Salamanca Overlook Vista Earthcache EarthCache
Salamanca Overlook Vista Earthcache
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This Earthcache is located at one of the entrances to Allegeny State Park. From here you can see the city of Salamanca located in the valley surrounded by the hilltops of the Allegheny Plateau which is part of the Appalachian Highland.
The Appalachian highland consists of three parallel bands which extend southward from Newfoundland and the St. Lawrence River to Georgia and Alabama. The eastern band consists of hills and mountains of crystalline rocks. West of this comes a broad valley which over a long period of erosion the tips of the folded layers were worn off, settling into an almost level plain. Next is the Allegheny Plateau, the area this earthcache is located in. The Allegheny plateau is composed of almost horizontal rocks which lie so high and have been so deeply dissected that they are often called mountains; although they are not true mountains. A plateau is a large highland area with fairly level land and bedrock.
The three Appalachian bands by no means preserve a uniform character throughout their entire length. The eastern crystalline band has its chief development in the northeast. The second band of the Appalachians forms a prolonged and broken valley floor. To the west, the second band ends in an escarpment which rises to the Alleghany plateau.
The Allegheny plateau is the third great band of the Appalachians. The fact that the eastern band of mountains and the plateau are separated by the low strip of the Mohawk Valley makes this one place where the highly complex Appalachian system can easily be crossed. Where the plateau first rises on the south side of the Mohawk, it attains heights of four thousand feed in the Catskill Mountains. Westward from the Catskills the plateau continues through central New York to western Pennsylvania.
While at the Salamanca Overlook Vista, look at the surrounding hill tops. You will notice that they are all roughly the same elevation. This is another characteristic of a plateau. There is plenty of room to pull off the road and take as much time as needed to view this beautiful area.
To claim this earthcache please complete the following:
1. Tell me the elevation (in feet above sea level) of three of the hilltops. You can find this information using a topographic map.
2. Tell me one type of sedimentary rock that makes up the Allegheny Plateau.
3. Tell me how you think the hills and valleys of the Allegheny Plateau were formed.
Optional: Upload a picture of yourself with one of the large rocks at the parking area in the forefront and the hilltops of the Allegheny plateau in the background.
Send your answers on the same day that you post your “found it” log and if you find it as a group and one person sends the answers, everyone in the group should post their log the same day that the answers are sent to me. (This does not have to be the day you visit, just the day you post your find on the computer. As per earthcache rules, I must delete your log if I do not receive your answers within five days of you logging your visit.
Additional Hints
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