Field Trip - Montrose Beach, Chicago IL

Field Trips by Ellin Beltz

Field Trip -- Montrose Beach Northeastern Illinois University - Earth Science Oceans and Atmospheres class with Dr. Charles Shabica - September 1999.
	The assignment was "Find the top of the water table!" Sara and Kevin were the first to arrive and dug closest to the lake (left). Mike was last, so he got the patch farthest from the water line and had to dig deepest to hit water (right).
Montrose Beach is on the Lake Michigan shoreline in the City of Chicago. All of the Chicago shoreline has been extensively modified since the City's incorporation in 1833.	Yvette demonstrates using a set of screens to sort sand by grain size.	The longshore current carries sand southward along the shoreline, depositing above any obstacle and eroding below each one. The beaches in Chicago are cleaned and artificially nourished with new sand.
Reference material to prepare for the field trip.
Read First Families of Chicago: Local life until about 400 million years ago an illustrated view of local fossils with suggestions of where to see them. Read about topography and geology in Chicago - long before high rises and Lake Shore Drive - in in William Alden's 1902 Chicago Folio. Visit my Chicago Links for up-to-the minute links to tourism, maps and other reference materials. Geological Illustrations Standard rock symbols ^. Complete Geologic Column ^. Ordovician fossils ^. Silurian fossils ^. Devonian fossils ^. Mississippian fossils ^. Pennsylvanian fossils ^. Illinois top of rocks map ^. LaSalle and Kanakakee geological column ^. LaSalle area cross-section ^. Northern Illinois top of rocks map

Take another field trip... In Illinois: Montrose Beach^. Chicago River^. Kankakee River^. Dinosaur Lab Tour^. La Salle^. Lake Michigan Beaches^. Chicago's Michigan Avenue^. Southern Illinois^. Thornton Quarry Beyond Chicago ^. Hawai'i ^. Humboldt County^. Wyoming
Travel back in time... William Alden's 1902 Chicago Folio	Learn Paleozoic fossils... Read my First Families of Chicago
Visit my Nifty Links... Amphibians^. Archaeology^. Astronomy^. Australia^. Botany^. California ^. Chemistry^. Chicago^. Dinosaurs^. Earthquakes^. Environmental Issues^. Ferndale ^. Fossils^. Glaciers^. Humboldt County ^. Illinois^. Kinetic Sculpture Races^. Lake Michigan^. Maps^. Math^. Minerals^. Moon^. National Parks^. Oceans^. Physics^. Plate Tectonics^. Rocks^. Rock Art^. Science Culture^. Volcanos^. Whole Earth
Visit my home page ☯ Ellin Beltz - ebeltz@ebeltz.net Updated: January 10, 2008