When you get to GZ, you will see a hugh rock and maybe even some climbers. If you stand back from the rock face, you will see an anticline. An anticline forms when pressures from within the earth fold the rock into an arch shape. The cracks you see that run up the face are faults, fractures that happened during the folding of the rock. This rock is quartzite which is a hard non-foliated metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. The sandstone was converted into quartzite through heating and pressure related to tectonic compression.
North of GZ along the face is a small anticlinal fold or "rock shelter", see reference point. This was used by the Indians to get out of the weather. There was an Indian canoe discovered here and this was the 1st archaeological site in Lancaster County. On the roof of the shelter are fossils. They are borings of a marine worm Scholithus linarais. Charles Darwin identified these very fossils and dated them at 600 million years old because these marine worms only existed during that time period. This area was then under water, an ancient ocean, Iapteus.
As you walk North along the rock face trail, you will come to a rock, see reference point, where you will find ripples in the vertical rock face. They were also formed when this was an ocean. If you touch these ripples, you will be touching something that was formed 600 million years ago. You can't get much closer to geology than that. Optional: Post a photo that shows your caching party.
If you want to see the view from the top of Chickies Rock, travel south from the parking area on Route 441. At the top of the hill there is a big parking lot. Park here and walk the trail to the overlooks. Be careful, do not go past the railings. Congratulations Midnightsraiders on the FTF.
To log this cache email us the answers to the following questions.
1. Estimate the height of Chickies Rock.
2. What are the 4 main colors you see in the rock?
3. Looking into the Rock Shelter can you see any of the worm fossils and answer how old where they dated and by who?
4. At the ripple rock face, are the ripples running vertical or horizontal?
5. After looking at the Rock Shelter for fossils and the Ripples on the rock face, answer what do you think this area used to be?
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