Hagersville Quarry Lakes EarthCache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(other)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
QUARRY ORIGIN:
The first quarry was built in 1888 and sold to the Beatty brothers. Multiple quarries have been in operation since in the Hagersville area; however the main quarries at the coordinates have been inactive and subsequently flooded for at least a decade. While in operation, the quarries produced crushed stone and aggregate for building and construction purposes.
There has been no quarrying activity on-site since the most recent owner was ordered to cease operations in the mid-2000s. The area remains popular recreationally, in spite of policing for trespassers closer to the water.
GEOLOGY:
The Hagersville Quarries lie within the Devonian Escarpment, specifically the Bois Blanc and Onondaga Formations.
DEVONIAN
Devonian strata underlie most of southwestern Ontario; however, they are mostly covered beneath Quaternary sediments. The Lower and Middle Devonian units are dominated by limestones and dolostones, whereas, Upper Devonian strata are dominated by shales.
The Lower Devonian Bois Blanc Formation is a cherty limestone unit. Above it are the limestones and cherty limestones of the Middle Devonian Onondaga Formation. This unit forms the bedrock surface from the Devonian Escarpment, southward to Lake Erie. South of Buffalo the Onondaga Formation is overlaid by the Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale.
Lower Devonian
BOIS BLANC FORMATION
The Oriskany Formation is disconformably overlain by the grey to brown, very cherty, fossiliferous, argillaceous limestones and dolostones of the Bois Blanc Formation. Thin beds of glauconitic quartz sandstone that occur near the base of the Bois Blanc are assigned to the Springvale Member. The Bois Blanc Formation outcrops and subcrops in a narrow belt from Fort Erie on the Niagara River to MacGregor Point on Lake Huron. North of Norfolk County outcrops of this unit are sparse.
The Bois Blanc Formation is composed of medium grey, finely to medio crystalline, medium to thinly bedded, cherty limestones. Brachiopods and corals are the most common fossils found in the limestones and are accompanied by smaller members of bryozoans and trilobites. Chert is abundant, making up 50 to 70 per cent of the whole rock and occurring as bedded, lenticular, and nodular masses. In hand specimens the contacts between the chert and surrounding limestone are sharp. In thin section however, the contacts appear to be gradational with layers of calcite alternating with layers of silica. The chert itself is composed of abundant chalcedony, both as a finely crystalline ground mass and as
coarsely crystalline infillings in megafossils, cracks, and voids. Cryptocrystalline quartz is common. Calcite occurs most commonly as megafossil fragments; fine anhedral and subhedral grains and a few larger eiihedral grains make up lesser amounts. Other constituents of the chert include minor amounts of pyrite and organic -walled microfossils.
The Bois Blanc Formation is thin and discontinuous in the Buffalo area; it varies from a few inches to four feet (1.2 metres) in thickness. The unit thickens westward to 15 feet (five metres) at Port Colborne and 24 feet (7.3 metres) at Hagersville (Oliver, 1966). The Bois Blanc continues to thicken westward towards Woodstock, Listowel, and Port Elgin, Ontario.
Middle Devonian
ONONDAGA FORMATION
Sediments of the Onondaga Formation form a reef complex deposited in a warm, shallow, normal marine environment. Rocks typical of reef, interreef, and lagoonal facies abound in this unit. The "bulk of the chert is confined to the finely crystalline lagoonal sediments with minor amounts in the interreef facies. Oliver (1966) divided the Onondaga Formation into four members: Edgecliff, Clarence, Moorehouse, and Seneca. The following descriptions are based on Oliver's work and the author's own field studies.
Edgecliff Member
The basal member of the Onondaga Formation is the Edgecliff Member, a medio crystalline and bioclastic, massive crinoidal and coralline, light to medium grey limestone (Figure 5). Whereas the Edgecliff Member averages eight to 20 feet (2.4 to 6.1 metres) in thickness, numerous bioherms [ancient organic reef of moundlike form built by a variety of marine invertebrates] may permit the thickness to reach 75 feet (23 metres). These bioherms have been measured at 100 to over 1,000 feet (31 to 300 metres) in diameter.
Megafossils are strikingly abundant in the Edgecliff Member. The bioherms, in particular, are composed of great quantities of coralline and echinoderm debris (Figure 6). Rugose and tabulate corals dominate the fauna but echinoderms, bryozoans and brachiopods are also abundant. Fish plates and spines are found in the base of the unit. In the eastern part of the study area the Edgecliff Member contains no chert. In the west, however, a few, small, poorly defined chert nodules occur in the upper half of the member and may become more common near the top of the unit. The basal contact of the Edgecliff Member is sharp. It is easily recognized in the field due to the lack of chert, abundant corals, and the much coarser grain size of the Edgecliff limestones.
Quarry Lakes:
Many quarries naturally fill with water after abandonment and become lakes. Others are made into landfills.
Water-filled quarries can be very deep with water, often 50 feet or more, which is often surprisingly cold. Unexpectedly cold water can cause a swimmer's muscles to suddenly weaken; it can also cause shock and even hypothermia. Though quarry water is often very clear, submerged quarry stones and abandoned equipment make diving into these quarries extremely dangerous. Several people drown in quarries each year. However, many inactive quarries are converted into safe swimming sites. Good examples of safe recreational quarries in Ontario include Gulliver’s Lake, and Sherkston Quarry.
Sources:
1) Paleozoic Geology of Southern Ontario (Armstrong, Derek K. and Dodge, J.E.P.) (visit link) (accessed 24/6/2016).
2) Onondaga Chert: Geological and Palynological Studies as Applied to Archaeology (Parkins, William G). (visit link) (accessed 24/6/2016).
3) Search result “bioherm” in Encyclopedia Britannica. (visit link) (accessed 24/6/2016).
4) Search result “quarry” on Wikipedia. (visit link) (Accessed 24/6/2016)
To Log This Earthcache:
(Facing the water)
1. To your left is a large pile of aggregate rocks. Describe its colour, texture, and size.
2. Describe what features of the Onondaga Formation are visible on the rock outcroppings surrounding the quarry, which can include the area around you or the rock overhangs across the water.
3. If you are visiting outside of winter months, describe the colour of the water throughout the quarry and the colour as it nears the shore. Why do you think the lake is this colour?
4. Post a picture of you, and/or your GPS at the quarry (Optional).
Please send me these answers in an email. All found it logs that are not accompanied by an email will be deleted.
Congrats on the FTF to stinger503 and oh joy oh bliss!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx nebhaq lbh