What is a Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of
earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in
reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains,
particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be
applied to any rounded area of topographically higher elevation on
any surface. Artificial mounds have been created for a variety of
reasons throughout history, including ceremonial (platform mound),
burial (tumulus), and commemorative purposes
Mounds of Alabama
The small mounds in Alabama, which have been excavated,
contained different strata. Beginning to dig at the top, the
operators first pass through a stratum of earth about two feet
thick, then they come to a bed of human bones mixed with pieces of
pottery, pipes, arrow-heads and various Indian ornaments. Muscle
shells are often mixed with these. Continuing to dig downwards, the
excavators pass through a stratum of earth, which is succeeded by
strata of bones, charcoal, pottery, Indian ornaments and
arrow-points.
Ancient ditches at Cahaba
As for the ancient ditches at Cahaba, and in other portions of
Alabama, in which are now growing the largest trees of the forest,
indicating the works to have been of very remote date, we have been
unable, in our investigations, to ascribe them to European origin,
as they are generally supposed to be. De Soto erected no forts, in
passing through this country, and had no occasion to do so, for his
army was competent to subdue the natives without such means of
defense. It is true he cut some temporary ditches upon the Warrior,
near Erie, to repel the savages, who were charging him constantly
from the other side of the river. These were soon abandoned, and
his journalists mention no other works of the kind which he
made.The French and Spaniards, who afterwards occupied Alabama,
erected no forts, except those at Mobile, upon the Tensaw River, at
St. Stephens, at Jones Bluff upon the Tombigby, and four miles
above the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, upon the east
bank of the former.
Geology of Alabama
Alabama is a very geologically diverse state. Rocks exposed at
the surface range in age from Precambrian to Holocene (2.5 billion
years to about 1,800 years old). Alabama's vast geologic history
includes episodes of continental collision and mountain building
that produced numerous landforms, including in the folded and
faulted sedimentary rocks of the Appalachian Valley and Ridge; the
metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont Upland; and the extensive coal
beds of north-central Alabama during the late Paleozoic and the
formation and evolution of the Gulf of Mexico basin, as recorded in
the Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata of the East Gulf Coastal Plain.
These geologic events have shaped Alabama's landscape, and the rock
strata that bear testament to these events are either host to
significant natural resources—oil, natural gas, and ground
water—or, in many cases, are themselves composed of valuable
economic commodities, including coal, limestone, sand, gravel, and
clay. Additionally, the landscapes, watersheds, and habitats of the
Alabama we know today are formed on the foundation of the
underlying geology and have in turn produced the state's impressive
biodiversity, which is almost unparalleled in the rest of the
United States.
Through much of Alabama's geologic past, the state was covered
by ancient oceans, swamps, and other near-shore environments. The
sediment left behind in these environments composes most of the
state's bedrock: limestone, sandstone, shale, and chalk. All of
these deposits are economically very important to Alabama. For
example, quarrying of limestone is the largest nonfuel mineral
industry in the state. Sedimentary rocks are not only important for
economic use, but also make up the 20 major aquifers (groundwater
reservoirs) in the state. These sedimentary rocks have also enabled
agricultural development throughout the state's history. For
example, the chalks and marls of the Black Belt and limestones of
the Tennessee Valley are rock types that develop rich, fertile
soils, allowing cotton and other crops to thrive.
Most of the state's igneous and metamorphic rocks lie within the
Piedmont Upland and range in age from Precambrian to Devonian (2.5
billion years to 360 million years old). These rocks are subdivided
further into two major districts: the Northern and Southern
Piedmont Upland. Each district is bounded by a major regional
fault, and each includes characteristic rock units, which are
groups of rocks that have similar properties. The grade (an
indication of the amount of temperature and pressure to which the
rock was subjected) of metamorphic rock generally increases across
the Piedmont Upland from low-grade in the northwest to high-grade
in the southeast. Several varieties of metallic and nonmetallic
minerals have been successfully mined from Alabama's igneous and
metamorphic rocks, including gold, lead, zinc, mica, talc,
asbestos, and kaolin. Marble (the official state rock) and granite
have also been quarried successfully from the Piedmont Upland, and
gemstones, such as star blue quartz (the official state gemstone),
garnet, beryl, smoky quartz, tourmaline, and kyanite, have been
collected as well.
The sedimentary rocks across the state are rich in fossils,
which are the preserved remains of ancient animals and plants.
Common fossils in Alabama include a wide variety of invertebrate
and vertebrate marine and non-marine organisms. These fossils, as
well as the characteristics of the sedimentary rocks in which they
are preserved, provide paleontologists and geologists with
important insights into our prehistoric past and the diverse
environments and ecosystems, many of them quite different from
those of today, that have characterized the area that is now
Alabama. Stromatolites (fossil bacterial colonies), trilobites,
corals, crinoids, brachiopods, and many other organisms have been
preserved in Cambrian through Mississippian limestones, shales, and
sandstones and can be found in the Cumberland Plateau, Highland
Rim, and Valley and Ridge. A variety of plants, including ferns and
prehistoric trees (Calamites and Lepidodendron bark and logs), as
well as footprints or trackways of amphibians and horseshoe crabs
are found primarily in shales associated with Pennsylvanian coal in
the Cumberland Plateau and Highland Rim. Oysters, sea urchins,
ammonites, shark teeth, Basilosaurus and other marine animal bones,
terrestrial dinosaur bones, and marine bird bones can be found in
Cretaceous chalks and sandstones in the Coastal Plain section.
Bivalves, sea urchins, sand dollars, shark teeth, whale bones, and
bones of other vertebrates, such as mastodons, have been preserved
in Tertiary clays, marls, and sands in the East Gulf Coastal Plain
in southern Alabama.
Credit for this Earthcache
1.) Who place this historical marker
2.) What is the height of the mound?
3.) What is the base measurements of the mound?
4.) In our own opinion why is this mound geologically important
to state of Alabama?
As with all my earthcaches please remember that a picture is not
required but would be nice in your lo. Hope you enjoy this
cache
