Adena Brook Ravine, Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, USAi

Regional Level Types
Adena Brook Ravine	Ravine
Columbus	- not defined -
Franklin County	County
Ohio	State
USA	Country

Adena Brook Ravine is one of a series of ravines that drain into the Olentangy River in the City of Columbus. All of these ravines cut into the Ohio Shale, found in the Devonian bedrock exposed in a strip in the center of Ohio, running from Adams/Scioto counties in the south, up through the heavily populated counties along the shore of Lake Erie.

Sources describing minerals in the Ohio Shale in the northern part of the state can be applied to the Ohio Shale in general: it is a similar geology. Thus a similar pattern of mineralized concretions (containing ferroan dolomite, calcite, quartz, barite, and aragonite), pyrite disks, and mineral efflorescences (alunogen, botryogen, copiapite, epsomite, gypsum, hexahydrite, melanterite, ferroan pickeringite, and rozenite) can be found in central Ohio exposures of the Ohio shale. In addition, chert nodules weathered out of limestone can be found in the stream beds.

Adena Brook Ravine runs about 2 miles from I-71 west to the Olentangy River. It is easily accessible at Whetstone Park (the lat/long below). Moving east, as you approach High St., the brook is channeled, then runs in a tunnel under High St. On the East side of High the brook runs through a pleasant shallow valley, and ends near I-71. An Adena Culture (800BC-100AD) earthwork was located on the south side of Adena Brook, near Indianola Ave. (bones and tools were found during home construction in the 1950s). The earthwork was destroyed.

Concretions, with associated calcite, barite, and quartz, as well as pyrite and marcasite concretions occur in the exposed shale, and chunks of concretions can be found in the stream bed. Efflorescences from the breakdown of pyrite in the Ohio Shale coat some of the exposed shale. Chert nodules are also common, the "whetstone" commemorated in the park name, and the original name of the Olentangy River. Some interesting glacial erratics can also be found in the stream.

This is an urban site, and a popular dog walking area (in Whetstone Park). Between High St. and Indianola Ave. the Brook runs through a residential area (although the houses are built far back from the Brook).

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References