Hastings Conglomerate EarthCache
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An interesting rock formation on HWY 41 north of Northbrook, ON. There is parking on the shoulder, but please take care as the road can be heavily trafficked particularly in the summer months.
The Hastings Conglomerate is an interesting rock formation. First of all it is a puddingstone. Secondly, the formation is vertical rather than the typical horizontal nature of puddingstone. Finally, there is a metallic sheen to the rock. The shine is probably from Nickel-Uranium deposits. Cacher Green Frog reported, "The sheen on this rock arises because of the presence of sericite, which is a kind of vary fine-grained colourless mica that often occurs during metamorphism. Mica grains are platey, and that means that they are all parallel to each other."
Another out-cropping of the puddingstone can be found at: N 44 44.813 W 077 10.063
It is a conglomerate rock consisting of a variety of stones or pebbles held together within an outer rock forming one stone. The rock is normally formed in river channels.
The name Puddingstone or Pudding Stone originated from the resemblance to a Christmas Pudding in the rock formation.
This outcropping is often studied by the geology students from Queen's University to study this rare phenomenon.
TO LOG A FIND:
Go to the posted coordinates, which will take you to 2 large outcroppings of puddingstone.
1) Examine a 10cm x 10cm area of the exposed puddingstone.
2) Count the number of smaller stones enclosed within that area.
3) Send me an email through my profile with the count of the number of stone as well a description of the size and shape of the smaller stones and the surrounding rock.
4) Finally, identify the type of the smaller stones (be as specific as possible).
Pictures are not required but really appreciated.
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