2023 Year in Review

Director’s Message 

For over 125 years the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) has provided objective scientific information about Wisconsin’s geology, mineral resources, and water resources, and it is an honor to share new accomplishments in 2023. I am also very proud to have been named the next Director of the WGNHS; my appointment began in September 2023. I’m looking forward to working with the talented staff at the WGNHS in their field studies, research, and outreach activities. I have already connected with many of the Survey’s long-term partners and I’m working to establish new partnerships, as well. Special thanks go to Interim Director Eric Carson and Associate Directors Sushmita Lotlikar (Administration) and Pete Schoephoester (Technical Operations), who led the WGNHS earlier in the year and since Ken Bradbury’s retirement in July 2022. This report highlights the work of the entire staff over the past year and recognizes the outstanding research, data analysis and processing, mapping, and outreach for which the WGNHS is known. 

WGNHS had another highly successful year with grant and contract awards. Funding through the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) STATEMAP, Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition, and Data Preservation programs each increased over past years and totaled nearly $900,000. Our Survey entered the second year of a two-year award from the USGS National Groundwater Monitoring Program and began collaborating on a project led by the Illinois State Geological Survey and funded through the Earth MRI (Mapping Resources Initiative) program. The strong partnership with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) continued, resulting in support for surficial geologic mapping and several groundwater studies in northern Wisconsin. Finally, our county and state partners, including the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), also supported a variety of projects that are highlighted below. 

The WGNHS launched a new website in 2023 following months of hard work by Jady Carmichael, Sushmita Lotlikar, and Pete Schoephoester and with contributions by the entire staff. In addition to updating and adding new content, such as our Major Landforms of Wisconsin Story Map, this new site is easier to navigate than the previous one and optimized for mobile phones. The new site includes 47 individual webpages, interactive data resources, historical collections, educational materials, and monthly blog posts, as well as our searchable publications catalog with special features on maps and reports that are hot off the WGNHS press. I hope you’ll join the 150,000+ users who have engaged with the site in its first year.

Please enjoy reading about the highlights of the WGNHS’s geologic mapping and research efforts in 2023! Thank you for your continued support and please consider donating to the WGNHS to further our ability to provide objective scientific information and respond to the diverse needs of the residents of Wisconsin. 

Sue Swanson, Director and State Geologist 

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2023 Highlights 

Geologic studies 

Geologic mapping remains core to the WGNHS mission of understanding the earth, charting its history, and sustaining its resources. In 2023, mapping products included various scales and formats representing both technological advances in the geosciences as well as the creativity and expertise of WGNHS staff members. 

Participation in the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). WGNHS receives annual grants for bedrock and surficial geologic mapping from the NCGMP, which comprises seven programs including STATEMAP, the Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition (GLGMC), and Earth MRI. STATEMAP and GLGMC proposals from WGNHS are reviewed by the Wisconsin Geologic Mapping Advisory Committee (WGMAC). The 2023 STATEMAP proposal received $586,000 in funding and supports six mapping projects in seven counties across western and southern Wisconsin, as well as subsurface mapping in Jefferson County and the Maquoketa Group in northeastern Wisconsin, and a compilation of the Quaternary geology in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin. Individual projects are described in greater detail below. 

The GLGMC funds surficial geologic mapping in the eight states that border the Great Lakes, and Earth MRI provides resources to state geological surveys and industry partners to conduct geologic mapping and collect geophysical data to inventory critical economic and strategic minerals in the United States. The WGNHS received $81,000 in funding for our 2023 GLGMC proposal. It includes surficial geologic mapping and collection of deep rotosonic cores in northern Price County. WGNHS also began collaborating with the Illinois State Geological Survey and the Iowa Geological Survey on an Earth MRI project to collect geochemical data in the Upper Mississippi Valley mining district, compile historic mine information, and create subsurface maps of the ore districts.

Participation in the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program (NGGDPP). The NGGDPP provides funding to retrieve, preserve, protect, and catalog geologic collections, including physical samples, datasets, photographs, field notes, and other records. The WGNHS received $222,495 in funding for our 2023 Data Preservation proposal. Data preservation projects, led by Carsyn Ames and Brad Gottschalk and completed in 2023, include inventorying historical rock hand samples collected throughout Wisconsin from the early 1970s through the 1990s and photographing rock core from 56 drill holes in areas permissive for critical minerals in southern Wisconsin (Fig. 1). Additionally, we digitized the Iowa County portion of the Mineral Development Atlas of the Upper Mississippi Valley, a massive resource that documents mining in the historic lead-zinc mining district. The atlas contains drilling logs and detailed maps of underground and surface activity in Grant, Lafayette, and Iowa counties. 

Surficial geologic mapping 

The Quaternary group, consisting of Eric Carson, Liz Ceperley, Elmo Rawling, and Kacie Stolzman, collected 2,815 feet of sediment core during the 2023 fieldwork season. The fieldwork supports 1:100:000-scale mapping in multiple Wisconsin counties including Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Price, Sawyer, Jefferson, La Crosse, and Green and is supported by STATEMAP, GLGMC, USFS, and county funding (Fig. 2). Sediment core was collected using Geoprobe and rotosonic drilling techniques. Collaborative work also continued on a new 1:500,000-scale statewide map of Quaternary-aged sediment. The publication process is well underway for what will be the first update to such a map since 1976.

Two publications were released including a Quaternary geologic map of Waupaca County and an Educational Series entitled, The Driftless Area: The extent of unglaciated and similar terrains in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota (Fig. 3). This pamphlet, authored by Eric Carson (WGNHS), B. Brandon Curry (Illinois State Geological Survey), Phillip Kerr (Iowa Geological Survey), and Barbara Lusardi (Minnesota Geological Survey) was a collaborative effort between the four neighboring state geological surveys. It describes and outlines the boundary of the unglaciated Driftless Area based on modern geologic evidence. 

Elmo Rawling continued to work with Luke Zoet (UW-Madison Geoscience) and Ethan Theuerkauf (Michigan State University) to study bluff erosion and sand transport on the shore of Lake Michigan. This includes UW-Madison Geoscience Ph.D. students Chelsea Volpano and Collin Roland. Undergraduate student Lindsay Summers summarized some of the work in a recent blog post, including when project participants found themselves in the local news. Members of this project team published a paper in the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms describing the breakup of nearshore ice. 

Bedrock geologic mapping

Sarah Bremmer, Billy Fitzpatrick, and Eric Stewart completed 1:24,000-scale field mapping in four quadrangles for the STATEMAP-funded bedrock mapping project in west-central Crawford County (Fig. 4). Portions of Highway 35 along the Mississippi River have a history of slope failures. As a result, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation is interested in new and detailed mapping of the geology in Crawford County to help assess the problem. 

Eric Stewart, Sarah Bremmer, Billy Fitzpatrick, and Steve Mauel published 1:24,000-scale geologic maps of the Fennimore, Mt. Hope, Stitzer, and western half of the Montfort 7.5-minute quadrangles in Grant County. To the east in Iowa County, geologic mapping of the Highland West and Highland East quadrangles was also completed, then published in early 2024. The Earth MRI program funded mapping of the Highland West, Highland East, Stitzer, and western half of the Montfort 7.5-minute quadrangles, while STATEMAP funded mapping of the Fennimore and Mt. Hope quadrangles. Also in 2023, the Grant County maps, along with 2022 WGNHS publications and historic U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps, were compiled into a county-wide 1:100,000-scale bedrock geologic map. This map, which is currently in the publication process, was constructed as a fully three-dimensional product, with supplementary data that include raster datasets.

In Lafayette County, Eric Stewart, Sarah Bremmer, Billy Fitzpatrick, Steve Mauel, and Matt Rehwald continued bedrock geologic mapping. 2023 marked the second of a planned three-year effort to map the entire county at 1:100,000-scale. The project was initiated to support groundwater studies in the area. Many private groundwater wells in Lafayette County have elevated concentrations of nitrate or bacteria. The project is mapping bedrock contacts in three dimensions in the subsurface. Work during 2023 included field mapping and subsurface water-well correlation. 

Esther Stewart, Maureen Muldoon, Pete Chase, and Carsyn Ames worked to finalize a 1:100,000-scale bedrock map of Jefferson County. The map includes a cross-section and raster dataset of the buried bedrock elevation surface. In summer of 2023 Maureen Muldoon and Pete Chase coordinated drilling of a new well through the Sinnipee Group, collecting a suite of geophysical logs, and performing packer tests with the objective of characterizing hydrogeologic properties of the Sinnipee Group dolostone (Fig. 5). Work continues on a map of the elevation of several buried bedrock layers including the base of the Platteville Formation (Sinnipee Group), base of the Galena Formation (Sinnipee Group), and the base of the Ancell Group. 

Esther Stewart also started a new subsurface mapping project with Dave Hart and Lisa Haas to generate subsurface geologic characterization of the Maquoketa Group, an important aquitard in eastern Wisconsin.  The project uses airborne electromagnetic data collected through a collaboration between the USGS, DATCP, and WGNHS. 

Additional Quaternary and bedrock geology projects 

Esther Stewart, Eric Stewart, and Billy Fitzpatrick completed the Durwards Glen 7.5-minute quadrangle map in the Baraboo Hills area, which was published in early 2024. This group of geologists also made significant progress compiling recent mapping into a regional geologic map of the Baraboo Hills that shows both bedrock and Quaternary geology. In 2023 Billy Fitzpatrick coordinated the collection of a new bedrock core through the igneous rocks that underlie the Baraboo Quartzite (Fig. 6). 

Esther Stewart continues to work on her doctoral dissertation with Annie Bauer (UW–Madison Geoscience). In 2023, Esther synthesized stratigraphic and sedimentologic observations from outcrop and core descriptions into a paper that was published in GSA Bulletin. The main conclusion was that about one billion years ago the Midcontinent Rift sediments of the Nonesuch Formation were deposited in an inland sea, one of several that inundated the interior of the ancient continent at that time. This interpretation helps in understanding the environmental conditions that may have influenced evolution of eukaryotes from single-celled creatures to multi-celled animals.

The largest WGNHS subsurface lithologic dataset is our internal database (Geobase), which includes downhole lithologic and stratigraphic records. With funding through STATEMAP, Geologist Sarah Bremmer and Assistant Director of Technical Operations Pete Schoephoester began in 2023 the review and compilation of 5,700 downhole datasets consisting of approximately 35,000 associated stratigraphic nomenclature records. These records will be checked for compliance with Geolex (the national geologic lexicon) and served to the USGS to support the National Geologic Mapping Database. 

Groundwater studies 

Wisconsin Groundwater–Level Monitoring Network. The WGNHS continues to participate in the Wisconsin Groundwater–Level Monitoring Network with support from the USGS National Ground-Water Monitoring Network program. Working in close coordination with our network partners at the USGS Upper Midwest Water Science Center and the DNR, WGNHS staff Sarah Bremmer, Pete Chase, Irene Lippelt, and Mike Parsen installed 6 new monitoring wells and instrumented 15 wells to monitor the water levels more continuously and to see smaller changes that occur daily or even hourly in response to precipitation, evapotranspiration, and pumping withdrawals. 

Inventory of flowing artesian wells in Bayfield County. G.E. Graham, Sue Swanson, and Pete Chase completed a project in Bayfield County to map and inventory flowing artesian wells. The final report, which was submitted and presented to the county board, compiles well characteristics and flow rates, provides baseline water quality data, and describes water sources to the flowing wells. It was published as a WGNHS open-file report in early 2024. 

Burnett County groundwater update. Working with the Burnett County Board, WGNHS began surficial geologic mapping and compiling groundwater-related maps including maps of water-table elevation, groundwater recharge, depth-to-water, depth-to-bedrock, and groundwater susceptibility. Work completed in 2023 includes geolocation of water supply wells in the county, preliminary water table mapping, collection of 20 sediment cores, and surficial geologic mapping for the southern part of the county. The WGNHS team includes project lead Amy Wiersma with Mark Johnson, Maureen Muldoon, Elmo Rawling, Matt Rehwald, Nick Rompa, and Pete Schoephoester. 

Hydrogeology of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (CNNF). G.E. Graham, Sue Swanson, and Pete Chase continued several groundwater studies in the CNNF, all funded by the USFS. They continued a project at the Bend site along the North Fork Yellow River in Taylor County to improve understanding of the local hydrogeology and document baseline water chemistry. Ongoing permit negotiations for mineral exploration at the site prompted this effort. This work has support from the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC).

G.E. Graham, Sue Swanson, and Pete Chase also completed analysis of water chemistry results from over 150 samples collected across the CNNF in 2021 and 2022. Collaborating with Mike Cardiff (UW–Madison Geoscience), they continue to monitor lake level and water quality trends at Pigeon Lake and surrounding seepage lakes in Bayfield County. Pigeon Lake experienced extreme flooding in 2018. Lake levels are dropping steadily but remain high. In 2024, they will incorporate field data into a groundwater flow model, which is intended to inform the lake system’s response to future climate scenarios (Fig. 7). 

Groundwater quality in the Central Sands region of Wisconsin. Dave Hart began working to forecast the impact of climate and nitrate loading changes on nitrate contamination in the Central Sands region of Wisconsin. Years of sampling and research have assessed the extent of nitrate contamination, yet very little is known about the fate and residence time of nitrate in this environment. To fill this knowledge gap, Dave and Emily Baker (Hamilton College) will incorporate particle tracking into the Central Sands Lake Study Model to predict groundwater transit times and discharge locations. The results will provide a tool to be used to inform actions for the reduction in nitrate leaching and timing needed to improve groundwater quality in the Central Sands. The work is supported through the USGS National Institutes for Water Resources Program. 

Southwest Wisconsin hydrogeology. WGNHS staff and collaborators published the final report for the Southwest Wisconsin Geology and Groundwater (SWIGG) study in 2023. Building on this effort, Maureen Muldoon continued to collaborate with Joel Stokdyk and Tucker Burch (USGS) on a project funded through Joint Solicitation for Groundwater Monitoring Proposals and entitled Risk from pathogens and exposure to antibiotic resistance genes in private wells in southwest Wisconsin. 

NR 151 monitoring project. Maureen Muldoon, Pete Chase, and G.E. Graham continued monitoring to assess the impact of DNR rule NR 151 at one spring site in Calumet County and one farm (well) site in Door County by collecting monthly samples for nitrate-N and bacteria and quarterly samples for pathogens. The NR 151 legislative code regulates the spreading of agricultural manure in locations such as eastern Wisconsin, where groundwater resources in thinly buried Silurian dolomite are particularly sensitive to surface contamination. 

Other major accomplishments

Outreach. WGNHS staff regularly participate in educational outreach activities for the public, industry groups, government, and other state, local, and national partners. Additionally, Amy Wiersma began collaborating with UW-Extension colleagues on an UW-Extension Innovation Grant-funded project to develop a series of online groundwater educational modules for new local officials, county staff (i.e., Extension, county land conservation departments, county health departments), producer-led watershed groups, and the public. Planned modules include Water WELLness: Managing your private well water system, Basics of groundwater/geology, and Managing groundwater for local officials, with the goal of launching all modules by August 2025. 

Wisconsin Idea Collaboration Grant. Ian Orland and Shaun Marcott (UW–Madison Geoscience), with Samuel Pratsch (UW–Madison Extension), Mel Reusche (UW–Madison Geoscience, WGNHS), and Cave of the Mounds managers, were awarded a Wisconsin Idea Collaboration Grant, funded by UW–Madison Extension and the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. Their work aims to increase public awareness about the impacts of climate change by strengthening UW–Madison’s existing collaboration with Cave of the Mounds (Fig. 8). The project team will also work with Cave of the Mounds educational staff to better communicate how Wisconsin’s geology and climate has changed in the past and what this means for the future. Separately, Ian Orland led tours at Cave of the Mounds for three educational groups: earth science students from the College of Menominee Nation, the GLOBE program for high-schoolers, and rising freshman UW-Madison students in the Summer Collegiate Experience program. 

WGNHS/AIPG Internship program. UW–Madison student Shayla Barrera-Skibinski was our 2023 WGNHS/AIPG undergraduate intern (Fig. 9). Under the guidance of WGNHS geologists Sarah Bremmer and Eric Stewart, Shayla successfully completed a 1:12,000-scale geologic map of Mill Bluff State Park. The work provides baseline geologic information on the remarkable bluff features that dot the area, as well as insights into bluff formation. Additionally, Itai Bojdak-Yates, our 2022 intern, published his 1:12,000-scale geologic map of the Dells of the Wisconsin River State Natural Area in 2023. This internship program is funded in part by the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG). 

Publications. Liz Ceperley joined the publication team as Editor in 2023. The team completed peer-review and production of ten new WGNHS publications by WGNHS staff, including four geologic maps. You can find these products, and all our archived publications, in the Publication Catalog on our website. 

Reports 

• • Bremmer, S.E., Ames, C.J., Stewart, E.K., and Haas, L.D., 2023, Evaluating pXRF instrument performance using reference materials: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Open-File Report 2023–01, 81 p., https://doi.org/10.54915/uemr1565. 
  • Hart, D.J., 2023, Geologic carbon sequestration–Assessment of Mid-Continent Rift core porosities and permeabilities in Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Open-File Report 2023–06, 63 p., https://doi.org/10.54915/ftqp5264. 
  • Stokdyk, J.P., Borchardt, M.A., Firnstahl, A.D., Bradbury, K.R., Muldoon, M.A., and Kieke, B., Jr., 2023, Assessing private well contamination in Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette counties–The southwest Wisconsin groundwater and geology study: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Open-File Report 2023–02, 71 p., https://doi.org/10.54915/tbjg5785.  

Maps

• • Bojdak-Yates, I.S., Stewart, E.D., and Bremmer, S.E., 2023, Geologic map of the Dells of the Wisconsin River State Natural Area: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Open-File Report 2023–05, 10 p., 1 pl., scale 1:12,000, https://doi.org/10.54915/bjjd3697. 
  • Bremmer, S.E., Stewart, E.D., Batten, W.G., Kusick, A.R., and McNall, N., 2023, Geologic map of the Fennimore and Mount Hope 7.5-minute quadrangles, Grant County, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Open-File Report 2023–04, 19 p., 1 pl., scale 1:24,000, https://doi.org/10.54915/lmnw3300. 
  • Mode, W.M., Hooyer, T.S., Attig, J.W., Clayton, L., and Rawling, J.E., III, 2023, Quaternary geology of Waupaca County, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Map 508, 8 p., 1 pl., scale 1:100,000, https://doi.org/10.54915/bger3320. 
  • Stewart, E.D., Mauel, S.W., and Batten, W.G., 2023, Geologic map of the Stitzer and western part of the Montfort 7.5-minute quadrangles, Grant County, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Open-File Report 2023–03, 1 pl., scale 1:24,000, https://doi.org/10.54915/icay3440.  

Data Series 

• • Romano, C.R., Parsen, M.J., Sandwick, N.D., McNelly, J.L., and Bradbury, K.R., 2023, Central Sands nitrate and neonicotinoids database: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Data Series 002, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.48358/dwhy7257. 

Educational Materials

• • Carson, E.C., Curry, B.B., Kerr, P.J., and Lusardi, B.A., 2023, The Driftless Area–The extent of unglaciated and similar terrains in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Educational Series 057, 4 p., https://doi.org/10.54915/qapq2678. 
  • Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, 2023, Major landforms of Wisconsin, at https://home.wgnhs.wisc.edu/wisconsin-geology/major-landforms-wisconsin/. 

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WGNHS people during 2023 

Staff

During 2023, WGNHS employed 33 professional staff. We welcomed new staff members Liz Ceperley (Editor), Marlene Flannery (Financial Specialist), Sue Swanson (Director), and Amy Wiersma (our new county-focused Hydrogeologist) and completed a successful search at the end of 2023 for a new Communications and Outreach Specialist, Mel Reusche, who began her position in early 2024. We also said farewell to Mike Parsen, Emily Baker (Hydrogeologists), and Jady Carmichael (Online Content Editor) as they embarked on new adventures. 

Students

In 2023, WGNHS employed 23 student workers who assisted WGNHS staff with a wide variety of tasks. 

WGMAC Members

The Wisconsin Geologic Mapping Advisory Committee (WGMAC) is a group that advises WGNHS on local, regional, and statewide geological mapping needs for Wisconsin. WGMAC meets annually to review and approve mapping plans that WGNHS then proposes to grant programs within the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. 

 

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