Pufferfish@

Quarries Information

Need to post this so that I can access it easier anywhere.

Fates of Abandoned Quarries

What is the fate of a rock quarry? A quarry is a type of shallow open pit mining used in extracting some minerals and dimension stone such as granite, limestone, and gypsum to name a few. Like most mines, quarries are eventually abandoned, leaving landscapes pockmarked with quarry holes. What happens to a quarry after it has been abandoned?

Ohio is the site of many quarries for limestone, gravel, quartz and sand which have been abandoned since operation in the 50s and 60s. Today these quarries have since filled with groundwater and are undergoing natural ecological succession as ponds, creating habitat for many amphibious creatures. However, not all quarries are simply turned back to the wild. Quarries in Ohio have served as geology classrooms, and are a major nature attraction, and also face the fate of landfills. Quarry reclamation is now a public works, turning quarries into parks and fishing ponds. A SCUBA diving culture has evolved in the midwest due to the management and reclamation of abandoned quarries, complete with artificial reefs, fish stock, sunken helicopters, semis, mailboxes and schoolbuses. The deepest diving quarry in the midwest is Gilboa Quarry in Ottowa, at 137 feet it exceeds the depth limit of basic certified divers. Many quarries are home to the endangered and rare paddlefish and freshwater jellyfish.

Some basic questions I hope to investigate:

What are the main types of quarries in Ohio, what were they used for, why were they abandoned, and what happened to them now? How much responsibility does a company take for an abandoned quarry? What type of succession happens in a quarry? What are people now doing with abandoned quarries?

Outline:

I. Quarries

A. What is a quarry? What do they do the the environment?

B. Why are quarries abandoned?

C. What happens to quarries from a natural standpoint

1.Water and ecological succession

D. The quarry habitat

1. Benefits for endangered species and wildlife

2. Ecological problems

II. Revived human interest in old quarries

A. Who is in charge of quarries?

B. Recreation

1. SCUBA diving

2. Boating

3. Fishing

C. Community Reclamation

1. Parks

posted by Natticus @ 5:48 PM