Aquifers in Melt-Water Channels 

Along the Southwest Flank 

of the Des Moines Lobe 

Lyon County, Minnesota

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1539-F

Prepared in cooperation with the 

Division of Heaters, Minnesota 

Department of Conservation, and the 

Marshall Municipal Utilities, 

Marshall, Minnesota

MO. GEOL SURVEY LIBRAE

Aquifers in Melt-Water Channels 

Along the Southwest Flank 

of the Des Moines Lobe 

Lyon County, Minnesota

By ROBERT SCHNEIDER and HARRY G. RODIS

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1539-F

Prepared in cooperation with the 

Division of Waters, Minnesota 

Department of Conservation, and the 

Marshall Municipal Utilities, 

Marshall, Minnesota

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1961
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Thomas B. Nolan, Director

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington 25, D.C. - Price 15 cents (paper cover)
CONTENTS

	Page

Abstract_________________________________________ F-l

Introduction..--..______________________________________________ 1

Geologic conditions._________________________________________ 2

Melt-water deposits______________________________________________ 4

Conclusions.-.. ___________________________________________ 11

References cited_________________________________________________ 11

ILLUSTRATIONS

FIGURE 1. Map of Minnesota and Iowa showing location of Lyon County,

Minn., and extent of Des Moines lobe__________________ F-2

2. Northeast-southwest geologic section in Lyon County..______ 3

3. Map of Lyon County showing drainage pattern and surficial

glacial deposits_________________________________._____ 5

4. Geologic sections of melt-water channels associated with Marshall moraine, central Lyon County....__________________ 6

5. Geologic section of melt-water channel in front of Antelope

moraine, northeastern Lyon County____________________ 7

6. Geologic section in northeastern Lyon County showing buried

outwash associated wi th chain of lakes ___________________ 8

7. Map of southwestern Lyon County showing areas of correlative

well-bottom altitudes_______________________________ 9

8. Geologic section in southwestern Lyon County showing correlation of well-bottom altitudes...______________________ 10

m

584267 61

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES

AQUIFERS INIMELT-WATER CHANNELS ALONG THE

SOUTHWEST|FLANK OF THE DES MOINES

LOBE, LYON COUNTY, MINNESOTA

By EGBERT SCHKTEIDEE and HARRY G. KODIS

ABSTRACT

During the Gary and Mankato substages of Wisconsin glaciation the Des 

Moines lobe advanced southeastward through the broad lowland of the Minnesota River valley of southwestern Minnesota, and thence southward to central 

Iowa.

Among the most prominent topographic features in Lyon County, Minn., 

are five southeastward-trending end moraines, two of which are associated 

with and parallel to belts of surficial outwash that are approximately half 

a mile to a mile wide. Test drilling indicated that one of the belts of outwash is underlain by a complex system of buried melt-water channels. The 

other is the upper part of a series of deposits in an incised channel. The 

channels are filled with till, glaciolacustrine deposits, and outwash, which includes permeable deposits of water-bearing sand and gravel.

Associated with the surficial melt-water channels is a pronounced southeastward-trending linear drainage pattern. By studying the lineation of 

streams and lakes, analyzing the available water-well data, and drilling test 

holes, several elongate deposits of buried outwash having little or no topographic expression were located. The long axes of the deposits are generally 

parallel to the lineation of the drainage and the end moraines.

The melt-water channels in Lyon County trend southeastward because the 

flank of the ice sheet was confined by a landmass that sloped to the northeast. 

Similar buried channels may be present elsewhere along the southwest flank

 of the Des Moines lobe. If so, they probably can be located by the methods

 described.

INTRODUCTION

This paper describes the origin and general occurrence of aquifers 

in linear melt-water deposits parallel to end moraines along the 

southwest flank of the Des Moines glacial lobe. The study was 

part of an investigation of the ground-water resources of Lyon 

County in cooperation with the Division of Waters, Minnesota Department of Conservation, and the city of Marshall.

Lyon County is about 150 miles southwest of Minneapolis and St. 

Paul in the drainage basin of the Minnesota Kiver (fig. 1). It is

F-l
F-2 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES

50 50 100 MILES

FIGURE 1. Map of Minnesota and Iowa showing location of Lyon County, Minn., and

extent of Des Moines lobe.

within the area covered by the Des Moines ice lobea about 15 miles 

from the lobe's southwest flank. The southwestern part of the county 

is on the northeast slope of the Coteau des Prairies, an elongate highland extending northwestward through South Dakota, Minnesota, 

and Iowa (Fenneman, 1938, p. 573).

GEOLOGIC CONDITIONS

Geologic conditions are illustrated on a northeast-southwest cross 

section of the county (fig. 2). The basement rocks consist largely 

of Precambrian granite; however, quartzite was penetrated by several
c 

2:

 z.

</>

m>

m 

m

-en

2

m

Gary 

moraine

CO ^LINCOLN 

C0~ LYON 

Aitamont 

moraine

'siamiVHO saa SHMIOH 'aaon *NNIH g-,j 
F-4 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES

wells in the southwest. The granite was deeply weathered and is 

covered by an extensive regolith, consisting in part of weathered 

materials that were transported and reworked during the Cretaceous 

period and earlier.

The Cretaceous strata are nearly flat lying and are composed 

largely of thick beds of soft bluish-gray shale alternating with thin 

beds of loosely consolidated sandstone. The strata were deposited 

in a basin whose axis bisects the county from northwest to southeast. 

The Cretaceous strata are approximately 450 feet thick near the 

center of the depositional basin and gradually pinch out against its 

flanks (fig. 2).

The glacial drift ranges in thickness from about 10 feet in the 

northeastern part of the county to more than 550 feet in the southwest where the Altamont moraine was deposited. Little information 

is available on the Pre-Wisconsin or early Wisconsin glacial history. However, test holes in the southwestern part of the county 

penetrated several weathered zones at depth, suggesting that there may 

be three or even four drift sheets in this area.

During the Gary and Mankato substages of the Wisconsin stage 

the Des Moines lobe advanced south-southeastward from the Red 

River valley through the broad lowland of the Minnesota River 

valley, and thence southward across a low saddle to the vicinity of 

Des Moines in central Iowa (Leverett, 1932, p. 56-57; Flint, 1955, 

p. 133). The maximum extent of the lobe is marked by a pronounced 

series of end moraines which form a broad arc. Within the outermost end moraines are numerous subdued end moraines and extensive areas of ground moraine.

The surficial glacial deposits in Lyon County (fig. 3) consist 

essentially of five southeastward-trending end moraines. The northeasternmost two of these, the Antelope and Marshall, are flanked on 

their southwest sides by extensive belts of outwash. The intervening 

areas are flat to slightly rolling ground moraine.

MELT-WATER DEPOSITS

The surficial melt-water deposits associated with the Antelope and 

Marshall moraines were studied in considerable detail because of their 

apparent value as sources of ground water. The belt of outwash in 

front of the Marshall moraine is about 1 mile wide at the surface 

and extends almost continuously for about 17 miles. The subsurface extent and nature of the outwash were determined by test drilling. Section B-B' (fig. 4), of an area near the city of Marshall, 

indicates that the belt of outwash is associated with two channels 

incised in the underlying Cretaceous shale in front of the moraine.
AQUIFERS, MELT-WATER CHANNELS, DES MOINES LOBE, MINN. F-5

End-moraine 

deposits

EXPLANATION

Outwash deposits Ground-moraine 

deposits

FIGURE 3. Map of Lyon County showing drainage pattern and surflcial glacial deposits.

The shallow channel is filled with till, and the deep one is filled 

with till at the bottom and outwash at the top. On section G-G' (fig. 

4) the shallow channel contains outwash at the bottom and the deep 

one is completely filled with outwash. These two cross sections have 

been greatly simplified for the sake of clarity. Actually there appears
F-6 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES

1050'

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

FIGURE 4. Geologic sections of melt-water channels associated with the Marshall moraine, 

central Lyon County. Vertical line indicates well or test hole for which log was 

available.

to be a complex system of channels filled with till, glaciolacustrine deposits, and outwash, which includes thick strata of highly permeable 

water-bearing sand and gravel. The system of subsurface channel 

deposits is considerably wider than the associated surficial belt of outwash, and the bottoms of some of the individual channels are about 125 

feet below land surface. Two wells were developed in the outwash at 

Marshall, each of which produced about 500 gpm (gallons per minute) 

with about 25 to 30 feet of drawdown. The wells were 12 inches in 

diameter and were completed with 15- and 20-foot screens.

A northeast-southwest section (fig. 5) in front of the Antelope 

moraine indicates that the surficial belt of outwash, which is about 

1 mile wide and 16 miles long, is the upper part of a series of deposits
AQUIFERS, MELT-WATER CHANNELS, DES MOINES LOBE, MINN. F-7

U

1025'-

M> MILE

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

FIGURE 5. Geologic section of melt-water channel in front of Antelope moraine, northeastern Lyon County. Vertical line indicates well or test hole for which log wasavailable.

filling a channel incised in Cretaceous shale to a depth of about 

40 feet. The subsurface extent of the channel appears to coincidewith the surface expression. The sediments in the channel are similar 

to those in front of the Marshall moraine.

It appears that the melt water from the Antelope and Marshall 

moraines flowed southeastward parallel to the ice front. It seems 

reasonable to assume that similar melt-water channels are associated 

with the end moraines throughout the county. Such an assumption,, 

if proved valid, would facilitate location and development of ground 

water, an important economic objective.

It is evident from figure 3 that, although the present drainage 

in the county is primarily northeastward toward the Minnesota. 

Kiver, the outwash belts in front of the Antelope and Marshall 

moraines are associated with southeastward-flowing streams. Elsewhere in the county also, several small tributary streams flow southeastward, and three chains of lakes trend northwest-southeast. One 

lake chain extends across the northeast corner of the area, another is 

 between the Gary and Altamont moraines, and a third extends across-
F-8 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HYDROLOGY OF THE UNITED STATES

the southwest corner of the area. In view of the coincidence of 

the linear drainage pattern with the surficial outwash channels, it 

was postulated that where the pattern occurred elsewhere it might 

be associated with buried channels that had little or no surface 

expression.

By studying the available farm-well data and drilling test holes 

in the vicinity of the chain of lakes in the northeast corner of the 

county, a buried melt-water deposit was found to coincide with the 

lake chain at the Precambrian-Cretaceous contact (fig. 6). The

1100'

1050'-

1000'-

950'-

900'-

850'-

BOO1

Sandstone and shale (Cretaceous)

E'

Drift (largely till)

rOutwash___ 3 

Drift (largely till)

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

.FIGURE 6. Geologic section in northeastern Lyon County showing buried outwash associated with chain of lakes. Vertical line indicates well or test hole for which log was 

available.

deposit included permeable water-bearing sand and gravel which 

yielded about 60 gpm to a well in the village of Cottonwood. It 

is interesting to note that earlier attempts to develop municipal 

wells in this area had either failed or resulted in smaller yields.

As was mentioned earlier, several test holes drilled in the southwestern part of the county, where the drift is very thick, indicated 

the presence of three and possibly four drift sheets. Because of the 

absence of detailed information on the glacial stratigraphy in this 

area, the occurrence of aquifers was studied by analyzing the area! and 

vertical distribution of well-bottom altitudes of numerous farm wells. 

It is evident from the map (fig. 7) that the areal patterns, which
EXPLANATION 

o'

Farm well

Well or test hole 

(log available)

Less than 1385 ft

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL 

FIGURE 7. Map of southwestern Lyon County showing areas of correlative well-bottom altitudes.

!

CQ

F 

O 

W

co
-ilSOO'

-1700'-1600'

1500'

- 1400'

-1300'

- 1200'

-1100'

1000'

5 MILES

w

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL 

FIGURE 8. Geologic section in southwestern Lyon County showing correlation of well-bottom altitudes.
AQUIFERS, MELT-WATER CHANNELS, DBS MOINES LOBE, MENN. F-ll

were formed by outlining groups of wells having similar ranges of 

well-bottom altitudes, tend to be elongated northwestward.

A cross section of the area (fig. 8) shows the subsurface correlations of the well-bottom altitudes. Nearly all the zones of correlation have been penetrated by test holes or wells for which logs are 

available, and these logs substantiate the correlation. The zones of 

correlation do not necessarily represent extensive aquifers. Rather, 

it is believed that they suggest groups of elongate outwash deposits 

that were formed parallel to successive positions of the ice front. 

Except for the orientation of their long axes which roughly parallels 

the drainage lines, the zones of correlation have little or no surface 

expression.

CONCLUSIONS

It is believed that a series of southeastward-trending melt-water 

channels were formed parallel to the ice front in Lyon County 

during successive advances and retreats of the Des Moines ice front. 

Some of these melt-water deposits are exposed; others were buried 

during readvances of the glacier. The sediments in the channels 

include permeable water-bearing sand and gravel. In the central 

and northeastern parts of the county, where the glacial drift is relatively thin, the channels were cut into the Cretaceous bedrock. 

Where the drift is thick, as in the southwest, the channels were cut 

into older drift sheets.

A pronounced southeastward-trending linear drainage pattern is 

generally associated with the surficial outwash channels; and it is 

probable that, where this drainage pattern is found, outwash channels 

may occur beneath the surface. Where the glacial drift is very 

thick as a result of multiple glaciation, elongate deposits of outwash 

probably occur at depth, although they may not have any topographic 

.expression.

The melt-water channels in Lyon County trend southeastward 

because the flank of the ice sheet was confined by a landmass that 

sloped to the northeast. Through application of the methods described in this report, it is probable that other buried channels can 

be located and additional ground-water supplies developed elsewhere 

along the southwest flank of the Des Moines lobe.

REFERENCES CITED

Fenneman, N. M., 1938, Physiography of eastern United States: New York,

McGraw-Hill, 714 p. 

Flint, R. F., 1955, Pleistocene geology of eastern South Dakota: U.S. Geol.

Survey Prof. Paper 262, 173 p. 

Leverett, Frank, 1932, Quaternary geology of Minnesota and parts of adjacent

States: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 161,149 p.

o