Further Explorations into Ohio's Fractured Environment: Introduction to The Ohio Journal of Science's Second Special Issue on Fractures in Ohio's Glacial Tills

This paper summarizes the history of the Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group (OFFWG), describes their activities since the publication of the first special issue of The Ohio Journal of Science in 2000, and references selected recent publications by Ohio researchers, other researchers in the United States, and research efforts internationally. It also serves as an introduction to and overview of this second special issue of The Ohio Journal of Science. DEDICATION. This special issue is dedicated to Jane L. Forsyth and Truman W. Bennett for their foundational contributions to glacial geology and hydrogeology, respectively, and their roles in understanding fractures in unconsolidated (glacial) materials. OHIO J SCI 106 (2):4-8, 2006 Manuscript received 27 December 2005 and in revised form 18 January 2006 (#05-03F). INTRODUCTION This second special issue on fractures of The Ohio Journal of Science comes to publication 13 years after the initial organization of the Ohio Fracture Flow Working Group (OFFWG) who gathered for the first time in March 1993 at The Ohio State University (OSU) to ask each other the fundamental questions “Do you see cracks in the tills?” and “What do they mean?” Functioning as an “ad hoc” research group under the umbrella of the Ohio Academy of Science, this working group was founded on the same basic principles as cooperative extension programs: simultaneous research, education, and outreach. The group has worked to solve and define the “who, what, when, where, why, and how?” of fracture formation and preservation in unconsolidated glacial materials. The solutions to those questions were presented in The Ohio Journal of Science’s first special issue on fractures in Ohio’s glacial tills (Weatherington-Rice and Christy 2000). This second special issue provides more research and documentation for the answers to these basic underlying questions and also takes these questions further to explore the “how fast do fractures form, how long do fractures persist, and how we can plan land use in fractured terrain?” OFFWG Activities since the Last Special Issue