Karst geology of the Upper Midwest, USA

Abstract

Karst in the Upper Midwest occurs within a thick sequence of mixed carbonate and siliciclastic Cambrian through Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks, with a minor occurrence of karst in Proterozoic sandstone. Deposition of the sediments occurred on a marine epeiric ramp that spanned much of the North American continent through most of the Paleozoic. The Upper Midwest region experienced dramatic changes in sea level over geologic time, resulting in the observed sequence of interbedded carbonate and clastic rocks. The greatest degree of karst development occurs within (1) the Lower Ordovician Prairie du Chien Group below the Sauk-Tippecanoe (Knox) unconformity, (2) the Upper Ordovician Galena Group, (3) the Middle and Upper Devonian Wapsipinicon and Cedar Valley Groups, and (4) the Middle Mississippian Mammoth Cave Group and correlative formations. Uplift and exposure of the rocks likely occurred in the Permian, with some later deposition of Cretaceous terrestrial sediments atop the marine strata. Nearly all the Cenozoic sedimentary units were removed by ice sheets during the Pleistocene; however, pockets of Cretaceous sediments persist on the margins of the Driftless Area, a region of the Upper Mississippi River Valley that remained largely free of ice during the last ice age.