Wiggers, R. 1997, Geology Underfoot in Illinois, Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula, Montana.
Bates, R. and Jackson, J. 1984, Dictionary of Geological Terms, 3rd ed., Doubleday, New York, New York.
Strahler, A. and Strahler A. 1994, Introducing Physical Geography, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, New York.
Singer, M. and Munns, D. 1991, Soils, An Introduction, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, New York.
Willman, H. and Frye, J. 1970, Pleistocene Stratigraphy of Illinois, Bulletin 94, Illinois State Geological Survey, Urbana, Illinois.
Department of Natural Resources, Buffalo Rock State Park Visitor's Guide, Springfield, Illinois.
National Park Services, Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Pamphlet.
US Army Corps of Engineers, Illinois Waterway Visitor's Guide, Rock Island District.
Anthracite: Coal of the highest metamorphic rank, in which fixed-carbon content is between 92% and 98%.
Anticline: A fold, generally convex upward, whose core contains the stratigraphically older rocks.
Bituminous Coal: Coal that contains more than 14% volatile matter and has a calorific value of more than 11,500 BTU/lb.
Canal: A channel of water built by man.
Clay: A detrital mineral particle of any composition having a diameter less than 4 microns.
Coal: A readily combustible rock containing more than 50% by weight and more than 70% by volume of carbonaceous material including inherent moisture, formed from compaction and infiltration of variously altered plant remains similar to those in peat.
Coal Seam: A stratum or bed of coal.
Deposition: The laying down of rock-forming material by any natural agent.
Differential Weathering: Weathering that occurs at different rates, as a result of variations in composition and resistance of rocks, usually resulting in an uneven surface.
Erosion: The wearing-away of soil and rock by weathering, mass wasting, and the action of streams, glaciers, waves, wind and underground water.
Lignite: A brownish-black coal that is intermediate in coalification between peat and sub-bituminous coal.
Lock: A channel where the water rises and falls to allow boats to travel a dammed river.
Megawatt: One million watts.
pH: The negative log10 of the hydrogen ion activity in solution; a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution.
Peat: An unconsolidated deposit of semi-carbonized plant remains in a water-saturated environment such as a bog, of persistently high moisture content (at least 75%).
Quartz: Crystalline silica, an important rock-forming mineral, SiO2.
Sandstone: A clastic sedimentary rock composed of grains of sand size set in a matrix of silt or clay and more or less firmly united by a cementing material (commonly silica, iron oxide, or calcium carbonate).
Sub-bituminous Coal: A black coal, intermediate in rank between lignite and bituminous coal.
Syncline: A fold of which the core contains the stratigraphically younger rocks; it is generally concave upward.
Tainter Gate: A type of dam gate, used to keep river levels at a navigable.
Watt: A unit of power measured in Joules per second
| Introduction | Lock and Dam | Starved Rock | French Canyon |
| Human History | Buffalo Rock | Extensions for the Teacher | HOME |