PLEASE NOTE LOGGING REQUIREMENTS HAVE CHANGED ON 12/17/06.
The Niagara Escarpment is the edge of a thick series of dolomite layers of Silurian age. The rocks are resistant to erosion and stand up in relief as a prominent line of bluffs.
The escarpment is not a fault line or a rift line but was created through erosion. It is a "cuesta". A cuesta is where a gently-sloping layer of rock forms a ridge. One side of the ridge has a gentle slope, a so-called dip slope that is essentially the surface of the rock layer. The other side is a steep bluff.
The Niagara Escarpment owes its prominence to both the resistance of the Silurian dolomite layers and the relative softness of the Ordovician and Devonian rocks on either side. The main basins of all the Great Lakes except Superior are defined by belts of soft Devonian rocks. The Niagara Escarpment is a massive topographic feature, shaped rather like a saucer or an arc. In the shape of a gigantic horseshoe, the landform stretches through southern Ontario, Michigan and New York states. It has also been traced into the states of Wisconsin and Ohio. The Niagara Escarpment has origins dating back into geological history some 430 to 450 million years, a time when the area lay under a shallow warm sea. This sea lay in a depression of the earth's crust, the center of which is now the State of Michigan. Now geologically known as the Michigan Basin, the outer rim of this massive saucer-shaped feature governs the location of the Niagara Escarpment. Over millions of years sand, silt and clay were deposited as thick layers of sediment. At the same time, lime-rich organic material from the abundant sea life was also accumulating. These materials became compressed into massive layers of sedimentary rock and ancient reef structures now visible along the Escarpment. Some rock layers now consist of soft shales and sandstones while others are made up of dolostone (a rock similar to limestone that contains magnesium and is more durable). Fifty thousand years ago, a broad glacier pressed over the Niagara Escarpment holding back the melt waters to the South. This formed a large glacial lake named Lake Lundy. As the glacier retreated northward, a lower water outlet was created at Rome, New York which resulted in the rapid draining of Lake Lundy. For a very long time after the glacier retreated, it held back the melt waters to such a great level that the Niagara Peninsula and Escarpment were covered by a large lake (Lake Ontario, Lake Huron and Lake Erie were one). With the retreat of the glacier, the rising land separated both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Glacial Lake Tonawanda was created with the retreat of the last Wisconsin Glacier.
The lake was located east of the Niagara River and covered most of the western New York area to Rochester. Although large in area, it was shallow. The water along the eastern shore at Rochester, New York was only four feet deep. At first Lake Tonawanda's only water outlet was the same as Lake Lundy, at Rome New York. Rising land in the east cut off this outlet, forcing waters to seek other outlets. Lake Tonawanda had five water outlets over the 400 mile (644 kilometer) Niagara Escarpment. These outlets were located in Holley New York, Medina New York, Gasport New York, Lockport New York and Lewiston New York. Only the outlet to become the main spillway was at Queenston - Lewiston. Here the draining waters flowed over the Niagara Escarpment. It is here where the water falls of Niagara were born. This water course continues to be the main outlet which exists today.
There are many places to view the Niagara Escarpment, even in Lewiston. To receive credit for this cache, you must post a photo of the escarpment, but only from Lewiston. I have listed several other coordinates that give a photo opportunity that are also in Lewiston.
1. N43*09.781, W079*02.649 2. N43*10.127, W079*02.002 3. N43*10.211, W079*02.021
If you find another vantage point...which is encouraged, please list your coordinates for verification.
Congratulations to one of the best suited cachers to be First to Log...the GorgeMaster himself of Team Rover!! In the blizzard no less!
Update: 12/17/06
In order to fulfill new Earthcache guidelines, you are required to ESTIMATE THE HEIGHT OF THE ESCARPMENT! IN YOUR LOG, PLEASE TELL ME THE COORDINATES FROM WHICH YOU USED TO GET THIS ESTIMATE. Please respect these new guidelines. A PHOTO IS NO LONGER NECESSARY, BUT IT'S INTERESTING. Thanks to all who will help keep this Earthcache alive!!