 |
 |
       |
 |
Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
What minerals or rocks are found in the Great Lakes region?
from Melissa in Ontario, Age 10 and
Ryan in Darien, Connecticut, Age 10
The primary rock exposed along the shore of Lake Ontario on both the US and Canadian shores in that area is an Ordovician age limestone about 400 million years old. Locally, it may contain some fairly large orthocone cephalopod fossils (including some that measure 6 feet in length!). This limestone is quarried both near Kingston, Ontario and in the Watertown, New York areas for crushed stone to be used in construction. Rarely, it may contain small veins that hold calcite crystals.
Further to the northeast in the Thousand Islands region lies an extension of the Canadian Shield known as the Frontenac Axis. This rock is mostly granitic gneiss and is about 1 billion years old (that's 1,000,000,000 years!).
There are many interesting, but small, pockets of other minerals in both these areas as well as in associated rocks that are inland from the St. Lawrence River on both sides of the border. Many on the Canadian side were worked for mica and apatite in the past, but are of no economic importance today. The only major economically valuable deposits still being worked in the area today are in the Balmat, New York district, where talc, wollastonite, and zinc are currently being mined.
The principal minerals found throughout the Great Lakes region include:
|
|
Related references:
Great Lakes Atlas, 3rd ed.: Map of Geology and Mineral Resources
Michigan Technological University (MTU): A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum Photo Gallery
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR): Office of Mines and Materials
Thank you for your question!
Answered on June 19, 2001 and updated on July 5, 2001