earth science

Thornton Quarry

Thornton Quarry is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Thornton Quarry rather than just read about it. In short: Thornton Quarry is one of the largest aggregate quarries in the world, located in Thornton, Illinois, just south of Chicago. The quarry is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide, and 450 feet (140 m) deep at its deepest point.

Key takeaways

Thornton Quarry belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Thornton Quarry to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thornton Quarry from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Thornton Quarry is one of the largest aggregate quarries in the world, located in Thornton, Illinois, just south of Chicago. The quarry is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) wide, and 450 feet (140 m) deep at its deepest point. Gallagher Asphalt Corporation has been operating on the grounds of the quarry since 1928. A dryland dike carries Interstate 80/Interstate 294/Tri-State Tollway over the quarry.

As part of the Chicago Deep Tunnel project, both Thornton Quarry and McCook Quarry will serve as reservoirs to reduce the backflow of stormwater and sewage from Chicago area rivers into Lake Michigan. Thornton Transitional Reservoir contributes a 3.1-billion-US-gallon (12,000,000 m3) capacity to the system, and is expected to contribute 7.9 billion US gallons (30,000,000 m3) when the system is expected to be completed in 2029. It is estimated that the reservoir will help protect 500,000 people who live in the surrounding 14 suburbs it serves, and will save the city around $40 million worth of damages each year. The quarry contains Silurian reefs which formed when the Michigan Basin was covered in sea water more than 400 million years ago.

History

The first settlers came to Thornton, Illinois, in 1834. Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard received 160 acres (65 ha) of land from Watseka, his Potawatomi wife. In 1836 Hubbard opened the first quarry on Kinzie Street. The site was abandoned because the stone was too deep and of poor quality. Fred Gardner opened a quarry in 1846, and Stephen Crary opened one in 1850. In the early 1900s, Brownell Improvement Company purchased the entire area. Colonel Hodgkins bought the property in 1920. The quarry north of Ridge Road was opened in 1924, and a tunnel connecting the north and south quarries was developed in 1926. Colonel Hodgkins died in 1929, and Brownell repurchased the quarry in 1933. Then in 1938, Material Service Corporation purchased the property and has owned it ever since.

Contract with MWRD The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) contracted to use the quarry for stormwater overflow in 1998 as part of the Deep Tunnel or Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) for the metropolitan area. The Thornton Quarry supplies 7.9 billion gal US of stormwater storage, allowing the water to be treated before release into the waterways.

References

External links "Operation Community Relations". Aggregates Manager. February 2005. Archived from the original on October 19, 2006. "Thornton Transitional Reservoir Storm Water Management" (PDF). Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers, Inc. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2008. Thornton Quarry history Army Corps of Engineers - Chicagoland Underflow Project (CUP) Thornton Reservoir

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thornton Quarry

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thornton Quarry claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Thornton Quarry before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Thornton Quarry ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Thornton Quarry

In research: Thornton Quarry appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Thornton Quarry in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Thornton Quarry is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in Cook County, Illinois, Chicago stubs, Geography of Cook County, Illinois, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thornton Quarry outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Thornton Quarry in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Thornton Quarry means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Thornton Quarry out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thornton Quarry in simple terms?

Why does Thornton Quarry matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Thornton Quarry?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Thornton Quarry.