High Point is the tallest mountain in New Jersey at 1803 feet above sea level. The park is located in the Kittatinny Mountains in the glaciated part of the Ridge and Valley physiographic province in northern New Jersey. Three states can be seen from the summit which also contains a 220 foot obelisk built in 1930's as a war memorial. The Appalachian Trail which connects Georgia and Maine passes by the summit.
Kittatinny Mountain forms northeast trending ridge from Pennsylvania to Shawangunk Mountains in New York. High Point Monument marks the highest point in New Jersey at 1803 feet above sea level. The bedrock is composed of shale (often black rock made of very thin layers), siltstone (particles are between sand and clay), sandstone (think of sand bonded together), quartzite, and conglomerate. These sedimentary rocks are 460-400 mya (million years old) and consist of material originally eroded from ancient lands and deposited as sediments in streams and seas that once covered the area. They were buried over time and over millions of years they were transformed into rock. Most common rocks are quartzite (gray, non-foliated rock formed from metamorphosed sandstone rich in quartz) and conglomerate (clastic sedimentary rock containing pebbles). Both are very tough rocks and resistant to erosion and form the highest lands while the other softer rocks underline the valley.
During the Pleistocene approximately 18,000 years ago, the region were covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. In some places it was up to 1 km thick. It carved out the u-shaped valley and remnants such as striations and chatter marks can still be seen. Chattermarks are series of wedge shaped marks left by chipping of a bedrock surface by rock fragments carried in base of a glacier. They tend to be crescent shaped and oriented at right angles to direction of ice movement.
Logging Requirements:
- Look closely at some of the exposed bedrock. Describe the texture, grain size, and color. Of the types of rock listed, which is it? Does it appear like it is eroded easily?
- From the vantage point (posted coordinates), what evidence of glaciers are visible? Are any striations visible? If so, which direction was the glacier moving?
- Upload a photo taken from near the monument. You do not need to be in the photo, though it is strongly encouraged.