This is 1 of 12 EarthCache sights in the SRWT. The first 100 to complete the trail will receive a geocoin commerating the SRWT, 60 of which are trackable. These will be available at the Mercer County Conservation District office Mon.- Fri. from 8 am to 4 pm after April 21st. We are located at 753 Greenville Road, Mercer, PA 16137. To learn more about this geoWatershed Trail, visit us by clicking here.
SHENANGO RIVER HISTORY (Mondok, 1990)
The Shenango River Basin is shared by the state of Ohio and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The river and its tributaries drain 744 square miles of the Pennsylvania counties of Crawford, Lawrence, and Mercer and 285 square miles of the Ohio counties of Ashtabula, Mahoning, and Trumbull. The waters and its tributaries been used for transportation such as the Erie Extension Canal, watering livestock, and other household uses.
Prior to European settlement, the land area of the Shenango was inhabited by many indian tribes including the Seneca and the Delaware. The word Shenango itself comes from the Iroquoian word Shaningo meaning “beautiful one”.
The 75 mile long river begins in the marshes that are now part of Pymatuning Reservoir near Hartstown in Crawford County and eventually meets the Mahoning River near New Castle in Lawrence County.
ICE AGE INFLUENCES (Mondok, 1990)
The topography and soils in Pennsylvania and Ohio were shaped during the Ice Age that ended about 10, 000 years ago. Prior to this glacial epoch, the Shenango River flowed in a northerly direction to the Atlantic Ocean via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. This dissected plateau was covered by glaciers; some were a mile thick in some places. Boulders, rocks, soil, sand, silt, and clay were carried with the glacial ice and deposited on glacial till, kame terraces, moraines, and eskers when the ice melts as the climate warmed. These deposits were so vast, that their ancient river valleys were filled, causing the flow from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico.
BEREA SANDSTONE/ CHADAKOIN ROCK FORMATIONS
Berea Sandstone is of Mississippian age. This simply means that it was formed during the Mississippian period. During the Mississippian period, the Inland Basin region was still an inland sea environment. Sediment was beginning to shed into the basin from the Acadian highlands of the east. Gradually, the amount of incoming sediment into the basin declined. The shoreline of the sea moved back and forth across the basin as the sea level rose and fell. The changing water levels created alternating sequences of non-marine and marine sedimentary rocks. Limestones were beginning to form in areas of the sea that received little sediment (Ansley, 2000).
This image portrays where the inland sea was during the Mississippian Period.
During this time period, the Northeast was still located along the equator, so the warm climate created lush vegetation (Ansley, 2000).
This image portrays where this area (North America) was located during the Mississippian period.
Large swamps covered the shorelines of the inland sea. Plant material in the swamps would die and accumulate into thick piles of peat. This peat became buries by sediment and more vegetation, eventually becoming compressed. Over time and continual burial, the peat was transformed into layers of coal. Thus, the Mississippian rocks of the Inland Basin region, are repeating sequences of alternating sedimentary rock and bands of coal due to the shifts in sea level that allowed lush vegetation to develop into swamps (Ansley, 2000).
Berea sandstone is one of the most well known rocks of this age in Ohio. This type of sandstone is usually massive in structure with medium fine grain size sporting a light gray to slight buff color. Berea is utilized for building stones and abrasives as well as storing petroleum, natural gas, and salt brines under deep covering. Berea is often utilized during construction as: building stone, curbing, flagging, and riprap. It is also the chief source for grindstones, whetstones, and related rubbing stones. It was formerly used for mill stones that primarily focused on grinding barley and other grains (Stout, 1944).
In addition to the Berea sandstone that is exposed, some rocks of the Chadakoin Formation are also visible. The Chadakoin formation is comprised of light-gray to brownish siltstone and sandstone, interbedded with medium-gray shale (Schweitzer, 2004). The Chadakoin rock formation comes from the Devonian Period; this geologic time period occurred before the Mississippian time period. During the Devonian, important changes were occurring in the land masses around the globe. Europe and America had collided, thus forming the large continent of Euramerica. The other large land mass was that of the Gondwana which included: South America, Africa, Antarctica, India, and Australia. These two large land masses lay close to one another near the equator (Mann, 2005).
This image portrays where this area was located during the Devonian Period.
Because they laid so close to the equator, the climate was very warm. This allowed for lush vegetation on land while fish teemed in the waters surrounding the continents (Mann, 2005).
TO VIEW THE FORMATIONS
In order to view the formations, you will walk under the bridge to the east of the coordinates. If you have ever wanted to be in two states as once, congratulations. You are now standing in Ohio and Pennsylvania. You have parked your vehicle in Ohio, but are looking at the rock formations in Pennsylvania. Pretty neat huh?
As you look towards the east, you will see the rock formations on the far banks. You may also notice that there is a low head dam here on Pymatuning Creek. Back during the first settlement of Orangeville in 1798, Jacob Loutzenhizer, the first settler in the area, erected a saw and grist mill here. This structured was ran by a huge under-shot wheel that operated by a race in Pymatuning Creek. One has to wonder if the Berea sandstone located here was utilized in Jacob’s mill as his mill stones. It was the one of the main use of Berea back during those times. Makes you think? (Brown, 2004).
COORDINATES TO PARKING AREA
The parking area and site have the same coordinate location.
TO GET CREDIT FOR THIS CACHE:
Please be sure to send your answers to the following questions to jmccullough@mcc.co.mercer.pa.us in order to receive credit for this cache.
1. Which was is Pymatuning Creek flowing?
2. What type of rocks do you notice in the formation (sandstone, siltstone, conglomerate, shale, slate, etc)? Defend your answer.
3. What type of soil seems to make up the area (silty, clay, or sand)? Why do you say that?
References:
Ansley, J. E. (2000). The Teacher-Friendly Guide to the Geology of the Northeastern U.S Paleontological Research Institution, 32.
Brown, T. and W. (2004) Orangeville. Townships, Boroughs, and Villages. Retrieved from: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pamercer/PA/PL/Villages/Orange/Orangeville.htm
Mann, D. and C. (2005). The Devonian Period: The Age of Fish. Retrieved from: http://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/devonian_period.html.
Mondok, J. (1990). The Shenango River. Shenango Riverscapes, 1-2.
Schweitzer, P. (2004). Chadakoin Formation. USGS. Retrieved from: http://tin.er.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=PADch%3B8
Stout, W. (1944). Sandstones and Conglomerates in Ohio. Geological Survey of Ohio, vol 54, p.78-9.