You can either park at the overlook and walk down, or park in the pullout on the southside to observe the rock face to the Northwest.
1-As you look over the banding does it seem even in size? Are the bands the same thickness? if different what differences do you see?
2-Are the bands that you see folded or in straight lines?
3-At the cracks do the bands line up? or are these faults where the bands have slid and no longer meet up.
4-Take a photo looking down the road. With yourself or a trackable item.
This area is part of the Tallulah Falls thrust sheet. Bah. big words. A thrust sheet can be explained by putting two sheet cakes side by side and pushing them together. One will fold under and the other on top. Thus a thrust sheet is formed, the one thrusting over the other.
The rock itself is old. Very old. About 1 to 1.5 billion years old by some accounts. Because the thrust sheet pushes this rock over younger material it can have far younger material under it . The rock was also formed in a volcanic environment that was melting the material around it, and the pressure from the trust belt pressing and grinding over the other material Much of the melted material would reform into solid sheets. Some would be made of Quartz and feldspar, and the black material you seeis a biotite.
As it cooled it would form bands. It is still under immense pressure, and heat. Yet crystals form at different temperatures and pressure and very likely this material might still be trying to flow somewhat. So the layers form as the pressure, temperature, and cooling time vary.
These may form into simple layers, or the pressure and thrust pressure from the faulting may cause them to fold on itself. Far later after they rock has cooled, bending may not be possible, the rocks themselves may crack, then fault and move, causing the bands to no longer match up.
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- Title: Geologic map of the Greenville 1 degree x 2 degrees quadrangle, South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina
- Author(s): Nelson, A.E., Horton, J.W., Jr., and Clarke, J.W.
- Publishing Organization: U.S. Geological Survey
- Series and Number: Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-2175 [2 sheets]
- Publication Date: 1998