Nanney's Monadnock? EarthCache
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A monadnock is an isolated hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. Many of us have been here before without knowing it is a unique geologic feature.
Geologically, Nanny's Mountain is known as a monadnock, a mountain that remains after the erosion of the surrounding land. Nanny's Mountain stands more than 300 feet above the relatively flat ground below. The rocky ground on the summit are composed primarily of quartzite, the predominant type of rock on the mountain.
A monadnock is a isolated hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.
Monadnock is an originally Native American term for an isolated hill or a lone mountain that has risen above the surrounding area, typically by surviving erosion. The name was taken from Mount Monadnock in southwestern New Hampshire (USA), near Keene, NH. The name is thought to derive from the Abenaki language, from either menonadenak ("smooth mountain") or menadena ("isolated mountain"). The word inselberg is German for "island mountain"; the name was originally coined to describe the abundant such features found in southern Africa. The term monadnock is more usually used in the US.
Inselbergs are typically, though not only, formed in tropical areas. Volcanic or other processes may give rise to a body of rock resistant to erosion, inside a body of softer rock such as sandstone which is more susceptible to erosion. When the less resistant rock is eroded away to form a plain, the more resistant rock is left behind as an isolated mountain. If the inselberg is dome-shaped and formed from granite-gneiss, it can also be called a bornhardt.
Other near-by monadnock's include Crowder's Mountain to the north and Henry's Knob to the north west.
Some of the primary minerials found at Nanny's Mountain are limonite and pyrrhotite.
To receive credit for this EarthCache email me the answers to the following questions:
1. What is the elevation of Nanny's Mountain near the covered education shelter?
2. What geological feature of this monadnock played a role in the American Revolution?
Please post a picture of you with GPSr at the summit.
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