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Joseph T. Mengel, Jr. Collection: Series 4: Research & Career

Scope & Content Note

Contains research and professional papers from Joseph T. Mengel, Jr.'s long career as a geologist. Though his early career includes work for Mobil Oil Company in Billings, Montana, and his later career in geological consulting includes projects in southern Minnesota, the majority of Mengel’s research focuses on the western Lake Superior region. Of particular significance are his thesis on Lake Superior iron-bearing formations, and his extensive work with the Douglas County red clay project in the 1970s.

Contents List

Box 6:

Folder 1: Resumes and Qualifications

Folder 2: Clippings

Folder 3: Correspondence – Geological Society of America

Folder 4: Correspondence – Notes, Miscellaneous

Folder 5: Correspondence – Notes, Miscellaneous

Folder 6: Correspondence – UW-Superior

Folder 7: Correspondence – UW-Superior – Teaching – Course preparation notes for “Geology of the Lake Superior region with emphasis on iron ores and other economic deposits,” c.a. early 1970s

Folder 8: Thesis – Correspondence

Folder 9: Thesis – Research and Notes

Folder 10: Thesis – Research and Notes

Folder 11: Thesis – Research and Notes – Data Sheets

Folder 12: Thesis – Proposed Doctoral Thesis, “A study of the Middle Devonian Winnipegosis formation in the northern great plains.”

Folder 13: Thesis – Prospectus of Proposed Doctoral Thesis on the granule-bearing cherts of the Lake Superior region

Box 7:

Folder 1: Thesis – “The cherts of the Lake Superior iron-bearing formations,” 1963 (final)

Folder 2: Professional Papers and Publications – “A practical supplement to physical geology,” with F.J. Moretti, D.H. Freas, and R.S. Harris, 1956

Folder 3: Professional Papers and Publications – 10th Annual Institute on Lake Superior Geology, 1964 – “Some sedimentary interpretations of granule size distributions in the Lake Superior iron formations”

Folder 4: Professional Papers and Publications – “The geology of the south range quadrangle, Douglas County, Wisconsin,” with R.W. Johnson (student), 1969

Folder 5: Professional Papers and Publications – First Annual Wisconsin State University Geological Field Conference, 1969

Folder 6: Professional Papers and Publications – “Geology of the western Lake Superior region,” 1969

Folder 7: Professional Papers and Publications – “Geology of the western Lake Superior region: a guide for visitors,” 1970

Folder 8: Professional Papers and Publications – Guidebook for the 35th Annual Tri State Geological Field Conference, Oct. 1-2, 1971

Folder 9: Professional Papers and Publications – 17th Annual Institute on Lake Superior Geology, 1971 – “Exploration geology of Douglas County,” with R.A. Hendrickson

Folder 10: Professional Papers and Publications – Heidelberg talk, 1971 (slides)

Box 8:

Folder 1: Professional Papers and Publications – “Report on two level marsh in Sawyer County, Wisconsin,” 1971. District 8 Soils Section, Wisconsin Division of Highways

Folder 2: Professional Papers and Publications – “Physical sedimentation in Precambrian cherty iron formations of the Lake Superior type,” 1973

Folder 3: Professional Papers and Publications – “The geological environment of the Superior area, Douglas County, Wisconsin,” 1973 – Draft

Folder 4: Professional Papers and Publications – Statement before the International Joint Commission, 1974 (related to red clay project)

Folder 5: Professional Papers and Publications – “Stability of rock masses on east side of Rocky Gorge, Manitou Falls area, Pattison State Park,” [1975]

Folder 6: Professional Papers and Publications – “The University of Wisconsin-Superior in the 1970’s and early 1980’s: a pilot numerical portrait,” 1979

Folder 7: Professional Papers and Publications – “Geologic history and engineering geology of the western Lake Superior region,” 1979

Folder 8: Professional Papers and Publications – “Speech at university for seniors on the discovery of the Mesabi Iron Range and the subsequent lawsuit ‘Merritt vs. Rockefeller’” UMD, 2007

Folder 9: Professional Papers and Publications – “The geology of Douglas County,” n.d.

Folder 10: Professional Papers and Publications – “Stress analysis for structural geology,” with Frank H. Meyer, n.d. (c.a. 1970s)

Folder 11: Projects – Mobil Oil Company, Montana, 1955-1961 – Correspondence

Folder 12: Projects – Mobil Oil Company, Montana, 1955-1961 – Notes and Data

Folder 13: Projects – Mobil Oil Company, Montana, 1955-1961 – Reports

Folder 14: Projects – Mobil Oil Company, Montana, 1955-1961 – Reports – “Subsurface water conditions and their effect on oil accumulations in part of the northern Rocky Mountain area,” Phil A. Mund & G.G. Cooper, 1957

Folder 15: Projects – Mobil Oil Company, Montana, 1955-1961 – Reports – “Siliceous sinter sediments,” with R.M. Steder, 1959

Folder 16: Projects – Mobil Oil Company, Montana, 1955-1961 – Personal writing, narrative concerning the people of Powder River County, Montana

Folder 17: Projects – Douglas County Copper Deposits – Bear Creek Mining Company Drill Logs, 1959-1960

Folder 18: Projects – Douglas County Copper Deposits – Maps

Box 9:

Folder 1: Projects – Reserve Mining Case, 1970s

Folder 2: Projects – Shoreline Erosion Project, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, 1975

Folder 3: Projects – Investment and Population Research, 1980s

Folder 4: Projects – Investment and Population Research – “An informal base for visualizing ordinary life investment behavior in personal financial planning,” 1988

Folder 5: Projects – Pine Bend Landfill, 1992

Folder 6: Projects – Nemadji River Basin Project –“Executive summary report: erosion and sedimentation in the Nemadji River basin,” January 1998

Folder 7: Projects – “A report to the Woods’s Community,” Aug. 1, 1998, Eden Prairie

Folder 8: Projects – Section 111 Minnesota Point Erosion Study – Correspondence

Folder 9: Projects – Section 111 Minnesota Point Erosion Study – Detailed Project Report, Nov. 1974

Folder 10: Projects – Section 111 Minnesota Point Erosion Study –Draft Detailed Project Report, Jan. 2000

Folder 11: Projects – Williston Basin, North Dakota Aeromagnetic Contour Maps (Annotated), n.d.

Folder 12: Consulting – Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 1980s

Folder 13: Consulting – Geraghty and Miller, Inc. [1980s-1990s]

Folder 14: Consulting – Northwest Earth Management Consultants [1990s]

Folder 15: Consulting – Merritt, Furber and Timmer, 1990s

Folder 16: Consulting – Merritt, Furber and Timmer – Dan’s Diner (groundwater contamination)

Folder 17: Consulting – Merritt, Furber and Timmer – Osbourne Case (Maki Swamp)

Folder 18: Consulting – RME Corporation, 2007

Box 10:

Folder 1: Professional Papers and Publications – Presentation slides (glass lantern slides), n.d.

Folder 2: Red Clay Project – Project Prospectus, Drafts

Folder 3: Red Clay Project – Memorandum of Understanding, Control and Management of Development within Red Clay Areas

Folder 4: Red Clay Project – Data – Notes

Folder 5: Red Clay Project – Data – Notes

Folder 6: Red Clay Project – Data – River Drainage

Folder 7: Red Clay Project – Data – Clay Slope Profiles

Folder 8: Red Clay Project – Data – Clay Slope Data, various rivers

Folder 9: Red Clay Project – Data – Clay Slope Data

– Little Balsam

-- Lakeside Terrace Mobile Home Park

Folder 10: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs

--Northwestern Hanna Dock #1

--Proposed LPG Facility, Dome Petroleum Corp.

--Superior Water, Light, and Power Company

--Proposed LPG Storage Facility, Dome Petroleum Corp.

Folder 11: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs

--Proposed Pellet Handling Facilities, Burlington-Northern

--Proposed Deck and Bin Area, Burlington-Northern Pellet Handling Facility

Folder 12: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Initial Project Report: Soil Borings, Proposed Pellet Handling Facility, Burlington-Northern

Folder 13: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs

--Proposed Pellet Handling Facilities, Burlington-Northern

--Correspondence, Burlington-Northern

--Proposed Deck Improvements, Farmers’ Union G.T.A. (Grain Terminal Association)

Folder 14: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs

--Proposed Pellet Gransfer [sic] Facility, Great Northern Railway Co.

--Pellet Storage Area, Great Northern Railway Co.

--Proposed Pellet Handling Facilities, Great Northern Railway Co.

Folder 15: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs

--Existing Steel Tanks 2 and 6, Farmers’ Union G.T.A. (Grain Terminal Association)

--Proposed Frontage Improvement (Sheet Piling), Farmers’ Union G.T.A.

--Proposed Dock Improvements, Farmers’ Union G.T.A.

--Proposed Gallery and Sheet Piling, Farmers’ Union G.T.A.

--Proposed Steel Tanks, Farmers’ Union G.T.A.

--Proposed Grain Storage Facilities

Folder 16: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs – Little Balsam Creek

Folder 17: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Geophysical Reports

Folder 18: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Tests

Folder 19: Red Clay Project – Data – Soils Report, Test Fill, Elm Creek Dam site

Folder 20: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Tests

Folder 21: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs

--Ventral Exposed Clay Banks, Moccasin Mike Beach

--Road Way Boring, NW ¼ SW ¼ Section 10

Folder 22: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Tests

Folder 23: Red Clay Project – Data – “A comparison of red clay glacio-lacustrine sediments in northern and eastern Wisconsin”

Folder 24: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Tests

--Data Tabulation Sheets

--Test fill, Skunk Creek Watershed

Folder 25: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Tests – Elim Creek Dam

Folder 26: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs – Little Balsam Creek

Folder 27: Red Clay Project – Data – Subsurface Investigation for Proposed Expansion of LPG Storage Facility, Dome Petroleum Corp., Final Results

Folder 28: Red Clay Project – Data – Report and Soil Tests – Elim Creek Dam

Folder 29: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Tests – Little Balsam Creek

Folder 30: Red Clay Project – Data – Correspondence and data regarding Wisconsin Point Landfill, City Planning and Development

Folder 31: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Field Boring Logs –Boring No. 1-25

Folder 32: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Field Boring Logs –Boring No. 26-45

Folder 33: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Field Boring Logs –Boring No. 4127-5241 (some missing)

Folder 34: Red Clay Project – Data – Cross Section notes

Folder 35: Red Clay Project – Data – Clay Slope Diagrams

Folder 36: Red Clay Project – Data – Miscellaneous notes and diagrams

Folder 37: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs – Proposed 10 Story High Rise, 49th and Grand Avenue, Duluth, Minnesota

Folder 38: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Diagrams of wells – Superior, South Superior, Allouez Bay

Folder 39: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Diagrams of wells – Various locations

Folder 40: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs – Superior Bay, Allouez Bay, St. Louis Bay, Howards Pocket

Folder 41: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Tests

Folder 42: Red Clay Project – Data – Notes on Slope Stability

Folder 43: Red Clay Project – Data – Cross Section Notes & Diagrams, various locations

Folder 44: Red Clay Project – Data – Cross Section Notes & Diagrams, various locations

Folder 45: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Charts, Average Penetrometer Strength/Depth Beneath Upland Surface

Folder 46: Red Clay Project – Data – Test Boring – Logs – Rice’s Point

Folder 47: Red Clay Project – Data – Soil Test Results, Superior Interstate Bridge, 1959

Folder 48: Red Clay Project – Data – Correspondence and Boring Logs, Proposed Duluth Dock and Transit Co. Warehouse, 1959

Folder 49: Red Clay Project – Maps

Folder 50: Red Clay Project – Maps

Folder 51: Red Clay Project – Maps – Douglas County Red Clay District (annotated)

Folder 52: Red Clay Project – Maps – Moccasin Mike Region and Wisconsin Point (landfill)

Folder 53: Red Clay Project – Maps – Annotated Topographic Maps

Folder 54: Red Clay Project – Aerial Photographs, Wisconsin Point area

Folder 55: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “Photogrammetry” by Rachel J. Hintze

Folder 56: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – Soil Testing Technical Institute Laboratory Tests (Madison, 1977)

Folder 57: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “Determination of mineralogical and physio-chemical properties of Wisconsin soils” (UW-Milwaukee)

Folder 58: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “The mineralogy of the red clay and its relation to slope stability in Douglas County, Wisconsin” by David C. Meyers, 1977 (thesis, Master of Science)

Box 11:

Folder 1: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “Slope stability, Douglas County red clay area, Wisconsin” – Notes, preparatory materials, drafts

Folder 2: Red Clay Project—Reports and Publications – “Geology and slope stability, Douglas County red clay area, Wisconsin,” by Joseph T. Mengel, 1974 (first draft)

Folder 3: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “Slope stability, Douglas County red clay area, Wisconsin,” by Joseph T. Mengel, 1976

Folder 4: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “Red clay erosion demonstration research, third quarterly report,” 1976

Folder 5: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – Second Annual Report, 1976

Folder 6: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – Newsletter of the Red Clay Project

Folder 7: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – Presentation Slides, Joseph T. Mengel, Jr.

Folder 8: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “Red clay slope stability factors, Little Balsam Creek drainage 92 degrees 15’ W, 45 degrees 30’ N, Final Report,” 1976

Folder 9: Red Clay Project – Reports and Publications – “Red clay slope stability factors, Little Balsam Creek drainage 92 degrees 15’ W, 45 degrees 30’ N, Final Report,” 1976 (bound copy)

Box 12:

Roll 1: Maps

               -- Location Key: Samples of Douglas County Basalts and Associated Rock Types

               --Map of the City of Superior [annotated]

               --[Map of Eden Prairie area]

Roll 2: Red Clay Project – Maps – Idealized Surficial Geology for Slope Stability Evaluation, Red Clay Area, Douglas County, WI, 1978 (3 copies, plus 1 hand-drawn draft)

Roll 3: Red Clay Project – Maps

                --Douglas County Red Clay District

                --[Contour map, Fond du Lac area]

                --Near-Surface Geology, Superior and Vicinity, Douglas County, WI (2 copies, annotated)

Roll 4: Red Clay Project – Maps

                --Hardpan Elevation, Douglas County

                --Western Lake Superior Basin

                --[Hand-drawn contour map]

Box 13:

Roll 1: Red Clay Project – Maps

                -- [Douglas County maps showing waterways (2 sheets)]

                -- [Douglas County map showing location of sandstone, sand, gravel, drift, trap]

Roll 2: Red Clay Project – Maps – Duluth-Superior “Superior Plain” map and overlays

Roll 3: Red Clay Project – Maps – Douglas County map with three overlays: Overburden Thickness; Bed Rock Elevation; and Bed Rock Geology

Roll 4: Red Clay Project – Maps

-- Lake Superior Basin. Thompson Formation; Bayfield Group-Orienta Formation; St. Croix Horst, Ballast-Gabbro Sequence; Lake Superior Syncline

  -- Mineral Deposits & Geology of the Western Lake Superior Region and Northern Wisconsin

Box 14:

Roll 1: Annotated Topographic Maps

-- Lake Nebagamon Quadrangle, 1961

-- Cloverland, WIS. Quadrangle, 1961

-- Poplar NE Quadrangle, 1954

Roll 2: Annotated Topographic Maps

-- Poplar, WIS. Quadrangle, 1954

-- Parkland, WIS. – MINN., 1954

-- South Range, WIS., 1954

Roll 3: Projects – Pine Bend Landfill – Maps – Inver Grove Heights, MN

            -- Figure 1, Sand & Gravel Thickness. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982

-- Figure 2, Water Pressure – Sand & Gravel. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982

-- Figure 3, Water Pressure – Prairie du Chien Limerock. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982

Roll 4: Projects – Pine Bend Landfill – Maps – Inver Grove Heights, MN

-- Figure 4, Water Pressure – Jordan Sandstone. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982

-- Figure 5, Paleozoic-age Rock Formation Subcrops. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982

Box 15:

Roll 1: Projects – Pine Bend Landfill – Maps – Inver Grove Heights, MN

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN, Artist’s Renditions – Bedrock Geology, North-South Cross-Section and Artist’s Perspective Rendition. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983

-- Official City Map, City of Inver Grove Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota. City Planning Commission, Sept. 22, 1978

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN, Relationship of Proposed Facilities to Topography. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983

Roll 2: Projects – Pine Bend Landfill – Maps – Inver Grove Heights, MN

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN, East-West Topographic Profiles. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN, Surface and Subsurface Materials – Waste Haulage Corridors. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983

Roll 3: Projects – Pine Bend Landfill – Maps – Inver Grove Heights, MN

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983 [showing Mississippi River]

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983 [showing highways and freeways]

Roll 4: Projects – Pine Bend Landfill – Maps – Inver Grove Heights, MN

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN, Stream Flows (Mississippi River at St. Paul). Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983

-- Inver Grove Heights, MN, Topography. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1983

Box 16:

-- Scatter plot, Depth Beneath Upland Surface (in feet) and Moisture Content as % Dry Weight [possibly related to Red Clay Project]

-- Projects – Pine Bend Landfill -- Inver Grove Heights, MN, Wind Rose at STH 55-US52, Hourly Observations, 1980 (MPCA). Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982 – sketch and finished drawing (2 sheets)

-- Projects – Pine Bend Landfill – Maps -- City of Inver Grove Heights, Dakota County, Minnesota. Land Use Guide Plan, May 1980

-- Projects – Pine Bend Landfill -- Inver Grove Heights, MN, Magnitude and Frequency of Low Flows, Mississippi River at St. Paul. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982

 -- Projects – Pine Bend Landfill -- Proposed Hazardous Waste Incinerator Sites. Northwest Earth Management Consultants, Inc., 1982

-- Projects – Pine Bend Landfill -- Near-Surface Sedimentary Rock Sequence, Twin Cities Area

Series 4: Research & Career

Physical Description: 8.25 linear feet (5 AB, 1 RC, 4 rolled storage boxes, 1 flat file)

Processed by: Shana Aue