Part 1: Geology and Landforms

Two geological formations dominate the landscape of Racine: Silurian, undivided, and Maquoketa. Silurian covers 97% of the area while Maquoketa takes up the remaining 3%. As the name suggests, Silurian stems from the Silurian geologic period (Vale, 1997). Its major lithologic features include sedimentary, carbonate, and dolostone in that order, while dolomite undivided comprisesCayugan, Niagaran, as well as Alexandrian formations. The Maquoketa formation was created during the Ordovician geologic age. Its lithologic elements are predominantly sedimentary, followed by clastic, mudstone and shale, and sedimentary, carbonate, and dolostone respectively (Vale, 1997). Secondary formations are shale, dolomitic shale, as well as dolomite; these overlie the Neda Formation, which encompasses shale and iron oxides of oolitic origin.

Part 2: Vegetation recorded in Public Land Survey Notes

In pre-settlement times, Racine’s vegetation comprised wet prairie, oak openings, wetland vegetation,mesophytic maple forest, and prairie openings. Today, most of the nonurban vegetation, which revolves around the city’s two parks – Colonialand Saunders–, consists of prairie, mesic hardwood forest, and grassland. The plant species in both parks are highly diverse and includemostly perennials (Attig& Dott,2004). On the other hand, the urban vegetation encompasses a larger proportion of foreign plant species, including weeds and brush, and clone-inducing perennials compared to the parks. The urban vegetation falls into three ecological classifications: high-stress, low-stress, and transitional.  The high-stress habitats harbor more annual vegetation and perennialsthan the low-stress areas (Attig& Dott,2004). Urban habitats, particularly older ones, have more plant species of foreign extract than all other locations. The distribution of some plant species is haphazard.

Part 3: Soils

Racine has 9 soil associations: Varna-Elliot Ashkum, Hebron-Montgomery-Aztalan, Morley-Beecher-Ashkum, Fox-Casco, Houghton-Palms, Casco-Rodman, Miami, Boyer-Granby, and Warsaw-Plano. Varna-Elliot Ashkum consists of soils that lie between the well-drained and poorly-drained range(Attig& Dott,2004). The subsoil of these soils spans silty clay loam and clay subsoil that are created in light loess and the foundational clay loam. Knobs and ridges also feature glacial tills of a silty clay loam consistency. The same rationale applies to the Morley-Beecher-Ashkum association. Hebron-Montgomery-Aztalan soils are well or poorly drained with a subsoil that is either silty clay or loam(Attig& Dott,2004). The underlying strata are clayey, loamy, or outwash patterns on lake plains, knobs, and hills (Vale, 1997). Fox-Casco soils are mostly well-drained; they also comprise silty clay or clay loam subsoil. The depth is between shallow and averagely deep, underlined by gravel and sand on stream plains.According to Vale (1997), Houghton-Palms (extremely poorly drained), Casco-Rodman (extremely drained to well-drained), Miami (well-drained), Boyer-Granby (well-drained to extremely poorly drained), and Warsaw-Plano (well-drained with a subsoil that ranges from silty clay loam to loam; the depth is average to deep and is overlain by gravel and sand on stream plains) are the other soil categories.

Part 4: Synthesis

A large percentage of the soils in Racine were formed from sediments deposited glaciers during the Wisconsin age (Attig& Dott,2004). The sediment inundated all of Racine. Vale (1997) states that projecting inland from today’s Lake Michigan can be found a low, almost flat plain which was overlain by Lake Chicago in the glacial age. Part of Racine features a glacial drift with a high composition of clay, while the western area is dominated by a glacial drift comprising gravel and sand (Attig& Dott,2004).The results of the vegetation study offer insight into future detailed investigations of the adaptability of plant species in the area concerning regular and serious disturbance. It also provides useful data on the impacts of urbanization on biological, hydrological, and ecological – including wildlife – features.

References

Attig, J.W., & Dott, R.H. (2004).Geology of Wisconsin.Sevierville, TN: Mountain Press.

Vale, T.R. (1997).From end moraines and alfisols to white pines and frigid winters. In

Wisconsin Land and Life, Robert C. Ostergren and Thomas R. Vale, editors. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

 
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