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]]>Sideling Hill is a wonderful example of the typical construct of the rolling hills of the area.
The tight bands of rock layers, along with the HUGENESS of the roadcut are fascinating. The layers of the mountain are very interesting, consisting of alternating bands of shale and big bands of alluvial conglomerate. The top layer of shale is also coal rich, which is thickest on the north side of the road cut. You can see the dark layer towards the very top of the hill.
The rest area used to host a Geological Center, a fun place to check out, a place to stop and view this geological wonder and find out a little more about the earth around us.
The Geological Center is closed now, but the exhibits have been moved to Hancock Maryland.
A short distance away in Pennsylvania, we found several shale deposits on the side of back country roads.
Any place you can find loose shale, if you flip over a few pieces, often, fossils will be found.
The shale from this area breaks up into small bits. That makes big matrix specimens very uncommon!
Brachiopod specimens are very common through out the area, along with tightly wound trilobite specimens.
Packing the specimens is a delicate job, so a roll of toilet paper for wrapping is always handy!
Bi-valve fossils, Gastropods and many others, all found swimming around in the soup of the Devonian era!
At this road cut, randomly, a vug of quartz was found, breaking up into oddly shaped crystals.
So, do not be afraid to stop and check out any exposed shale in the mid-Atlantic states! Often times, simply flipping over some loose shale chunks will reveal a trilobite, a gastropod or a cluch of Brachiopods!
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]]>The post Maryland’s Chromite Deposits – A Mineralogical Monopoly appeared first on Where to Find Rocks.
]]>Today, much of the serpentine deposits in Maryland and Pennsylvania serve as a wildlife sanctuary. The serpentine rocks and their serpentine soils were not fit for cultivation, providing a natural host for sparse grasses, scrub brushy oaks and acid loving pine trees. In addition, rare wildflowers are found only in these uncommon serpentine soils. Because these areas were never fit for cultivating, only nice flat farm land has been turned into housing developments, leaving these woodlands free from destruction. At one point in time, these areas of scrub oaks and rocky soil would have looked barren in comparison to the rich tree heavy forests surrounding that land. Now, in contrast to the houses and civilization popping up in every direction, the serpentine barrens are a rich forest
You can read this full article on this PDF, just click on the page below. This is an excerpt from the book reprint of The-Vug.com Quarterly Magazine, which contains all sixteen issues of the magazine. You can buy the book on The-Vug.com and it has dozens upon dozens of articles like this, written by a variety of world traveling mineral collectors. We highly suggest this book, it is a STEAL at $34.95
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