Acknowledgements & Credits

We are grateful to the following reviewers, each of whom edited one or more chapters of the The Teacher-Friendly Guide™ to the Earth Science of the Midwestern US: Don Duggan-Haas, Rod Feldmann, Bryan Isacks, William Kean, Russell Martin, Judith Parrish, and Debra Zolynsky.

Richard Kissel managed early content development of the Guide, and was aided in content research by Sara Auer Perry. The glossary was developed by Paula Mikkelsen and Andrielle Swaby.

Funding for this Guide came from National Science Foundation DR K-12 grant DRL-0733303 to the Paleontological Research Institution. Funding to start The Teacher-Friendly Guide™ series was provided by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Jane (Ansley) Picconi did page layout for the first Guide in the series, The Teacher-Friendly Guide™ to the Geology of the Northeastern US (Paleontological Research Institution special publication 24, 2000), many features of which have been adopted for this Guide.

Figure Credits

Chapter 1: Geologic History

  • 1.1: Jane Picconi
  • 1.2: Jim Houghton
  • 1.3: Adapted from figure in: Iowa’s Geological Past: Three Billion Years of Change, by Wayne I. Anderson
  • 1.4: Adapted from figure in: Tectonic model for the Proterozoic growth of North America, by Steven J. Whitmeyer and Karl Karlstrom, Geosphere, August 2007, 3(4): 220–259
  • 1.5: Adapted from figure in: Direct measurement of timing: Underpinning a reliable petroleum system model for the Mid-Continent rift system, by Kerry Hegarty et al., AAPG Bulletin, July 2007, 91(7) 959–979
  • 1.6: Jane Picconi
  • 1.7: Jim Houghton
  • 1.8: Jim Houghton
  • 1.9: Jane Picconi
  • 1.10: Jane Picconi
  • 1.11: Adapted from USGS
  • 1.12: Adapted from figure by William A. Cobban and Kevin C. McKinney, USGS
  • 1.13: Jim Houghton
  • 1.14: Jim Houghton
  • 1.15: Jim Houghton
  • 1.16: Adapted from US Army Corps of Engineers
  • Crust box: Jim Houghton

Chapter 2: Rocks

  • 2.1: Jane Picconi
  • 2.2: Jim Houghton
  • 2.3: Jim Houghton
  • 2.4: Adapted from USGS
  • 2.5: Adapted from figure in: Direct measurement of timing: Underpinning a reliable petroleum system model for the Mid-Continent rift system, by Kerry Hegarty et al., AAPG Bulletin, July 2007, 91(7) 959–979
  • 2.6: Don Duggan-Haas
  • 2.7: Adapted from Niagara Escarpment map, Wikimedia Commons
  • 2.8: Adapted from figure by Illinois State Geological Survey
  • 2.9: Adapted from The Earth Through Time (8th edition), by Harold L. Levin
  • Surface Rocks box: Jim Houghton
  • Metamorphism box: Jim Houghton
  • Stromatolite box: James St. John [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
  • Sedimentary Structures box: Jim Houghton
  • Sedimentary Environments box: Jim Houghton

Chapter 3: Fossils

  • 3.1: Alex Wall
  • 3.2 - 3.5: © Christie Sobel
  • 3.6: A) From E.L. Palmer, 1965, Fossils. D.C. Heath, Boston;; B) © Christie Sobel
  • 3.7: © Christie Sobel
  • 3.8: A) © Christie Sobel;; B) from E.L. Palmer, 1965, Fossils. D.C. Heath, Boston
  • 3.9: A) and B) Sloan (2005);; C) and D) from E.L. Palmer, 1965, Fossils, D.C. Heath, Boston
  • 3.10: A) from Palmer, E.L., 1965, Fossils. D.C. Heath, Boston;; B) from W. Twenhofel and R. Shrock, 1935, Invertebrate Paleontology, McGraw-Hill, New York
  • 3.11–3.15: © Christie Sobel
  • 3.16: From E.L. Palmer, 1965, Fossils. D.C. Heath, Boston
  • 3.17–3.30: © Christie Sobel
  • Krukowski Quarry box: © Christie Sobel
  • Tully Monster box: © Christie Sobel
  • Mammoth/Mastodon box: © Christie Sobel

Chapter 4: Topography

  • 4.1: Adapted from USGS
  • 4.2: Transect from Google Earth
  • 4.3: Altered from map by David C. Wilson
  • 4.4: Transect from Google Earth
  • Elevation map: Andrielle Swaby
  • Karst box: Adapted from figures by American Geological Institute

Chapter 5: Mineral Resources

  • 5.1: Jane Picconi
  • 5.2: Adapted from 2009 USGS State Mineral Info
  • 5.3: Adapted from 2009 USGS State Mineral Info
  • 5.4: Adapted from figure by Swinsto101 [CC-BY-SA-3.0] via Wikimedia Commons
  • 5.5: Adapted from figure by the Salt Association
  • 5.6: Adapted from 2009 USGS State Mineral Info
  • Hydrothermal box: Jim Houghton

Chapter 6: Glaciers

  • 6.1: Adapted from figure by USGS
  • 6.2: Jim Houghton
  • 6.3: Wade Greenberg-Brand
  • 6.4: Jim Houghton
  • 6.5: Wade Greenberg-Brand
  • 6.6: Jim Houghton
  • 6.7: Wade Greenberg-Brand
  • 6.8: Adapted from data by NOAA
  • 6.9: Adapted from figures by C.L. Matsch and USGS
  • 6.10: Adapted from figure by Michigan Geological Survey
  • 6.11: Jim Houghton
  • 6.12: Adapted from US Army Corps of Engineers
  • 6.13: Adapted from figure by USGS
  • 6.14: Photo by Jeff Dlouhy [CC-BY-2.0] via Flickr
  • Snail box: Adapted from photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service

Chapter 7: Energy

  • 7.1: Jim Houghton
  • 7.2: Adapted from figure by US Energy Information Administration
  • 7.3: Adapted from figure by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
  • 7.4: Adapted from figure by USGS
  • 7.5: Peter Nester
  • Coal box: Jim Houghton
  • Oil/Gas box: Jim Houghton

Chapter 8: Soils

  • 8.1: Adapted from figure by USDA NRCS
  • 8.2: Adapted from figure by USDA NRCS
  • 8.3: Wade Greenberg-Brand
  • 8.4: Adapted from USDA National Soil Survey Center, 1995
  • 8.5: Adapted from figure by USDA NRCS
  • 8.6: Adapted from figure in Bradly and Weil, The Nature and Properties of Soils (11th ed.), 1996, Prentice Hall
  • 8.7: Adapted from figure by University of Iowa/Iowa Geological Survey
  • 8.8: Adapted from figure in Bradly and Weil, The Nature and Properties of Soils (11th ed.), 1996, Prentice Hall
  • 8.9: Jim Houghton
  • 8.10: Photo by Ilona L [CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0] via Flickr

Chapter 9: Climate

  • 9.1: Jim Houghton
  • 9.2: Adapted from Wikipedia
  • 9.3: Photo by Ryan Somma [CC-BY-SA-2.0] via Flickr
  • 9.4: Nyttend
  • 9.5: Adapted from figure by William A. Cobban and Kevin C. McKinney, USGS
  • 9.6: Pearson Scott Foresman
  • 9.7: Jim Houghton
  • Koppen box: Adapted from figures by NOAA and Grieser et al., 2006, World Map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated, Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 15: 259–263
  • Tornado box: Adapted from figure by FEMA

Chapter 10: Earth Hazards

  • 10.1: NOAA
  • 10.2: US. Global Change Research Program
  • 10.3: US. Global Change Research Program
  • 10.4: Union of Concerned Scientists
  • 10.5: USGS
  • 10.6: Adapted from figure by Tobin and Weary, 2004, USGS
  • 10.7: EPA
  • 10.8: US Army Corps of Engineers