Life on the Edge EarthCache
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Watkins Glen State Park is said to be one of the most well known of the Finger Lakes State Parks. Here you will learn a little bit of history of how this area was formed and some of the impacts it has had on the area today. Coordinates will take you to a lookout with an interpretive information panel.
The oldest rocks found on Earth today date to about 4 billion years. During the next 4 billion years, rocks have been continuously changing and reforming.
There are three general types of rocks that can be found on Earth:
1) IGNEOUS:
These form when molten magma cools. The magma can be from a volcano (volcanic) or from pockets of magma within the Earth’s crust (plutonic). These rocks are usually hard such as granite.
2) SEDIMENTARY:
These form from sediments (or small particles) from other rocks, organic material such as shells of marine life, or chemical precipitates. These are then compacted and cemented together. They are usually found on or near the Earth’s surface. These are usually soft rocks and erode easily. They include mudstone, shale, siltstone, sandstone, limestone , and dolostone.
3) METAMORPHIC:
These form by taking one of the three types of rocks and applying high temperatures and pressure than what is found on the Earth’s surface. This alters the composition of the original rock or crystal (called recrystallization). These are usually a much harder rock such as slate, phyllite, schist, and gneiss.
For more specific informaion and pictures of rocks from the 3 different categories:
(visit link)
During the Devonian Period (about 450-360 million years ago), a shallow sea covered this area including where you are standing today. This warm shallow sea contained an abundant and diverse amount of life including brachiopods, clams, trilobites, corals, crinoids, and cephalopods. As life ended for these, they accumulated at the bottom of the sea in mud and sand as sediment.
Then during the last million years (give or take a few), ice and glaciers covered New York several times which left behind various creeks, streams and shallow valleys. The most recent "ice" event occurred about 10,000 years ago. A large glacier moved through this area carving out the shallow valleys that had run from south to north. This resulted in deep troughs being formed that filled with water thus becoming the 11 Finger Lakes. These deep troughs also caused many of the streams and creeks that ran perpendicular to be "cut-off". This left them much higher than the deeper valleys below. These are called hanging valleys and resulted in the many beautiful waterfalls that you can see in the Finger Lakes area. Glen creek is one such "side" creek that became a hanging valley. Over the past 10,000 years, the water has carved into the rock found here forming the beautiful gorge that you will see below from the waypoint. As a result of this erosion and deepening of the gorge, it has had a direct effect on the geology (and ecology) of the area. Here you will easily see the differences.
The waypoint is at the Central Cascade Lookout located on the Indian trail. There are several ways to reach this area. Please review the maps available at any of the kiosks at the park entrances.
The park hours are from Sunrise to sunset. Please obey these hours as the park is patrolled for safety reasons. There is a fee of about $7-8 per car to get into the park if you don't have an Empire pass. Otherwise its free to walk in.
To log this find you must answer 2 of the 3 questions and e-mail us with the answers. Also you must post a picture of yourself and/or group with a GPS in picture at the lookout.
1) At the posted coordinates, look around you and across the gorge at the opposite wall of the gorge. You will see the main type of rock that is found here. Of the 3 types of rocks, which is the primary type found here?
2) What geological process (not event) took place and is still occurring today that caused Glen Creek to be “so far down below the lookout” and not at “eye level”? Also guesstimate (in feet) the distance from the lookout to the creek below.
3) What geological event (not process) took place that initially resulted in a waterfall to form in Glen Creek?
BONUS: What is the name given to a valley/stream when it is cut off perpendicularly to a deeper valley or trough?
AND post photo of yourself and/or group with at least one GPS and with the gorge in the background.
Have fun, cache wisely and safely. Allways practice CITO to keep our parks beautiful for the next generations.
(Note: General information taken from the Watkins Glen State Park brochure produced by JMF publishing located at 30 Burr Ave., New York Mills, NY 13417. Brochure and park maps available at kiosks at park entrances. Rock classification information from online Wikipedia.)
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