Cincinnati in 1840 – before the hillsides could be settled

Cincinnati is defined by its hillsides

The Players in Cincinnati Geology Surficial Units Colluvium Glacial deposits (till, sand & gravel, lake clay) Bedrock Units Bellevue Limestone Fairview Formation Kope Formation

The Bedrock

Spectacular River Views. Harding Associates announces the availability of prestige building lots overlooking Columbia Parkway. This new development provides the convenience of easy access to downtown with a secure neighborhood and stunning, unobstructed views of the Ohio River valley. 1/4 acre lots begin at $200,000. Call Rich at Dewey, Cheatham, & Howe for details.

Translational slide of Kope soil (+ quarry spoil?) onto Columbia Parkway

Cincinnati 450 million years ago

The Underlying Structure to a Cincinnati Hillside

The Bellevue Limestone: Forms tops of hills, makes good, stable foundation

The Fairview Formation: The principal source of building stone for Cincinnati until the 1930s. About 50% limestone/50% shale

The Kope Formation: Mostly shale and notoriously unstable. Soils on the Kope slide very easily.

How Did the Bedrock Units Form? Cincinnati was under a shallow tropical sea. Waves stirred up the shallow water, removing any clay, and leaving only lime sediments that became the limestone beds. The clay settled in deeper water, forming muds that became the shales.

The mode of action of waves in modern oceans

The message? Stay away from steep slopes on the Kope Formation!

Where are They?

Kope Fairview & Bellevue Glacial Deposits (mostly outwash) x x x X major slides

Surficial Deposits

Cincinnati 100,000 years ago

Wooded Homesites. A new Anderson Township community developed by Coolidge & Co. offers prestige home sites. Twelve of sixteen available sites have been taken overlooking Lawyer's Run. Your lot slopes down to this wooded creek, which provides nature at your back door. Existing homes from $500,000; lots from $80,000. Call Katie at the Illinoisan Lakes Insurance Company to arrange a tour of these properties.

Was $350,000, could be yours for $150,000

Rivers of the Midwest before the glaciers

Ice dams made lakes that deposited soft lake clays

Soft glacial clays can fail on very low slopes

Deep Stage: The hill-carving event for Cincinnati

North-directed cross bedding Sand and gravel from the Deep Stage drainage fill our stream valleys

The Wisconsin-age advance into Hamilton County

Younger tills overlie these sands & gravels

The final product – old streams in blue, new ones in black

Room for Your Horses. Five acres+ estate offered near Ross, Ohio, convenient to the Fernald Facility. Located near the Miami River, this property has abundant water resources and well-drained soils for septic systems. Asking $10,000/acre. Call Alex or Mike at North American Aggregates for more information.

Significant uranium contamination has traveled through the groundwater outside the plant boundaries at Fernald.

The valley-fill sands & gravels are a valuable resource, but one that is easily compromised by poor waste disposal practices

Living with Cincinnati Geology Remember – the hillsides are green for a reason The hillsides we see today are products of multiple events in the Ordovician, the Pleistocene, and the Recent. A view can come with with a very high price. A small initial investment in site investigation can save $$$$. Even gentle slopes can fail. The oral and document history of a neighborhood can be valuable guides to your risk exposure.

The challenge – how to enjoy our heritage with minimum risk