "OFFWG Fracture Bibliography" and the development of a bibliography addressing the issues of animal manure management as they affect surface and ground water sources. These bibliographies are posted on the OFFWG web site. In addition, Kathryn Clayton, the OFFWG intern for that summer, began compiling data that underlies the DRASTIC theory paper in this issue (Weatherington-Rice and others 2006a).

In October 2001, the OFFWG held a one-day symposium and field day in Defiance, OH, exploring fracture formation in the northwest Ohio Lake Plains. The paper by Weatherington-Rice and others (2006b) highlights one of the afternoon field stops along the Auglaize River. A similar one-day symposium and field day was held at OSU's Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI), Wooster, OH, in September 2003 to study fractures in the low-lime glacial tills of northeast Ohio. That experience explored the functions of fractures in fragipan soils, including both a dyed pit study at ATI's Apple Creek farm and a fresh till cut at the Rupp Gravel Pit.

In 2004, the OFFWG held a one-day indoor workshop at OSU in September. This workshop explored the field of natural resources applications in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) format. Since much of the basic underlying documentation needed to predict and map fractures is now available in a GIS format, this emerging technology has become a critical tool for mapping soils and DRASTIC Ground Water Pollution Potential (Weatherington-Rice and others 2006a). It also became a critical local land-use and zoning tool for local governments planning surface and ground water protection efforts (Weatherington-Rice and others 2006c).