Buffalo Silver Troy

Keweenaw Peninsula

Geology

Cross-section of the Lake Superior basin showing the tilted strata of volcanic rock that form both the Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale

The oldest and largest lava flow known on Earth is located on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. This volcanic activity produced the only strata on Earth where large scale economically recoverable 97 percent pure native copper is found.

Much of the Native copper found in the Keweenaw comes in either the form of "Native" Copper, which has a lacy consistency, or "Float" Copper, which is found as a solid chunk. The Float copper was created from the glacial movements through the Great Lakes region compacting the naturally forming Native Copper into heavy nuggets. Some of these nuggets can be found in the size of weighing many tons. Copper Ore is then conglomerate stone which copper is laced though out, filling any voids that had once existed.

The Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale, formed by the Midcontinent Rift System, are the only sites in the country where prehistoric aboriginal mining of copper occurred. Artifacts made from this copper by these ancient Indians were traded as far south as present day Alabama.

History

The Keweenaw's rich deposits of copper (and some silver) were extracted on an industrial scale beginning around the middle of the 19th century. The industry grew through the latter part of the century and employed thousands of people well into the 20th century. Hard rock mining in the region ceased in 1967 though copper sulfide deposits continued for some time after in Ontonogan. This vigorous industry created a need for educated mining professionals and directly led in 1885 to the founding of the Michigan Mining School (now Michigan Technological University) in Houghton. Although MTU discontinued its undergraduate mining engineering program in 2006, the university continues to offer engineering degrees in a variety of other disciplines.

Running concurrently with the mining boom in the Keweenaw was the white pine lumber boom. Trees were cut for timbers for mine shafts, to heat the communities around the large copper mines, and to help build a growing nation. Much of the logging at the time was done in winter due to the ease of operability with the snow. Due to the indiscriminant logging practices at that time, the forest of the Keweenaw looks much different today than 100 years ago.

For detailed information on the region's mineralogical history, see the virtual tour of the peninsula written by the Mineralogical Society of America, found in exterior links on this page. Information on the geological formations of the region are also detailed.

From 1964-1971, the University of Michigan cooperated with NASA and the U.S. Navy to run the Keweenaw Rocket launch site.

Communities

A partial list of towns in the Keweenaw Peninsula:

Ahmeek

Atlantic Mine

Bete Grise

Calumet

Chassell

Copper Harbor

Delaware

Dodgeville

Dollar Bay

Dreamland

Eagle Harbor

Eagle River

Freda

Gay

Hancock

Houghton

Hubbell

Hurontown

Lac La Belle

Lake Linden

Lake Medora, Michigan

Laurium

Little Betsy

Mandan

Mason

Mohawk

Osceola

Painesdale

Pelkie

Phoenix

Quincy

Redridge

Ripley

South Range

Tapiola

Toivola

Wyoming (Helltown)

See also

Keweenaw National Historical Park

Thimbleberry

References

^ Exploring the North page on Houghton

^ Public Law 102-543 (Oct. 27, 1992); 106 STAT. 3569

Further reading

Burt, Williams A., and Hubbard, Bela Reports on the Mineral Region of Lake Superior (Buffalo: L. Danforth, 1846), 113 pages.*

Krause, David J. The Making of a Mining District: Keweenaw Native Copper 1500-1870 (1992).

Thurner, Arthur W. Strangers and Sojourners - A History of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula (Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.: Wayne State University Press, 1994) ISBN 0814323960.

External links

Keweenaw Convention & Visitors Bureau

Keweenaw Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

Home of Pasty Central

Keweenaw Rocket Site

Keweenaw Rocket Site history

Copper Country Explorer

Keweenaw Free Guide

v  d  e

 

State of Michigan

Lansing (capital)

Topics

Congressional delegation  Geography  Governors  History  Islands  Legislature  Lieutenant Governors  Lighthouses  Museums  National Historic Landmarks  People  Registered Historic Places  State parks  Supreme Court  Tallest buildings  Timeline  Topics  Visitor attractions

Regions

Upper Peninsula

Copper Country  Keweenaw Peninsula  Gogebic Range

Lower Peninsula

Central Michigan  Southern Michigan  Flint/Tri-Cities  The Thumb  The Greater Tri Cities  Michiana  Northern Michigan  Southeast Michigan  Metro Detroit  West Michigan

Largest

municipalities

Alpena  Ann Arbor  Battle Creek  Bay City  Bloomfield Township  Canton Township  Chesterfield Township  Clinton Township  Commerce Township  Dearborn  Dearborn Heights  Detroit  East Lansing  Eastpointe  Farmington Hills  Flint  Flint Township  Georgetown Township  Grand Rapids  Holland  Jackson  Kalamazoo  Kentwood  Lansing  Lincoln Park  Livonia  Macomb Township  Meridian Township  Midland  Muskegon  Novi  Pontiac  Portage  Redford  Rochester Hills  Roseville  Royal Oak  Saginaw  Saginaw Township  St. Clair Shores  Shelby Township  Southfield  Sterling Heights  Taylor  Troy  Warren  Waterford Township  West Bloomfield  Westland  Wyoming  Ypsilanti Township

Counties

Alcona  Alger  Allegan  Alpena  Antrim  Arenac  Baraga  Barry  Bay  Benzie  Berrien  Branch  Calhoun  Cass  Charlevoix  Cheboygan  Chippewa  Clare  Clinton  Crawford  Delta  Dickinson  Eaton  Emmet  Genesee  Gladwin  Gogebic  Grand Traverse  Gratiot  Hillsdale  Houghton  Huron  Ingham  Ionia  Iosco  Iron  Isabella  Jackson  Kalamazoo  Kalkaska  Kent  Keweenaw  Lake  Lapeer  Leelanau  Lenawee  Livingston  Luce  Mackinac  Macomb  Manistee  Marquette  Mason  Mecosta  Menominee  Midland  Missaukee  Monroe  Montcalm  Montmorency  Muskegon  Newaygo  Oakland  Oceana  Ogemaw  Ontonagon  Osceola  Oscoda  Otsego  Ottawa  Presque Isle  Roscommon  Saginaw  Sanilac  Schoolcraft  Shiawassee  St. Clair  St. Joseph  Tuscola  Van Buren  Washtenaw  Wayne  Wexford

Coordinates: 4715 8820 / 47.25N 88.333W / 47.25; -88.333

Categories: Copper | Peninsulas of Michigan | Regions of Michigan | Upper Peninsula of Michigan | Houghton County, Michigan | Keweenaw County, Michigan | Volcanism of Michigan | Rift volcanism | Extinct volcanism
About the Author

I am an expert from China Crafts Suppliers, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as camping cook sets , turkey fryer recipe.

If you are looking for a different item here are a list of related products on Coin Silver, please check out the following:

• Buffalo Silver Troy
• German Silver Maple
• Silver Layered Australia
• Troy 999 Silver Maple Leaf
• Peace Silver Dollars 1934
• Hawaii Silver Quarter
• Coin Silver Mercury
• Rare Silver Damma