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TRAIL GUIDE
GEOLOGY OF
BUFFALO MOUNTAIN PARK
Click to see:
THE GEOLOGY OF
BUFFALO MOUNTAIN PARK:
A
BRIEF CHRONOLOGY |
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[revised
9-21-02] |
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000 |
000 |
Trailhead
parking lot, Buffalo Mountain City Park. Go through gate and follow
trail straight ahead. [Beginning altitude approximately 2400 feet.] |
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230 |
230 |
Trail divides.
Continue straight on left fork. |
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370 |
600 |
Sharp turn to
left. |
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300 |
900 |
Sharp turn to
right. |
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175 |
1075 |
Sharp turn to
left. |
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90 |
1165 |
STOP #1
-- Trailside Geology. Here, just before a sharp right turn
downhill in the trail, is an opportunity to see how some geologists
obtain clues to the underlying rock structure when clues do not seem
to be available. There are two small excavations in the side of the
trail about ten feet apart. They may need some clearing in order
to obtain a clean sample of the subsoil. Compare the texture of the
soil, and look for rock fragments. Is there a difference between
the two cuts? Would this have any relationship to the landform just
off the sharp turn in the trail? Continue down the trail and around
the bend to: |
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30 |
1195 |
STOP #2
-- Cottage Industries. In the woods, both above and below
the trail, are the more expendable components of an industry that
once thrived in this area, bringing recognition as well as ready
cash into the region. This enterprise combined elements of
mountaineer ingenuity, pride of workmanship, persistence, and a
healthy contempt for its detractors. On this spot, in the
not-so-distant past, local moonshiners stoked the flames and watched
the thermometer as jar after jar slowly filled with white
lightning. The thick rhododendron made excellent camouflage, no
doubt. This location has a bonus, though. The condenser coils
could be quick-cooled by piped-in creek water to speed up the
process. The steel drums were used to contain the “mash”, a mixture
of fermented grain, sugar, and water. This “still” (short for
distillery) was apparently discovered and destroyed by revenue
agents -- the axe blade marks are diagnostic. |
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310 |
1505 |
Continuing down
the trail, we arrive at the creek that drains Hartsell Hollow. |
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50 |
1555 |
On the other
side is a sign showing the direction to various trails. We will
make a right turn and go up Hartsell Hollow to the next stop. |
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230 |
1785 |
STOP #3 --
Waterfalls.
Notice how the falls occur where a hard, resistant |
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ledge of rock
rests above a softer, more easily eroded stratum. This cascade is
the most likely source of water used by the moonshiners. The
approximate altitude at the still site is 2330 feet above sea
level. The falls here are at about 2360 feet, so the still
operators had 30 feet of head pressure to move the cold, clear creek
water to their manufacturing facility 200 yards away. |
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230 |
2015 |
Return to trail
junction (at the sign), then proceed down trail parallel to creek. |
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500 |
2515 |
Trail crosses
creek. |
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125 |
2640 |
Trail crosses
creek and intersects the gravel-surfaced access road to the antenna
farm. |
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150 |
2790 |
STOP #4 –
Possibly Hampton Shale.
Here we will take another side excursion to one of the most useful
landforms known to geological science -- the road cut. Without
these artificial exposures, we would still be trying to invent
dirt. We will endeavor to liberate several chunks of shale from the
Hampton (?)formation, and see how it compares with the Sevier
formation barely 500 feet away. At a brief glance, there isn’t much
difference. We will grab a few samples for comparative purposes. |
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200 |
2990 |
Gate where
gravel road joins paved road to parking area. Bear right (downhill)
and watch for cars. Somewhere between here and the next stop, we
will cross a major fault where the Precambrian/Cambrian Unicoi
formation is thrust over Middle Ordovician shale and limestone.
Approximate elevation here is 2275 feet. |
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450 |
3440 |
Turn left up the
road cut on a well-defined trail to next stop. |
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70 |
3510 |
STOP #5 --
Sevier Shale.
Where the government has failed to furnish geologists with deep,
bare road cuts, we occasionally revert to stump holes like this
one. Blowdowns often obligingly lift and expose a ton or so of
material and, with some luck, a little of it will be from below the
“C” soil horizon. Comparing this with our samples from the last
stop, we begin to see that the Hampton (?) shale is silty and
produces an acid subsoil, while the Sevier unit (although slightly
silty) is rich in calcium carbonate at depth, and yields an alkaline
soil. If we break enough of these shale fragments apart, we may be
fortunate enough to find a graptolite -- an enigmatic floating life
form that appears in the fossil record long after the “Hampton”
shale was formed, and would therefore be added reassurance that we
have indeed moved out of the Hampton shale area. Occasionally, the
contact between these two units can be approximated by the
vegetation. Pine trees are supported by the Hampton shale, while
the junipers prefer the limy Sevier formation. [Leaving Stop #5,
continue ahead on trail, bear left, then right, ascending to paved
road. Look to left for quartzite boulder; which is the next stop.] |
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600 |
4110 |
STOP #6 --
Quartz boulder.
Just a few yards
downhill, on the edge of the paved access road, is a large boulder
placed there to discourage parking on the shoulder of the road.
Happily, it is positioned so as to display an interesting feature.
The white area facing the road has slickensides, caused by
differential motion between two rock surfaces. Rubbing your hand
each way in the direction of the fine striations, one can easily
determine the direction of the motion. Of course, this all occurred
under heat and pressure, and to no small degree, mineral-bearing
fluids. Although this boulder typically occurs in the area, and we
are in close proximity to a major thrust fault, this amount of
slickensides could have occurred along a joint surface with very
little actual displacement. [Return uphill and continue toward the
cars.] |
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390 |
4490 |
Turn left into
picnic area. If you are on foot, you can ignore the “one way”, and
“do not enter” signs. |
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430 |
4920 |
Picnic area
parking for nature hikes. Drive carefully, and thank you for your
support. |
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Contributed by: Robert E. Whittemore
Chief Geologist, General Shale Brick |