SEDIMENTARY ROCKS - SANDSTONE (Cemented Sand)
What Does It Look Like? Sandstone is often red to brown, light gray to nearly white. Sometimes it is yellow or green. It usually is composed of rounded grains that are all of the same size; and it is usually medium grained. Some sandstones show slight color variations in layering. Conglomerate rocks are sedimentary rocks. They are made up of large sediments like sand and pebbles. The sediment is so large that pressure alone cannot hold the rock together; it is also cemented together with dissolved minerals.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Quartz; Sometimes contains: feldspars, mica, glauconite (in green colored sandstone), magnetite, garnet, rutile, ilmenite
How Was It Formed? Quartz sand that is produced by the weathering of other rocks (such as granite, gneiss, and other sandstones) is deposited by rivers, waves, or wind. The sediment may have been a sand bar, an ocean beach, or desert sand dunes. The sand is buried under other sediments, compacted by the weight of those sediments, and cemented by material dissolved in water that seeps through it.
The Devonian Catskill Formation (Dck) is the name given to a thick bedrock unit found in Pennsylvania and New York. It is at the top of the sedimentary rock sequence deposited in the Catskill Delta, known as the Catskill Clastic Wedge, which is a cyclical sequence of sandstones and shales thought to be deposited in a deltaic environment.
During the Devonian period, the Catskill Delta was formed by a series of river deltas and otherwise marshy terrain. This terrain was sandwiched between the epicontinental Kaskaskia Sea in central North America and the now-vanished Acadian Mountains. Erosion brought sediment from the mountain westwards into the sea, forming the deltas.
Eventually the Delta formation was buried and transformed into sandstone, which was then revealed in places when the Catskill and Appalachian Mountains were formed at a later date. This transformation and uncovering is the primary reason why the Catskill Delta is notable in the present; western Pennsylvania's petroleum was formed as a consequence. This was the first major oil region to be developed.
The Catskill Delta formation was once considered to be related to the Old Red Sandstone, but in actuality the two are only coincidentally similar. Both formed at approximately the same time, and under similar conditions: to the north of the Acadian Mountains were the Caledonian Mountains, and a similar region of marsh and river delta formed there.
Rumor has it a man named Meeker hid out here during the Civil War and Indians did use this shelter at one time. Thanks to Ghost Hunter for showing this to me.
Directions
The unique Rock Formation is not on an established trail. You will have to walk about 3/4 of a mile following an old log road then across a low blueberry patch using the coordinates at each turn to navigate. Follow the game trail across the berry patch. If you bushwack directly to the final coordinates you will have a harder walk than following the trail. Proper foot gear is recommended to do this Cache. You will be in the largest Wild Area in Pennsylvania. You should come prepared. There is no food or gas stations close by and Cell Service is non existent or very poor.
Park at the designated coordinates on Lost Run Road. Navigate to yellow trail coordinates following an old log road. Follow this yellow trail to the Right Turn Coordinates. At that point you will step across a small stream toward the Final Approach across a berry patch. Once you are at the Final Approach coordinates you will have to walk through the Rhodendron tunnel about 30 paces to see the Rock Shelter. GPS reception is very poor in this rocky courtyard area. That is why the final approach coordinates are outside this area. After going through the Rhodendron keep left or walk straight ahead until you hit a rock wall and keep to the left to find the opening. You wll have to look a little as it is not openly visible until you are almost in it. It is almost completely hidden by the Rhodendron.
1. Park at N41.13.645 W078.13.670 on the Lost Run Road
2. Navigate to the yellow Trail at: N41.13.858 W078.13.979
3. Turn right through berry patch at N 41.13.873 W078.14.135
4. Final approach is at: N41.13.951 W078.14.100 then go about 30 paces through Rhodendron tunnel to shelter. .
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To get credit for this Earthcache, please complete the following tasks:
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EMAIL me your answers. DO NOT post answers in your log or it will be deleted.
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1. On the right side just as you enter the Rock Shelter how high, from the ground, is the conglomerate layer in the rock.
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2. What is the primary color in the vertical rock, near the top, at the far end of the shelter? .