"Rock In" Down The Highway Earthcache
A
cache
by chstress53
Hidden:
3/1/2005
Size:
 (Not chosen)
Difficulty: 
Terrain: 
(1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)
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This virtual cache is an exploration / driving tour
highlighting features of NJ’s Geologic History. There is no
specific order that must be followed to complete this cache. The
posted coordinates are a suggested place to start. To log a find
for this Earthcache you must visit at least 2 of the posted
locations within all 5 of NJ’s physiographic
regions. |
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Valley & Ridge, Highlands, Piedmont, Inner
Coastal Plain, & Outer Coastal
Plain |
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To log a find you must
post: |
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The name of
each physiographic location visited along with its
region. |
| • |
At least 1
photo from each region. (Minimum of 5
required) |
| • |
Describe in
an email what you the physiographic location i.e.tell about the
soils, minerals, rocks, landforms, waterfalls, historic sites or
museums etc. |
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| Although one
of the smallest states, New Jersey has a wealth of geological
features--from billion year old rocks formed during continental
collision to recent sediments deposited along the modern
shorelines. NJ is divided into 5 separate geological provinces or
physiographic regions: Valley & Ridge,
Highlands, Piedmont, Inner Coastal Plain, & Outer Coastal
Plain. |
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All 3 Periods
of the Mesozoica Era, Triassic, Jurrassic, & Cretaceaous
periods are well represented in NJ within these geological
provinces. So how are these regions/provinces broken up? The Ridge
& Valley lies in the far northwest corner and is considered
part of the Appalacion Mountains. These Mountains slope southwest
into the rolling hills of the Piedmont, an area of dozens of small
lakes and rolling valleys. All that part of NJ which lies southeast
of this area lies in the 2 coastal plains. These regions include
portions of Middlesex & Mercer Counties and all of the Counties
further south and east. In general the surfaces of the coastal
plains are low flat plains that rise gradually from sea level along
the coast to the Piedmont plain. Over ½ of this area lies below 100
‘, except for the Rancocas Creek Drainage which consists of cuestos
or ridges of low hills. The slope to the Atlantic Ocean east of the
cuestos & ridges make up the Outer Coastal Plain. The slope
west of the hills is called the Inner Coastal Plain. About 140 –
100 Million years ago these coastal regions were covered by oceans.
As a result; during the Cretaceous & Tertiary Periods of the
Mesozic Era the coastal plains became deposits of silts, sands,
clays, greensands, & marls. Nearly all of these deposits
contain fossils of marine
animals. |
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| Outer Coastal Plain
Province |
| The most noted area of this region is the Pine
Barrens. The highest elevation is at Apple Pie Hill & the next
highest is the Forked River Mountain. After the oceans retreated
during the Pleistocene Epoch which began 1 million years ago; there
were major ice advances. During this time the land was sub-artic
tundra and was greatly changed by sands & gravels deposited by
streams leading away from the retreating ice in North Jersey. A
major effect of this was the deposition of yellow sands and
gravels. These soils are sandy, sedimentary deposits. There are 13
major types: Lakewood, Evesboro, Woodmansie, Downer, Sassafras,
Aura, Lakehurst, Klej, Hammonton, Atsion, Berryland, Pocomoke &
Muck. Look at this map of NJ. Can you guess where you might locate
some of these soil types? Nearly all of these sands contain 90%
Quartz. Other minerals are the feldspars, oxides, aluminum, &
iron. |
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Outer Coastal Plain Province
Locations: |
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Apple Pie Hill |
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N39°48.439
W74°35.377 |
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Forked River
Mountain |
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N39°50.865
W74°17.336 |
| • |
Island Beach State
Park |
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N39°47.136
W74°05.688 |
| • |
Cape May Point (Sunset
Beach) |
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N38°56.666
W74°58.204 |
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Penn State Forest |
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N39°43.882
W74°29.316 |
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Oswego River |
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N39°42.228
W74°31.630 |
| Cape May Diamonds |
| The Native peoples were the first to find the
fascinating and beautiful stones now known as "Cape May Diamonds."
The Native Americans came to believe that these curious stones
possessed supernatural power bringing success and good fortune.
"Cape May Diamonds" are pure quartz crystals and are found in a
variety of sizes and colors. The actual source of these amazing
gems is in the faraway upper reaches of the Delaware River. Pieces
of quartz crystal are eroded and broken off from veins and pockets
by the swift running waters of streams. Then begins the some 200
mile journey that takes thousands of years to complete. The strong
tidal flow against the hulk of the sunken concrete ship "Atlantus"
is the cause for them to wash ashore in such great
abundance. |
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| Inner Coastal Plain
Province |
| The Inner Coastal Plain is comprised of several
formations that are made up of sands, silts, clays, and marls that
were laid down mostly during the Late Cretaceous. During the 40
million years of its formation, the Inner Coastal Plain experienced
several oscillations of the rising (transgressions) and falling
(regressions) of the sea level. This rising and falling cycle
deposited the formations into three different shelf regions. These
are the inner, middle, and outer shelf. |
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Inner Coastal Plain Province
Locations: |
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Arney’s Mount |
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N40°00.586
W74°41.804 |
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Trenton Hamilton Marsh |
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N40°11.458 W74°43.679 |
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Haddonfield |
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N39°54.577 W75°01.751 |
| • |
Mount Holly Mount |
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N40°00.152 W74°47.301 |
| A dinosaur was
discovered |
| It
was found in a marl pit in 1858 and was the first complete dinosaur
skeleton found in N America or for that matter anywhere in the
world. Realizing the significance of his find William
Parker Foulke asked Joseph Leidy and Isaac Lea of the Academy
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia to evaluate it. Leidy's
reconstruction of this skeleton revolutionized the understanding of
dinosaurs. Today this site has become a National Historic landmark
in Haddonfield. |
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| Piedmont Province |
| The Piedmont Province is a result of times of
change. Sedimentary and igneous rocks, of the Triassic & the
Jurassic accumulated in a large sedimentary basin known as the
Newark rift basin. This basin formed during the breakup of the
super continent of Pangea. A narrow sliver of Precambrian rocks is
exposed in southern Mercer county. The Watchung Mountains are
underlain by basalt; the Palisades, and Rocky Hill are underlain by
diabase. The Piedmont generally has low relief--rolling hills and
the like. The formations are mostly sedimentary rocks like
sandstone, siltstone, shale, & conglomerates. Then there are
the igneous rocks basalt & diabase that help form the geologic
bedrocks. There is an outcrop in Prallsville that is more
sandstone.. In contrast are boulders, like several that can be
found in the Passic Formation. These boulders are known as erratics
a harder resistant rock which transplanted from distant terrains.
In some places, such as Milford, along the DSR, the rocks are less
red and are called conglomerates. The typical basalt is dark red.
This type is called igneous and is actually solidified lava. A
similar rock is diabase formed from underground magma. Along the
portion of the road north of Milford along the DSR lie walled
outcrops of conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones, & shales.
Dinosaur fossils of the Piedmont are 150 million yrs older than
Hadrosaurus foulkii. Most of these are footprints of
Anchisaurripus, Atricipus, Eubrontes, Gallator, & Rhynchosau.
There is a footprint of Eubrontes on display at the NJ State
Museum. |
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Piedmont Province
Locations: |
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Eagle Rock Reservation |
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N40°48.214
W74°14.372 |
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Prallsville (RT 29) |
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N40°24.644
W74°59.199 |
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Watchung Resercvation (Trailside Nature
Center) |
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N40°40.271
W74°37.218 |
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N40°41.001
W74°22.415 |
| • |
Sourland Mountain |
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(This mountain
Range actually extends to the Delaware
River) |
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A typical
Piedmont ridge formed by a very hard igneous rock called diabase or
"Trap Rock."
The Sourland Mountain ends at the Delaware River below Goat Hill,
looking south from the Lambertville toll bridge. To the south and
north, diabase, shale, and argillite occurs, and these rocks form
the lower lands we know of as Pleasant
Valley. |
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N40°22.810
W74°56.968 |
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• |
Sergentsville Covered Bridge |
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Wickecheoke
Creek is fourteen miles long and drains a 26.57-square-mile
watershed into the Delaware River at approximately N40° 24.376 and
W74° 59 15.97 The watershed is underlain by poorly drained
Lockatong argillite, a lake bottom deposit formed during the
Triassic period, while the lower half is underlain by Stockton
sandstone. |
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N40°26.640
W74°57.964 |
| • |
Buttermilk Falls |
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N40°57.069 W74
11.510 |
| • |
NJ State Museum |
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N40°13.261
W74°46.323 |
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Rutgers Geology Museum |
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N40°29.909
W74°26.797 |
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| Ridge & Valley
Province |
| The Valley and Ridge like its name implies, consists
of alternating linear or curvilinear valleys and ridges of moderate
relief. This is the eroded remnants of the Appalachian mountain
system, which, when it formed over 300 million years ago, probably
looked very much like the present-day Himalayas This province is
characterized by widely varied topography ranging from the towering
Kittatinny ridge to the sinkhole ponds and swamps of the limestone
region. Within this area, the ridge is primarily composed of a hard
quartzite conglomerate and sandstone caprock overlying shale. This
shale was laid down during the Ordovician (470 million years ago),
and the conglomerate was laid down in the Silurian (about 420
million years ago); both sedimentary rock layers were subsequently
folded and uplifted during the Permian (about 270 million years
ago) to their present position and angle with a pronounced dip to
the northwest, resulting in prominent cliffs on the east side of
the ridge and more gentle slopes on the west side. On the
Kittatinny Ridge at the southern end, the conglomerate caprock is
narrower and confined to the eastern part of the ridge. with
increasing amounts of limestone on the western slopes along the
Delaware River. |
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Ridge & Valley
Locations: |
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Worthington State Park |
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N40°
59.354
W75°05.488 |
| • |
High Point |
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N41°
19.256 W74°39
690 |
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Buttermilk Falls |
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N41°
08.237
W74°53.306 |
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| Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation Area |
| Delaware Water Gap is one of the best places to see
water at Work. Millions of years ago this was a level plain;
erosion and gradual uplift of the land formed the ridges and
valleys we see today. What is distinctive about this gap is the
beauty of the landscape. Here the river twists in a tight "S" curve
through the Kittatinny Ridge. |
| 1. |
High on top of the
Kittatinny Ridge is a blue lake, Sunfish Pond which is a
National Landmark, a relic of the Wisconsin Glacier (which gouged
out a hollow that later filled with water) around 18,000 years ago.
N41°
00.482
W75°
04.372 |
| 2. |
Sunrise Mtn. -
N41°
13.081
W74°
43.223 |
| 3. |
Bushkill Mtn. -
N41°
06.373
W74°
59.095 |
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| Highland Province |
| This province is similar to the Valley & Ridge
in terms of topography and geology. In fact, the only difference is
that Precambrian metamorphic rocks are present in the Highlands
These rocks are approximately 1 billion years old, they include
gneiss and marble, and were deformed in the Grenville orogeny which
involved the collision of plates in Precambrian time. These
metamorphic rocks were then re-deformed during the same
mountain-building phases that affected the Valley & Ridge
province. The highlands are higher then the Piedmont and are marked
by a fairly abrupt change; an escarpment. It is here that the
Ramapo Fault lies. This fault is a zone that is 3 -6 miles wide and
began forming around the Precambriam time. |
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Highland
Province Locations: |
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Ramapo |
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N41°
04.903
W74°
11.886 |
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Ken Lockwood Gorge |
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N40°
41.822
W74°
52 361 |
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Great Falls |
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N40°
54.950
W74°
10.870 |
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Palisades |
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N40°
59.864
W73°
54.249 |
| • |
Highlands - A |
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N40°
23.153
W73°
59.100 |
| • |
Highlands -
B |
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N40°
23.115
W73°
59.067 |
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| If you have any comments
or if this cache need attention, please email us by clicking
HERE |
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While out geocaching,
bring a bag with you to pick up trash along the way.
Visit the Cache In Trash
Out page to learn more about CITO. |
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Additional Hints (
Decrypt
)
Decryption Key
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
(letter above equals below,
and vice versa)
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Rkgen Perqvg nabgure vagrerfgvat cynpr
Gurer vf n pyvss znqr jvgu netvyyvgr A40 25.646 J075 03.623. Gur nern jurer gur pyvssf ner vf ba Fgngr Cebcregl/Ab gerfcnffvat, fb gurl unir gb or ivrjrq sebz gur ebnq. Gurer vf cnexvat sbe gur Q&E pnany gbjcngu gb gur fbhgu ba Eg 29 ng40 25.451 J075 03.604.
(Decrypted Hints)
Find...
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30 user(s) watching this cache.
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Logged Visits (
21 total. Visit the Gallery (266 images)
)
 12 |  9 |
Warning.
Spoilers may be included in the descriptions or links.
Cache find counts are based on the last time the page generated.
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 August 13 by woolsox (291 found)
I have not visited New Jersey yet, but I have added this site to my personal bucket. Looks like a great site.Woolsox
[view this log] |  July 12 by mblatch (4481 found)
#3778 Finally!!! Made a trip out to visit the final location today so that I could at least log a find for this outstanding earthcache. Like Coastal Craze (GCMQ8F), I decided that I wasn't going to log the cache until I had visited each of the areas that were mentioned in the cache page. I started this quest back in November 2007 and after 20 months, I can finally say "mission accomplished".  From what I can, I am also the first person to accomplish this for this cache as well. This was an outstanding concept for an earthcache, and it brought me to some truly remarkable places...all right here at home in the great state of New Jersey. Since some of the places that I visited were very similar to one another at the posted coordinates, I tried to take some pictures of other features elsewhere in the area. I figured this was my opportunity to practice my photography skills. haha Some pictures turned out better than others, but I hope they will provide a sense of the beautiful and varied terrain that is around this place we call home. Here is synopsis of my journey around the Garden State.Outer Coastal Plain Province
Apple Pie Hill - 14 June 2009
Forked River Mountain - 14 June 2009
Island Beach State Park - 09 March 2008
Penn State Forest - 14 June 2009
Oswego River - 14 June 2009 Inner Coastal Plain Province
Arney's Mount - 21 March 2009
Trenton-Hamilton Marsh - 13 June 2009
Haddonfield - 22 November 2008
Mount Holly Mount - 10 May 2009 Piedmont Province
Eagle Rock Reservation - 31 August 2008
Prallsville - 18 January 2009
Watchung Reservation - 19 June 2009
Sourland Mountain - 12 July 2009
Sergeantsville Covered Bridge - 18 January 2009
Buttermilk Falls - 27 July 2008
NJ State Museum - 13 June 2009
Rutgers Geology Museum - 20 November 2007 Ridge and Valley Province
Worthington State Park - 09 May 2009
High Point - 16 March 2008
Buttermilk Falls 2 - 12 October 2008
Kittatinny Ridge - 09 May 2009
Sunrise Mountain - 12 October 2008
Bushkill Mountain - 12 October 2008 Highland Province
Ramapo - 14 September 2008
Ken Lockwood Gorge - 22 March 2009
Great Falls - 17 November 2007
Palisades - 17 November 2007
Highlands - 01 November 2007 Extra Credit
Argillite Cliffs - 18 January 2009
[view this log]
| December 6, 2008 by chsmathwisch (3569 found)
Finally got a chance to finish the last one today in Mount Holly! Thanks for the adventures!I am off from school and have the chance to explore. So, time to put lots of miles on the car! Outer Coastal
Oswego River 7/11/08
Penn State Forest 7/11/08 Inner Coastal
Haddonfield 7/11/08
Mount Holly 12/6/08
Piedmont
Prallsville 7/13/08
Sergentsville Covered Bridge 7/13/08
Ridge & Valley
Worthington State Park 7/13/08
Bushkill Mtn 7/13/08 Highland
Ramapo 7/13/08
Ken Lockwood 7/13/08 [This entry was edited by chsmathwisch on Monday, July 14, 2008 at 4:43:07 AM.] [This entry was edited by chsmathwisch on Saturday, December 06, 2008 at 2:09:52 PM.]
[view this log]
| November 22, 2008 by m_and_w (4376 found)
This one has been a long time coming! It's been our 1st page of nearest caches many times (taunting us), but currently has fell to our 3rd page. We recently realized we had satisfied most of the requirements so we tried to focus on it more of late and we managed to finish it this weekend with High Point, NJ. We've made several trips around the state of NJ including road trips for the Delorme Counties and again for the Delorme Grids. It's amazing how diverse the state can be! Thanks for the adventure, M & WOuter Coastal Plain Province
- 4/14/2007 Apple Pie Hill
- 9/8/2008 Cape May Point (Sunset Beach)
Inner Coastal Plain Province
- 10/19/2005 Trenton Hamilton Marsh
- 03/11/2006 Mount Holly Mount
- 03/03/2007 Haddonfield
Piedmont Province
- 02/11/2006 Sergentsville Covered Bridge
- 05/11/2007 Prallsville
Ridge & Valley Province
- 04/28/2007Buttermilk Falls
- 11/22/2008 High Point
Highland Province
- 01/14/2007 Ramapo
- 10/26/2008 Highlands
[view this log]
| September 14, 2008 by tsemclarney (2710 found)
Well we finally finished this wonderful earthcache. We started this one in April 2007, when we first started caching. It took about one and half years to complete. Our daughter Tinkerbell_4_Life and our dog (Candie) went with us to explore these wonderful areas. Sometimes Candie couldn't go. We enjoyed the vistas and other caches in the area. This was a great adventure that was very fun and educational. We learn so much about the different geological province in N.J. We didn't realize that there are so many beautiful places in N.J to visit and hike. Thanks for all the hard work you did in setting up this cache.
Outer coastal Plain Province:
Island state park- 7/07, 8/08, 8/21/8 and numerous times while on vacation. One of our first caches we did here was the Island Beach cache- which is one of the oldest caches we done. Cape May Point(Sunset Beach)- 12/28/07 We spent the day here on GDO "Girls Day Out" - a caching event. While there we collected some of the stones (Cape May Diamonds) on the beach. I found one that was shaped like a heart. Oswego River- 3/22/08 & 7/20/08 with our kayaks.
Forked River Mountain- 4/22/08
Apple Pie Hill- 9/11/08 and will be attending cito 9/27/08. Inner Coastal Plain Province: Trenton Hamilton Marsh- we have 1 cache in the area & Tinkerbell_4_Life has 2. Haddonfield- we have been here last yr. & revisited on 8/18/08 to show my daughters friends where the dinosaur was found.They really enjoyed it. Mt. Holly Mount- 8/20/08 and last yr.
Arney's Mount Piedmont Province: Prallsville
Sourland Mountain
Sergentsville Covered Bridge Ridge and Valley Province:
High Point- 9/13/08
Buttermilk Falls Highland Province:
Palisades- 9/5/08
Ken Lockwood Gorge
Highlands A [This entry was edited by tsemclarney on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 12:48:46 PM.] [This entry was edited by tsemclarney on Friday, September 26, 2008 at 4:52:44 PM.]
[view this log]
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Current time: 11/21/2009 12:05:48 PM
Last Updated: 11/7/2009 10:01:56 PM
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum
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