1. The Park Ridge Moraine
Laura L. Sanders

2. GEOGRAPHIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC SETTING
Approximately 24 miles long (N-S)
Approximately 4.5 miles wide (E-W)
Elevation:
ft at Des Plaines River (western border of moraine)
ft on top of the moraine
ft at Chicago River (eastern border of moraine)
Extends from North Avenue near Narragansett Ave. (the Village of Oak Park, IL) to just north of the Village of Mettawa, IL

3. THE PARK RIDGE MORAINE:
Moraine: Long, narrow, linear hill, often arc-shaped
Composed of till deposited by a glacier.
Park Ridge Moraine: About 30 ft higher than surrounding land
Creates a divide between Chicago River and Des Plaines River watersheds.
Deposited approximately 19,000 years ago (Barnhardt, 2011)

4. Geologic Setting Park Ridge Moraine Sediments: Mostly gray clayey till
(Willman and Lineback, 1970)
(Willman and Lineback, 1970)

5. Park Ridge Moraine:
An end moraine, part of the Lake Border Morainic System, in the Wheaton Morainal Country.
(Chrzastowski, 2005)

6. The Lake Border Morainic System:
A series of glacial ridges that parallel the lakeshore.
Major rivers flow in the valleys between the ridges.
Park Ridge Moraine
(Chrzastowski, 2005)

7. How Does a Moraine Form?
(Illinois State Geological Survey, 2016)

8. Park Ridge Moraine
(Chicago Botanic Garden, 2016)

9. Des Plaines River along Irving Park Road

10. Riis Park, Fullerton Ave., Chicago.
Near the southern tip of the moraine.

11. Touhy Avenue in Park Ridge, IL (looking eastward).
Note uphill slope.

12. REFERENCES
Barnhardt, Michael L., Surficial Geology of Highland Park Quadrangle, Lake and Cook Counties, Illinois: Illinois State Geological Survey: STATEMAP Highland Park-SG.
Chicago Botanic Garden, My Chicago Botanic Garden. Accessed on December 2, 2016 at URL:
Chrzastowski, Michael J., Chicagoland: Geology and the Making of a Metropolis. Illinois State Geological Survey, Open File Series OFS p.
Google Earth, Accessed on December 2, 2016 at URL: .
Illinois State Geological Survey, End Moraines: the End of the Glacial Ride. Accessed on December 2, 2016 at URL: .
Willman, H.B. and Lineback, Jerry A., Surficial Geology of the Chicago Region. Illinois State Geological Survey, Urbana, IL, Circular No. 460, Plate I.