ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FOREST DISCOVERY SERIES
Each of the earthcaches in this series will take you along roads and trails
to discover the wonders that exist in and around the ANF.
Elk - Forest - McKean - Warren
This discovery series was developed as a heartfelt THANK YOU to all who completed the requirements as requested, and wrote positive logs worth the time to read. Complete 24 ECT caches. Send a list of logs (GL links) via message for verification of requirements. Arrange to meet at Cache Condo to pick up your trackable coin.
EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. ... "Geocachers must complete the tasks before they log the EarthCache as found." (4.3. EarthCache logging tasks)
Enjoy the journey (learning adventure) as well as the destination (smiley earned). Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. To get credit for this Earthcache, complete the following tasks:
NOTE: Answers via message -and- log signature picture are required to post a find for this cache.
The posted coordinates are where you can pull off and safely observe the rocks across the road for on-site questions 1 and 2.
1. MESSAGE …. a. Based on the graphic/video, what is a syncline? ... b. Based on your observations, is there any evidence of a syncline here? Why or why not?
2. MESSAGE …. Describe the rock layers (type/color/thickness) from top to bottom.
3. MESSAGE …. What is the major type of fold observable at the BLUE MOUNTAIN roadcut? If more than one, how many are there? ... Visit using the waypoint link.
4. MESSAGE …. a. What type of fault is observable at the SPRING MOUNTAIN roadcut? ... b. What type of fold is observable at the SPRING MOUNTAIN roadcut? ... Visit using the waypoint link.
5. MESSAGE …. Are the LEWISTON NARROWS an anticline, a syncline, or a gorge? ... Visit using the waypoint link.
6. LOG …. Post a picture at or near the coordinates. Post a picture of your discovery rock. These pictures are your log signature. No spoiler pics.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in finding and creating this earthcache by adding A B C to your log.
A. Discover another interesting rock in/around the ANF, Give coordinates. Identify your rock and explain your choice. If you found your rock at a geocache/earthcache site, give name of the cache and GC number instead of cooordinates.
B. JOURNEY OF THE MIND ... Science explains what we observe. Relate (in your own words) something you found interesting in the reading. This adds to your learning adventure and your log.
C. JOURNEY OF THE HEART ... Art shares our personal experience of what we see. Share something special you found on site, and why it is special to you ... prose / story / poem / picture. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
The native rocks in the Allegheny National Forest are sandstone (feels gritty), shale (smells like wet mud when moistened), conglomerate (pieces of other rocks), limestone (fizzes in vinegar).
THANK YOU LN for travelling and hiking with RT to complete this Earthcache Trail.
1. ROADCUT - Stratigraphic Layers Along Route 59
Here you will have a good view of the stratigraphic record of deposition in eastern Warren County. The roadcut is located along the western edge of a small syncline. The sequence of marine shales and sandstones exposed here comprises most of the Upper Devonian period / Middle Venango formation.
SEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmBeiAQKWV0
GEOLOGIC PERIODS
Geologic time is divided into eons, periods, epochs and ages. "The Devonian Period of the Paleozoic Era lasted from 417 million years ago to 354 million years ago. It is named for Devon, England where the old red sandstone of the Devonian was first studied." The Devonian Period is known as the Age of Fishes because the fossil record shows there were thousands of species of fish that developed in Devonian seas.
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
A geologic formation is a strata of rock with similar properties. It has to be thick enough and extensive enough to plot on a geologic map.
The Venango Formation is a geologic formation in Pennsylvania. It preserves fossils dating back to the Devonian period.
SHALE (Compacted mud)
What Does It Look Like? Shale may be black, gray, red, brown, dark green, or blue. It is fine grained, so particles usually can not be seen. When moistened, shale usually smells like wet mud.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Clay minerals; Sometimes with some quartz sand, pyrite, gypsum
How Was It Formed? Clay sediments settle in quiet lakes, lagoons, bays, or off-shore areas. When buried and compacted the clays become shale. Iron oxides often help to cement the particles together.
SANDSTONE (Cemented sand)
What Does It Look Like? Sandstone is often red to brown, light gray to nearly white. Sometimes it is yellow or green. It usually is composed of rounded grains that are all of the same size; and it is usually medium grained. Some sandstones show slight color variations in layering.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Quartz; Sometimes contains: feldspars, mica, glauconite (in green colored sandstone), magnetite, garnet, rutile, ilmenite
How Was It Formed? Quartz sand that is produced by the weathering of other rocks (such as granite, gneiss, and other sandstones) is deposited by rivers, waves, or wind. The sediment may have been a sand bar, an ocean beach, or desert sand dunes. The sand is buried under other sediments, compacted by the weight of those sediments, and cemented by material dissolved in water that seeps through it.
2. ROADCUT - Blue Mountain
This is an impressive roadcut showcasing a major type of fold. You will also see smaller folds, thrust faults, and overturned bedding. The rocks are Silurian-age Tuscarora Formation (light-colored sandstones interbedded with dark shale beds).
The roadcut exposed the tip of a large asymmetrical fold. "The rock unit was formed from a wedge of sediments that spread out from the Taconic mountain-building event to the southeast. The deformation of these rocks took place later during the Alleghanian mountain-building event of the Permian Period, approximately 270 million years ago when Africa and North America met head-on."
3. ROADCUT - Spring Mountain
An excellent cross section of a ____________________ (fault) can be seen as you drive through a large roadcut in Spring Mountain on Interstate 81. It is perpendicular though a ____________________ (fold). The rocks are Pennsylvanian-age Pottsville Formation (sandstone and conglomerate), and underlying Mississippian-age Mauch Chunk Formation (shales and siltstones).
"Faulting occurred beneath thousands of feet of rock during the Alleghanian mountain-building episode, which ended about 270 million years ago. Since then, the overlying rocks have weathered away, exposing the faults."
4. LEWISTON NARROWS - Canal Park and Museum
Are the narrows an anticline, a syncline, or a gorge?
"This road cut was opened for the Lewistown Narrows four-lane highway construction project. Maximum depth of the cut is 155 feet. In addition to providing the substantial amounts of fill needed for the project, it also allowed the preservation of the Pennsylvania Canal Lockmasters building, where a park commemorating the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal will be constructed. Tentatively planned is an explanation of the engineering and geologic aspects of the road cut to be co-located with the historical description of the canal. The safest access to the cut is from the parking area near the Lockmasters building, crossing Macedonia Creek, walking eastward beneath the bridge, and climbing the steep and very rubbly slope. The cut exposes the lower 173 feet of the Rose Hill Formation and the upper 186.5 feet of the Tuscarora Formation (approximately 1/3 of its total thickness in this area). A measured section is included on pages 71-76."
RESOURCES
GUIDEBOOKS http://fcopg.org/history/guidebooks
57th ANNUAL FIELD CONFERENCE http://fcopg.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/57th1992.pdf
http://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/devonian_period.html
https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=PADv%3B8
Outstanding Geologic Feature of Pennsylvania - Trail of Geology ... 16-076.0 / 16–075.0 / 16–102.0