Cabarrus County Syenite Ring Dike EarthCache
Cabarrus County Syenite Ring Dike
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A Syenite Ring Dike
The most prominent geologic as well as topographic feature of
Cabarrus County lies west of the city. This feature is called a
Syenite Ring Dike which is composed mostly of gabbro and the
associated arcuate bodies of Syenite. The Syenite forms a
distinctive ring-shaped mass composed of two arcuate –shaped
bodies. Because gabbro and syenite weather very differently the
gabbro forms a low area surrounded by ridges of syenite. This area
was described by P.B.King (1955) as an area of plutonice rock which
he called the Charlotte Belt. From the above coordinates you can
see this Ring Dike. He also went on to say that this belt lies
between the Carolina Slate Belt on the East and the Kings Mountain
Belt on the West. In 1952 LeGrand and Mundorff divided the rocks of
Cabarrus County into seven units, these are slate and
undifferentiated volcanic rocks, granite, syenite, gabbro-diorite
and allied basic rocks, also two units of granite and diorite and
greenstone. Some of the characteristics of the Charlotte Belt are
plutons and other intrusive masses of various sizes and shapes. In
Cabarrus County one can see where the metamorphic rock had been
intruded by bodies of granite, gabbro, syenite and numerous basic
dikes. These can be seen in many areas but one of the best places
to observe this is at the Stonewall Jackson School located on Old
Charlotte Road. The facing of the new North Carolina National Bank
Building in Raleigh is covered with syenite that was quarried from
a nearby quarry. One of the first Gold Rushes in America occurred
here in Cabarrus County at the Reed Gold Mine. The life of farmer
John Reed would have been long forgotten had it not been for a
chance event one Sunday in 1799. On that day, Reed's son Conrad
found a large yellow rock in Little Meadow Creek on the Reed farm
in Cabarrus County. This rock reportedly weighed 17 pounds and for
three years was used as a doorstop at the Reed house. Nuggets of
all sizes have been found in this area including a 28 pound one
from the Reed Mine. There was a large concentration of mines
located near the boundary between rocks of the Carolina slate Belt
and the Charlotte Belt. The veins that are located near Concord
contain scheelite and base metals of gold. Reconnaissance has shown
that gold, scheelite and possible base metals are widely
distributed in the Concord area. To get credit for finding this
cache you must satisfy the following conditions. Post your photos
in your log. Email me the resulting answers. (1) Go to the posted
coordinates and have your photo taken with the Ring Dike in the
background. (2) Have your photo taken in front of one of the
granite, gabbro, syenite rock located in the vicinity of Stonewall
Jackson School . (3) Drive the width of the Ring Dike and determine
its width. (4) Go to these locations and find the USGS Survey
marker there. Using the elevation that is given on the data sheet
determine the approximate depth of the Ring Dyke a. N 35° 22.693 /
W80° 36.195 b. N35° 23.753 / W80° 36.560 c. N 35° 21.659 /
W80°40.271 For the curious cacher that would like more information
onthis feature please use the link or go to Google and do a search
on Syenite Ring Dike. The guidebook below is an excellent source of
information on this. It also includes the driving direction and
description of the area that the Carolina Geological Society used
when they held their 1966 annual meeting in Concord. Sources:
Guidebook of Excursion in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, October
22-23, 1966 http://www.carolinageologicalsociety.org/gb%201966.pdf
Ring Around The Piedmont (A Closer Look at the Syenite Ring Dike)
http://education.uncc.edu/cmste/papers%20-%20OLD/Ring%20Around%20the%20Piedmont.doc
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)