Environmental and engineering program.

The campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., was the site for a seminar titled, “Improving the Description and Characterization of Glacial Successions in Northeastern Illinois.” The event, which was co-sponsored by Midwest Geosciences Group and the Association of Engineering Geologists, took place May 31. Soil cores were drilled on site with equipment and technical support from Boart Longyear, Mid-America Drilling Services Inc. and Geoprobe Systems.

The one-day short course featured morning classroom lectures followed by afternoon field exercises applying the principles of glacial depositional environments and secondary weathering processes to environmental and engineering projects. Classroom sessions focused on the glacial stratigraphic framework in northeastern Illinois and its application to environmental and engineering projects. Afternoon field exercises demonstrated application of the classroom principles and focused on field identification and description of glacial stratigraphic units.

Continuously sampled rotosonic, split-spoon and direct push samples were drilled to demonstrate:

• Interpretation of glacial depositional environments and weathering zones,

• application to ground water monitoring and remediation system design,

• characterization of the local glacial sequence,

• characterization of sedimentary sequences on boring logs, and

• preparation of field cross-sections and maps.