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Finding Aid

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Scope and Contents

These papers reflect the professional career of professor Arthur C. Trowbridge.  They include field notes dated 1912 to 1947 written by Trowbridge and others while working with the U.S. Geological Survey Bureau.  The collection also includes Trowbridge's writings, professional correspondence, University of Iowa course instruction, maps, photographs of geological formations, and committee work.  Materials are arranged in chronological and alphabetical order.  Correspondence includes letters to and from Trowbridge under the name of the correspondent.  General correspondence organized by year follows correspondence organized alphabetically.

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Biographical Note

Arthur Carleton Trowbridge was born March 4, 1885, in Glasgow, Missouri.  He received his B.S. degree in geology at the University of Chicago in 1907 and his Ph.D. there in 1911.   While enrolled at the University of Chicago, he was in charge of the university geology laboratory.

Trowbridge joined the faculty of the State University of Iowa in July 1911.  He taught general geology courses and introduced summer field courses and laboratory methods to the curriculum.  To aid in teaching the geology laboratory courses, Trowbridge and Rollin Salisbury published three manuals in 1912 and 1913.  His areas of research were physiography and glacial geology.  Later his focus was on stratigraphy and sedimentation.  He wrote numerous research papers about the driftless area of the Upper Mississippi Valley.

In 1922 Trowbridge worked with the U.S. Engineer Corps of the War Department to study sediment deposition problems on the Mississippi Delta.  From 1928 to 1930 he made geographical surveys which were used to determine locations for navigation locks and dams on the Mississippi River.  In 1925 and 1926 Trowbridge worked as a consultant for the Turkish Petroleum Company of London in an international effort to survey Iraq.  During the early 1930s he consulted with various petroleum companies in efforts to locate oil fields.  

Trowbridge was named head of the department, as well as director of the Iowa Geological Survey and geologist for the state of Iowa in 1934, succeeding George F. Kay.  He resigned from the Geological Survey in 1947 in order to devote time to teaching and administrative duties.  He retired from the State University of Iowa in June 1952.  Trowbridge continued to teach part time until 1965.  He worked as a consultant for Gulf Research and Development Company in Houston from 1952 to 1955.  Trowbridge received the Neil A. Miner award from the National Association of Geology Teachers in 1960 and was awarded the L.H.D. from Augustana College in 1963.

During World War I, Trowbridge was granted a military leave from the University. He served as educational director for the U.S. Army YMCA at Camp Dodge from 1917 to 1918 and at the New York City YMCA from 1918 to 1919.  During World War II, Trowbridge and Professor Arthur K. Miller conducted geology classes while other geology professors served in the military.

Trowbridge married Sue Estelle Bussey in August 1911 and had two children, Charles Lambert and Carolyn Frances.  Sue B. Trowbridge died March 28, 1968.  Arthur C. Trowbridge died November 16, 1971.  The Dental Science building was renamed Trowbridge Hall in 1973 when the Department of Geology occupied the building.

[D. Anderson; 09/2008]

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Related Materials

Folder, "Trowbridge, Arthur C.," Faculty and Staff Vertical Files collection (RG 01.15.03)

Papers of George F. Kay (RG99.0086)

Papers of Frank A. Wilder (RG 99.0090)

Papers of Samuel Calvin (RG 99.0083)

Salisbury, Rollin D. and Arthur C. Trowbridge. The interpretation of topographic maps; a laboratory manual for use in connection with the topographic maps of the United States Geological survey. To accompany beginning courses in physiography. New York: H. Holt and Company, 1912.

Salisbury, Rollin D. and Arthur C. Trowbridge. Studies in geology; a laboratory manual based on topographic maps and folios of the United States Geological survey, for use with classes in physiographic and structural geology. New York: H. Holt and Company, 1912.

Salisbury, Rollin D. and Arthur C. Trowbridge. Laboratory exercises in structural and historical geology; a laboratory manual based on folios of the United States geological survey; for use with classes in structural and historical geology. New York: H. Holt and Company, 1913.

Trowbridge, Arthur Carleton. "Tertiary and Quaternary Geology of the Lower Rio Grande Region, Texas." U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, Report: B 0837(1932): 260 pp.

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Box Contents List

Box 1

Maps

---. Field work

---. Iron ore areas of Cherokee County, Texas, 1889

---. South Texas soil map used by G. C. Matson, 1912

---. Progressive military map of the U.S. Southern Department, for Rio Grande survey in 1919-1920

---. Illinois soil stratification, 1943

---. Illinois Geological Survey log of Dubuque Star Brewing Company well, 1933

---. Maps, photographs, correspondence, 1944

---. New England

------. Maine, Katahdin Quadrangle, 1944

------. New Hampshire-Maine, Gorham Quadrangle, 1942

------. New Hampshire-Maine, North Conway Quadrangle, 1945

------. Vermont-New Hampshire, Littleton Quadrangle, 1940

------. New Hampshire, Crawford Notch Sheet, 1946

------. New hampshire, Franconia Quadrangle, 1941

------. New Hampshire, Moosilauke Quadrangle, 1943

------. New Hampshire, Mt. Washington Quadrangle, 1943

------. New Hampshire, Whitefield Quadrangle, 1946

------. New York, Lake Placid Sheet, 1946

------. New York, Gilboa Quadrangle, 1945

------. New York, Mt. Marcy Quadrangle, 1946

------. New York, Elizabethtown Quadrangle, 1947

------. New York, Ausable Quadrangle, 1946

---. Driftless area

------. Drift sheets of Iowa, 1955

------. Iowa-Illinois, Lancaster Quadrangle, 1908

------. Iowa-Illinois, Peosta Quadrangle, 1901

------. Iowa-Wisconsin, Elkader Quadrangle, 1902

------. Iowa-Wisconsin, Waukon Quadrangle, 1903

------. Wisconsin, Gays Mills Quadrangle, 1926

------. Wisconsin, Viroqua Quadrangle, 1926

---. Illinois State Geological Survey, 1966-1968

---. Northeast Iowa

---. Southeast Iowa and Davenport, 1962

 

Box 2

Maps, cont.

---. Drift sheets of Iowa, 17 x 24

---. [Preliminary Map of the Glacial Geology of Iowa] Iowa Geological Survey, 1952, 11 x 18

---. [Drift Sheets of Iowa: Unpublished and Unofficial] 10 x 16

---. Texas

Transparency sheets

---. Northern Illinois, 12 x 15

---. Driftless region, 8 x 9.5

Blueprints

---. [Board of Commissioners Port of New Orleans, Louisiana, Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, Boring at Lake End] September 10, 1920

---. Texas

------. Uvalde Quadrangle, 1908

------. Zavala County, 1915

Bridge data and blueprints, 1929

---. Keithsburg, Illinois, bridge

---. Burlington, Iowa

------. Blueprints of High Street Bridge and main piers 2-5

------. Corps of Engineers blueprint of Upper Mississippi River improvement

------. Railroad bridge

---. Louisiana, Missouri, blueprints of bridge over Mississippi River

---. Hannibal, Missouri, railroad bridge

---. Alton, Illinois, bridge

---. Cape Girardeau, Missouri, bridge

---. Dubuque, Iowa, railroad bridge

---. Fort Madison, Iowa, railroad bridge

---. Quincy, Illinois

------. Railroad bridge

------. Quincy Memorial Bridge

Map housed in map case

---. U.S. Geological Survey Reconnaissance Erosion Survey Map of Iowa, 1934, 36 x 46

Box 3

Sample from peat and muck bed of Thayer pit in Iowa.  From Cornelia Cameron, 1964.

Field notes

---. G. C. Matson in south Texas, 1912

---. T. Wayland Vaughan on south Texas, 1913

---. G. H. Ashley on Santo Tomas coalfield, August 8, 1917

---. A. G. Maddren on Rio Grande, Book 1, June 5-July 12, 1919; Book 2, July 14-September 1, 1919

---. A. C. Trowbridge on Rio Grande, Book 1, June 3-July 18, 1919; Book 2, July 7-August 30, 1919

---. A. C. Trowbridge on Rio Grande, Book 3, June 25-July 31, 1919; Book 4, August 1-September2, 1919

---. Lloyd North on Rio Grande, Book 1, June 26-August 3, 1920; Book 2, August 4-31, 1920

---. W. S. Glock on Rio Grande, Book 1, June 29-August 2, 1920; Book 2, August 3-September 1, 1920

---. A. C. Trowbridge on Texas and New Orleans, Book 5, July 13-August 9, 1921

---. July 1922

---. August 1922

---. A. C. Trowbridge, 1924

---. August 1927

---. September 1927

---. V. E. Briard, July 1929

---. August 1929

---. A. C. Trowbridge, 1929

---. 1930

---. August-September 1930

---. August 1931

---. August-September 1932

---. W. H. Bussey, includes two photographs, July-August 1933

---. June 1934

---. February 1935

---. June 1946

---. Whitefield, New Hampshire, July-August 1947

Record of salaries and expenses, May 1919-August 1921

Box 4

Recommendations

---. 1955-1960

---. 1960-1961

---. 1961-1963

---. 1966-1967

---. 1967-1969

Instruction

---. State University of Iowa

------. Pleistocene course

---------. 1951-1952

---------. 1956

------. Geology course no. 106, 1957

------. Seashore, C. E.  Comments on the Plan for Sectioning Classes on the Basis of Ability.  1922

------. Geology enrollment statistics

---------. 1920-1930, 1954-1959, 1962-1964

---------. 1954-1959

------. Distinguished alumni noted

---------. 1964-1966

---------. 1955-1968

------. Geology scholarship funds

---------. Littlefield fund, 1967

---------. Iowa Geology fund, 1968

------. Department records

---------. 1960-1961

---------. 1961-1962

---------. 1962-1963

---------. 1963-1964

---------. 1963-1966

---------. 1964-1965

---------. 1962-1967

---------. 1967-1968

---------. 1968-1969

---------. 1969-1970

------. Geology faculty and staff biographical notes, 1967

------. Lectures

------. Periodicals purchased, 1960-1963

------. USGS exam questions regarding geologic map interpretation, 1960-1961

------. Geology test questions, 1933

------. Iowa Geological Survey information sheets

---------. "Rocks and Minerals of Iowa"

---------. "Fossil Collecting Areas in Iowa"

---------. "Geodes"

------. U.S. state geologists and their duties, 1965-1966

------. Pleistocene field trip to southeast Iowa locations, 1949

------. Geology Club field trip to Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin, 1959

------. Personal opinions of Professor Trowbridge, 1957, 1959

---. Southern Illinois University, 1955-1957

Speeches

---. Sigma Xi, November 1940

---. "Are Glaciers Rivers of Ice?," November 1945

---. "Pleistocene Problems in Iowa," to A.A.A.S., January 1946

---. Scandinavia, to Kiwanis Club, August 1946

---. "Notes on Danish and Swedish Glaciology," GSA in Chicago, December 1946

---. "Deglaciation in the Rondane Area, Norway," December 1946

---. "Recent Studies in Glacial Geology," to Sigma Xi, December 1949

---. "Multiple Pleistocene Glaciation," Rice Institute seminar, May 1955

---. Burlington, October 1957

---. Saint Paul, April 1958

---. Geology Club

---. Research Club

------. 1945

------. 1948

------. 1951

Reviews by Trowbridge

---. 1934

---. 1956

---. 1957

---. 1958

---. 1959

---. 1965

Clippings

---. Work in Iraq, 1925

---. Science articles, 1936-1967

---. Article about Trowbridge presentation at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, 1964

---. Iowa Geological Survey, article about, 1955

---. Lake Calvin, 1959, 1970

---. Trowbridge received Neil Miner Award, 1960

---. Wisconsin discovery, 1966

Awards

---. Neil Miner Award by the National Association of Geology Teachers, GSA meeting in Denver, 1960

---. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Augustana College, 1963

---. Honorary member, National Association of Geology Teachers, 1967

Genealogy

---. Note and poem

---. Letter from Trowbridge's father to Missouri Geological Survey, 1873

---. Article by Trowbridge's son

Biographical

---. Photograph and University of Chicago residence hall annual, The Snell Hall Cooler, 1910, 1911

---. U.S. Army YMCA service in New York, 1919

---. World Who's Who in Science, 1968

---. Retirement, 1951-1952

---. Letter from friend Harold Snyder, 1967

Photographs

---. George F. Kay

---. Geological formations

---. Geological formations, photographer L. T. LeBron, Jr., of Galena, Illinois, 1932

Images for slides

Box 5

Committees and annual conferences

---. Stratigraphic Commission, 1953

---. Stratigraphic Committee report, 1958-1959

---. Stratigraphic Committee, discussion of report no. 6, ca. 1960

---. Glossary Committee, American Geological Institute project, 1955

---. Glossary Committee correspondence, 1955-1957

---. Sub-committees and definitions (Glossary)

---. Glossary popularity, 1957-1962

---. American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) annual convention

------. 1959

------. 1960

------. 1960-1961

------. 1961-1962

---. American Geophysical Union

------. Meeting program, 1963

------. Converting subscription information to computer records, 1966

---. American Institute of Professional Geologists, newsletter and membership roster, 1967

---. American Petroleum Institute, Research Project 43 Advisory Committee, 1951-1955

---. Friends of the Pleistocene annual field trips

------. 1951

------. 1953, includes history of the meetings

------. Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene Field Conference, 1960

------. 1963

------. 1965

------. 1966

---. Geology Society of America (GSA) program of annual meetings

------. 1958

------. 1959

------. 1960-1962

------. 1965

------. 1968

---. Geological Society of Iowa Newsletter, November 1967

---. Historical Directory of State Geological Surveys, listing for all states, 1962

---. International Association for Quaternary Research (INQUA)

------. 1954-1955

------. 1965

---. Iowa Academy of Science, 1967-1968

---. Loess field conference

------. 1947

------. 1948

---. Quaternary of Illinois Symposium, 1968

---. Tri-state conference, 1935

Box 6

Correspondence

---. Adney, John R.

------. 1963-1964

------. 1964-1965

------. 1965-1969

------. 1966-1967

------. 1967-1968

------. 1968-1969

---. Anteves, Ernst, 1948-1955

---. Augustana College, 1967-1968

---. Berry, Edward W., 1943

---. Bezanson, Lillian C., regarding memoir, 1957-1959

---. Billings, Marland P., 1947

---. Black, Robert F., 1965

---. Boekenkamp, Richard P., 1965

---. Bretz, J. Harlen

------. 1961

------. 1965-1966

------. 1968

---. Brown, Charles, 1957

---. Cameron, Cornelia

 

------. 1964-1965

------. 1965

---. Childs, Orlo E., 1966

---. Cooper, G. Arthur, 1956

---. Davis, Morgan J., 1967

---. Fees, Leon V.

------. 1966-1969

------. 1968-1969

---. Feulner, Alvin J., 1957

---. Fisk, H. N., Humble Oil and Refining Company, 1954-1955

---. FitzPatrick, E. A., 1960-1961

---. Flint, Richard F., 1947-1953

---. Frye, John C.

------. 1940-1949

------. 1950-1956

------. 1960-1965

------. 1966-1967

---. Fryxell, F. M., 1968-1969

---. Geological Society of America, regarding M. A. Stainbrook memorial, 1956-1957

---. Glock, Waldo S.

------. 1957-1958

------. 1964-1969

---. Goldthwait, Richard P., 1947

---. Gooding, Ansel M., 1961

---. Grawe, Mrs. O. R. (Sally), 1965-1968

---. Gulf Research and Development Co.

------. 1952-1954

------. 1960

---. Hanna, M. A., 1955

---. Hares, Charles Joseph, 1965-1966

---. Hedges, James

------. 1962

------. 1965-1967

------. 1967-1968

------. 1969

---. Hershey, H. G., 1948

---. Hinman, Eugene E., 1968

---. Horberg, Leland, 1945

---. Hunt, Charles B., 1960-1961

---. Iowa Academy of Science, 1956-1969

---. Kanneberg, Ralph W., 1948

---. Kay, Marshall, 1969

---. Kempers, L., 1968

---. Ladd, Harry S., 1947

---. Leeper, Leo R., regarding biographical note for M. A. Stainbrook, 1956

---. Leighton, Morris M.

------. 1940

------. 1940-1942

------. 1952-1955

------. 1956-1957

------. 1959-1960

------. 1960

------. 1960-1961

------. 1961-1962

------. 1963-1964

------. 1964-1965

------. 1957-1966

------. 1965-1967

------. 1966-1967

------. 1968-1969

 

Box 7

Correspondence, cont.

---. Leonard, A. Byron, 1955

---. Leverett, Frank, 1915-1921

---. Linch, Lyle K., ca. 1965, includes photograph

---. Lougee, Richard J., 1945

---. Ludwick, John C., 1955-1957

---. Lugn, Alvin L., 1950

---. Macalester College, consultation, 1962

---. Mattox, Richard B., 1955

---. Milling, Marcus E.

------. 1966-1968, includes Iowa Geological Survey topographic map of Iowa City Quadrangle dated 1938

------. 1967-1969

---. Mosnat, H. Roy, 1947, includes photographs of George F. Kay visiting artesian well at Belle Plaine, Iowa, 1930s

---. North, Lloyd, 1965-1967

---. Owen, Edgar W., 1963-1969

---. Patton, Leroy T., 1956-1957

---. Ray, Louis L.

------. 1946-1949

------. 1960

------. 1966-1969

---. Robinson, W. I., 1956

---. Ruhe, Robert V.

------. 1948-1951

------. 1962-1965

------. 1965-1968

---. Russell, R. Dana, 1968

---. Scruton, P. C., 1956

---. Sorenson, Mrs. Ira L., 1969

---. Stainbrook, G. L., 1948-1957

---. Stainbrook, R. W., 1957

---. Swenson, Frank

------. 1942-1948

------. 1948-1969

------. 1961

---. Thudium, Orville, 1968

---. Trowbridge, Arthur H., 1967

---. Ulrich, E. O., 1934

---. Vaughan, Peggy, 1967

---. Worrell, Roy A., 1968

---. Youngquist, Walter, 1957

---. General correspondence

 

------. 1952-1957

------. 1956

------. 1955-1956

------. 1956-1957

------. 1957-1958

------. 1958-1959

------. 1959-1960

------. 1960-1961

------. 1961-1962

------. 1965-1966

------. 1966-1967

------. 1967-1969

------. 1968-1969

Writings

---. Acknowledgements for paper, "Glacial Drift in the 'Driftless Area' of Northeast Iowa," 1967

---. Bibliography lists, including regarding glaciation of the Driftless Area

---. Contribution to McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, draft, correspondence, map, photographs, April-August 1958

---. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology

------. 1960-1961

------. 1962

------. 1966-1969

---. Scribner's Dictionary of Scientific Biography, contributions by Trowbridge, 1968-1970

---. Papers by Trowbridge

------. "Review of Modern Literature of Sedimentology, Especially as Related to Petroleum Geology," 1955

------. Photographs and correspondence, "The Mississippi River in Glacial Times," Palimpsest, July 1959

------. "Driftless Area of the Upper Mississippi Valley," 1962-1967

------. "The Single Erosional Cycle"

------. "Geologic History of Mississippi River of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri," by Trowbridge, Williams, Frye, Swenson

------. "Preliminary Report on Geological Work in North-Eastern Iowa," Iowa Academy of Science

------. Utica, New York, 1917

------. "The Erosional History of the Driftless Area"

------. "The 'Driftless Area' of Iowa," by Trowbridge and A. J. Williams

------. "Reconnaissance Study of New England Glaciation," by Trowbridge and Louis L. Ray, 1947

Box 8

Writings, cont.

---. Mississippi Delta reports and notes

------. "Notes on the Mouths of the Mississippi River," by Lt. Col. E. J. Dent, January 1921

------. Record of dredging, "Fish-Hawk Log", by E. W. Shaw, June 22-24, 1921

------. Depth measurements

------. Analyses of dredged material from Mississippi Delta

------. Report

------. Manuscript, including photographs and diagrams

------. "Preliminary Geological Report on the Mississippi Delta," submitted for review February 20, 1924

---. Houston, Texas well samples, ca. 1952

---. Reprints

------. 1908-1923

------. 1926-1932

------. 1933-1939

------. 1959-1963, n.d.

------. American Commission of Stratigraphic Nomenclature, notes 1-13, 1947-1952

------. "Discussion: Accretion-Gley and the Gumbotil Dilemma," 1961

------. The Interpretation of Topographic Maps

------. Laboratory Exercises in Structural and Historical Geology

---------. n.d.

---------. 1913-1939

------. Studies in Geology

---. National Research Council, Report of the Committee on Sedimentation

------. 1930-1932

------. 1932-1934

 

Notes and data

---. Nebraskan Drift south of Waukon, 1940

---. Nebraskan Drift in caves at Guttenberg, 1940

---. Nebraskan Drift Around Dubuque, 1940

---. Nebraskan Drift West of Dubuque and Frye correspondence, 1966

---. Notes from student reports, 1915, 1961, n.d.

---. Wisconsin drift in northwestern Iowa, 1948

---. Effects on Sea Level

---. Southern Illinois geology

---. "Trowbridge's Notes on Problems of Early Pleistocene History of Mississippi River," 1957

---. 1957

---. 1968

---. "Drainage History of Upper Mississippi River"

---. Sample analyses, samples collected by Trowbridge, 1931

---. Altimeter readings at Bellevue and McGregor, 1951

---. Pleistocene sections in Iowa, 1960-1961

---. Iowa River flood of June 24, 1938, map of Allamakee County, conditions 1888-1938

Box 9

Reference files

---. Abstracts

------. 1955-1956

------. 1959-1960

------. 1960-1961

------. 1965-1966

---. Abstracts regarding glacial and climate change, 1957

---. Andersen, S. A., "The Waning of the Last Continental Glacier in Denmark as Illustrated by Varved Clays and Eskers," 1931

---. Cameron, Cornelia C., "A Major Problem in Cenozoic Statigraphy of South Central Iowa," 1962-1964

---. Climate fluctuations, various papers, 1931-1951

---. Cooke, C. Wythe, 1945

---. Deep stage valleys, 1964-1965

---. Fehrenbacher, J. B., "Loess Distribution in Southeastern Illinois and Southwestern Indiana," 1965

---. Fisk, H. N., 1952

---. Foss, Sam Walter, "The Calf Path" poem

---. Frye, John C.  "Additional Studies on the History of Mississippi Valley Drainage," SUI Ph.D. thesis, June 1938, includes photographs

---. Frye, John C., soil depositions levels

---. Geological unconformities, various papers

---. Gumbotil subject, includes photographs, articles, correspondence

---. Hadding, Assar. Hidden Hiatuses and Related Phenomena, 1958

---. Jerseyan Drifts and other drifts in New England, 1934-1941

---. Jones, Hendricks, 1954

---. Kay, George F., "Annotated Guide of Eastern Iowa: Fort Madison to Iowa City, Iowa"

---. Leighton, Morris M. and Paul R. Shaffer paper, 1941-1949

---. Leighton paper and Trowbridge's editorial notes, 1957

---. Leighton, summer 1957

---. Leighton, Morris M., "Some Major Aspects of the Glacial History of Illinois," 1958-1959

---. Leighton criticism of article, 1958-1959

---. Leighton, Morris M., "Elements in the Classification of the Late Glacial Quaternary of Midwestern North America," paper, correspondence, maps, photographs, 1962-1963

---. Leighton, Morris M., "Preliminary Appraisal of the Recently Proposed Classification of Wisconsin Loess," 1962-1965

---. Leverett, Frank, "Outline of Pleistocene History of Mississippi Valley," 1921

---. MacClintock, Paul, 1926-1929

---. Mickelson, John C., paper, correspondence, field notes, 1948-1951

---. Miscellaneous references

---. Oceanography, 1960-1961

---. Patton, Leroy

---. Phleger, F., memoir, 1951-1954

---. Raasch, 1931

---. Rich, J. L. "Burired Stagnant Ice as a Normal Product of a Progressively Retreating Glacier in Hilly Regions," 1941

---. Rocky Mountains, various papers, 1907-1930

---. Salisbury, Rollin D. The Interpretation of Topographic Maps, manuscript, 1908

---. Shepard, F. P., 1948-1954

---. Soil Conservation Service classification of sedimentary deposits, 1938

---. Swenson, F. A., river elevations or levels

---. Thwaites, Fred T., 1921

---. Wanless, Harold R., "Nebraskan Till in Fulton County, Illinois," 1929

---. Windrow formation, 1921

Longhand drafts and statistics

Lengths