Roadside Geology of Ohio (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series) [Paperback]

Mark J. Camp (Author), James Lainsbury (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2006 | Series: Roadside Geology Series

Ohio's bedrock reveals a rich story of the ancient landscapes and animals-foot-long clams, massive meat-eating reptiles, lumbering mammoths-that existed thousands to hundreds of millions of years ago. Fluctuating seas full of marine life, widespread floodplains and rivers choked with sediment, and mile-thick ice sheets from the north all shaped Ohio's present landscape. The 25 road guides of Roadside Geology of Ohio, complete with 59 maps and figures and 172 photographs, lead you from one corner of the state to the other-from the flat till plains of the west to the hilly eastern Allegheny Plateau, and from the Ohio River valley to the Lake Erie shoreline. Mark Camp's clear writing explains how caverns and disappearing streams form in karst; why mud cracks, ripple marks, and cross-bedding layers are entombed in sedimentary rock; and how grooves up to 10 feet deep were gouged into the limestone of Kelleys Island. From deserted boomtowns to Ohio's big cities, Roadside Geology of Ohio thoroughly reveals the Buckeye State's fascinating and dynamic geology.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark J. Camp, a native of Toledo, Ohio, began his teaching career at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, in 1974. He joined the faculty at the University of Toledo in 1967 and teaches courses in introductory geology, paleontology, the geology of national parks, and Ohio geology. He received his MS in geology from the University of Toledo and his PhD in geology from Ohio State University. His recent research focuses on the history of mine development, and the architecture of railroad depots. He is the co-author of Roadside Geology of Indiana, Railroad Depots of Northwest Ohio, and Railroad Depots of West Central Ohio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 410 pages
• Publisher: Mountain Pr; 1st edition (October 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878425241
• ISBN-13: 978-0878425242
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #778,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Ohio

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ironworks, Quarries and Potteries of Ohio, January 10, 2007

By 

Alan Rollow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roadside Geology of Ohio (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series) (Paperback)

While a fine addition to Roadside Geology collection, this part of the series becomes as much a roadside history of the mining, quarrying, ironworks and potteries of Ohio as it does on the underlying geology that allowed those industries to flourish.

Better maps and illustrations of the ebb and flow of early ocean that formed Ohio's bedrock, the extent of glaciation in the ice ages and how the ice created the Ohio River would have been appreciated.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ohio is complicated ... and really old, January 9, 2012

By 

robert johnston (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Roadside Geology of Ohio (Roadside Geology Series) (Roadside Geology Series) (Paperback)

Over the years, I've made a habit to advance buy either "Roadside Geology of xx" (great for following interstate and major roads) or "Geology Underfoot xx" (off the beaten path specific sites). The biz trip that takes me to a state that I have to traverse by interstate or significantly drive between cities can be turned into a university level road trip if you have some geology and science in your background and enjoy the really old story.

Motels, small towns, bad radio, crummy gas stations and rest areas are ubiquitously `Ground Hog Day' places from state to state. These two `roadside' geology primers are genuinely special for picking up on the phenomenal, visible history of the planet. Traveling across Ohio from Cincinnati airport to Columbus, to Toledo to Cleveland and south to catch I-70 to catch a flight out of Pittsburg (PA) is your typical, boring, weeklong rent-a-car road trip ... without Roadside Geology. Add Roadside Geology and a whole other world emerges.

The weathered Ohio valley, glacial moraines, and progressively hillier/deeper road cuts and countryside as you head east represents one of the more complex roadside geology lessons in an otherwise fairly boring road trip. There are not too many states that display such a peeled away variety of 250M years of geology in such a small area ... Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian.

I had a meeting reschedule outside of Toledo long enough to scout a public access Devonian quarry (Trilobites in gray shale!). I'd love to get a schedule opportunity to trek the Ohio River valley's Ordovician exposure in and around Cincinnati.

Not all states have a geology author motivated to put one of these together. I have no idea how well the franchise sells, but every edition that I've followed has been a consistent jewel.