Geology of Michigan |  | Authors: John A. Dorr, Donald F. Eschman
Creator: Derwin Bell
Publisher: University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Category: Book
List Price: $50.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 785984
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 488
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.4
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.6 x 1.4
ISBN: 0472082809
Dewey Decimal Number: 557.74
EAN: 9780472082803
ASIN: 0472082809
Publication Date: June 1, 1970
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studies the land and waters of Michigan
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| Customer Reviews:
 The only collegiate-level textbook on Michigan geology April 30, 2008
This book, of which I own the 1988 edition, was initially published in 1970. At the time of publication, it was a state of the art book on Michigan's varied geological history and make up. However, the authors were apparently not convinced of the validity of the plate tectonic theory or its validity in describing Michigan's formative history. As a conequence, much, if not almost all, of the authors' discussion of Michigan's Pre-Cambrian geology is now highly suspect, if not outright disproven. So why bother going on? Here's why.
Geology of Michigan contains an excellent discussion of Michigan's geological resources. It also is probably one of the best books on the history of the Great Lakes in glacial and post-glacial time. The book is jam-packed with facts, diagrams, and excellent black and white photographs of the glacial landforms and erratics that cover most of Michigan. Also wonderfully treated are such things as the Michigan Basin, the anhydrite, halite, and limestone deposits of the Lower Peninsula, the portions of the Upper Peninsula that are part of the Canadian Shield, Michigan's Great Lakes sand dunes, the origin of Michigan's chaotic river drainage systems, and numerous other topics.
Even though seriously dated in some aspects, Geology of MIchigan has not yet had a worthy successor come along. Accordingly for those interested in a throrough, scholarly discussion of Michigan's geological/economic resources, and the post-Cambrian history of Michigan, the book is highly recommended.
 A long trip up from the basement of time June 3, 2004
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Compared to some states like Colorado or California, Michigan might seem a bit geologically dull. Our state was part of a great inland sea during much of the Paleozoic Era, got scraped and graded by Pleistocene glaciers, then covered with detritus that the glaciers left behind. However, some of Earth's oldest eukaryotic life --organisms having cells in which the genetic material is contained within a distinct nucleus--has been discovered in the Precambrian rocks of Michigan's western Upper Peninsula. The Rockies and even the Appalachians are mere youngsters compared to the Mesabi Range.When John McPhee skipped over Michigan in his four-volume rhapsody on American geology, he was skipping over some of the 'deepest time' on Earth. Luckily, we have Dorr and Eschman's "Geology of Michigan" to make up some of the gaps, although these authors unlike McPhee, were not writing for a general audience. This book could be used for a college-level geology course, and the reader is assumed to be familiar with terms such as 'syncline,' 'anhydrite,' 'eperic,' and 'terminal moraine.' Rather than juxtaposing travels in the modern world with journeys through ancient terrains, Dorr and Eschman take an elevator from the basement of time in the Precambrian up through Michigan's modern topological features that have been formed by wind and water. Some of my favorite chapters involve the ancient highlands and iron formations of the Upper Peninsula, but the authors also do justice to the reefs and seas of the Paleozoic Era, and the glaciology of more modern epochs. They also devote a chapter to the 'Lost Interval'--an era extending from the end of the Pennsylvanian Period until the last stage of the Pleistocene, where the geologic record of Michigan is almost completely blank. Don't expect to find many dinosaur bones in this state--marine fossils are our specialty, since Michigan was usually covered with water in one form or another. Ancient sharks and coral reef fauna are discussed in detail. Then this book skips up the paleontological time line to the mastodons and other animals that appeared during the retreat of the Late Pleistocene ice sheet. But we are also home to "asphaltic deposits of Precambrian algae in the Upper Peninsula"--one of the most ancient records of life on earth. Separate chapters are devoted to Michigan's rocks and minerals, and petroleum and natural gas formations. The International Salt Mine under Detroit is also featured. My edition of "Geology of Michigan" was issued in 1988 (it was originally published in 1970), so it does not discuss one of the most fascinating theories of the origin of interbedded iron and silica deposits that date from the Cryptozoic time of the Pre-Cambrian, some 1.7 to 3 billion years ago. No banded iron formations are known in younger rock masses. One theory proposes at this early time, the atmosphere of earth was deficient in oxygen, and the iron and silica weathered from existing rock was transported to ocean basins with no oxidation. Here, they were precipitated by BIOLOGICAL processes to form the silica-rich iron deposits.
Just a few years ago, coiled spiral fossils that were uncovered in a banded iron formation in a Michigan mine prompted a new look at how complex living cells evolved, and whether oxygen was absolutely necessary for the process. These coin-sized coils are the by far the oldest known fossils of macroscopic organisms, and the earliest evidence of eukaryotes.
Michigan is not only home to some of the oldest rock formations on Earth, but also some of its earliest fossils.
Boring, eh?
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