Center Furnace Quarry EarthCache
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This Earthcache will take you to the historic quarry for the Center Furnace and Empire Furnace used in the iron-making process that occured in this area between 1843 and 1912. You will be exposed to the purpose of this quarry and a geology lesson, too.
TASKS:
A. Select the "trailhound1" link at the top of the page and send the answers to the following questions. Please do not include the answers in your post log.
Onsite:
1) Along the trail your are standing, how many "quarry" pits like the picture above do you see?
2) Estimate the height, width, and depth of one of the quarry pits in feet. Then calculate the amount of ore extracted (H x W X D x 0.78 tons per cubit feet).
3) Look at the limestone ledge. Describe the type of limestone seen and any embedded fossils.
Visit the Center Furnace Kiosk. Answer the following questions.
4) What color of ore was predominately used and what percentage of iron was it composed.
5) What is the "recipe" for iron production.
B. Optional (but greatly appreciated): Take a photo of you (and your group) at the ruins of the Center Furnace.
IRON MADE HERE
Empire Furnace stood 2 miles east of the posted coordinates on the banks of the Cumberland River. Its ruins lie beneath Lake Barkley. Built in 1843 by Thomas Tennessee Watson, it was a brick stack with a maximum inner diameter of 9 1/2 feet and 35 feet tall. Pig iron production was transferred to Center Furnace in 1861 because of floods and Civil War military action along the river. Dr. Watson died in 1846. He was initially buried at the site of Empire. Later, with the impoundment of Lake Barkley in the 1960's, his grave was moved to a site located above the Center Furnace ruins.
Center Furnace, sometimes called Hematite, was built by Daniel Hillman, 0.1 miles to the west of the posted coordinates. Hillman had it built half way between Fulton Furnace, to the north, and Empire Furnace, to the east. It was a brick stack with a maximum inner diameter of 10 feet and 35 feet tall. Center was operated, although not continuously, until 1912. The ruins are all that remain. You can take a tour of the iron industry on the Center Furnace Trail located at the top of the hill behind the remains.
Quarry - Limestone was dug by pick and shovel from shallow deposits in the hill side along this stretch of the Woodlands Trail. Limestone had many uses in this area. Some of it was cut into foundation stones for buildings and the iron furnaces. Most was added to iron ore as flux to remove impurities. The limestone was hauled to the furnace by ox cart, then broken into small pieces so it would melt more quickly. Some was even used to "pave roads" and to build this trail.
AREA GEOLOGY
Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is an interior peninsula with the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers watershed. The area at which you are currently visiting is at the western edge of the Mississippian (Pennyroyal) Plateau of Kentucky. The bedrock is cherty limestone of the Mississippian Period (354 - 323 million years ago). Early during this time LBL was south of the equator and covered by a shallow tropical sea. Surface exposures are uncommon in the area except along waterways, such as riverbanks and creekbeds, where it was quarried.
Two distinct limestones are present in this portion of LBL - St. Louis and Warsaw. St. Louis is a fine-grained, grayish limestone with nodules and blocks of yellowish chert, chalky in appearance, usually in a sandy clay matrix. Warsaw is a medium gray, fine- to coarse-grain limestone. The limestone in the area was well-suited for its use, because it contained no phosphoric acid. It would have been better if contained less sulfurinc acid.
Iron ore in this area is of two types: "limonite" and "pig iron" . Limonnite (hematite) is a soft ore of red, yellow, and brown colors in thick irregularrly curved layers. Pig Iron, or white iron, is very brittle; quite light in color and in a semi-crystalline state in fractured surfaces.
1. Geocache is placed on LBL managed property with permission.
2. It is the visitors responsibility or orient themselves with policies and rules pertaining to this Department managed site.
3. Do Not climb on any structures, natural or man-made. Take only pictures; leave all artifacts where you find them. Both are ILLEGAL!!!
4. Please gauge your own abilities carefully.
Additional Hints
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