The
Geology of
Cacapon Resort and Lost River State Parks
West Virginia Department of Commerce West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey West Virginia State Parks
One in a Series of State Parks Bulletins Ken Ashton, Geologist West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey
GEOLOGIC MAPS Cacapon Resort State Park and Lost River State Park
A geologic map shows the distribution of different kinds of rocks and structural features (anticlines, synclines, faults, etc.) It is a summary of all the geologist knows in an area, and is usually printed on top of a topographic map, called a base map, for orientation. The base map is printed with light colors so it doesn’t interfere with the geologic features on the map. The geology is represented by colors, lines and special symbols unique to geologic maps. The map itself is usually accompanied by one or more vertical cross sections so that a person can picture rocks at and below the surface in three dimensions. The rock units depicted on these maps are described in the “Rocks exposed in the parks” sections, beginning on page 9. The base maps used are the standard USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps. Topographic maps of West Virginia are available from West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.
West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Morgantown, WV
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
�������������
��������
�� �� �������������� �����������������
������������ ����������
��������������� ������������
���������� ����������
�����������
����������
����� �����
���������
�����������
������������� ��������
����� ����
�������
������
����������
���������������� �����������
������������� ���������������� ��������������������
�����
������
������� ������
��
��������
����������
��������� ������ ����������� ���������
������
������������
�������������������� ����������
����� ����
����������
�������������� ����������� ����� ����
�������
����������� ������ ����
��
����� �����
���� �������
������������
����� �������� �����������
��������
�������
�������
���������
������ ������
������� ������������
���� ����� ������ ���������� �������� ���� ���������
��������� �������� ������
������ ������
��
������������
���������������������� ���������������������
���������� ������� ����
West Virginia State Parks 1–800–CALL WVA www.wvstateparks.com
Lost River State Park..........................www.lostriversp.com Cacapon Resort State Park...................www.cacaponresort.com West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey .......................................................www.wvgs.wvnet.edu West Virginia State Parks.....................www.wvstateparks.com West Virginia Division of Tourism.........www.wvtourism.com Berkeley Springs State Park.................www.berkeleyspringssp.com Berkeley Springs Tourism....................www.berkeleysprings.com Hardy County, WV..............................www.hardycountywv.com Monongahela National Forest...............www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf George Washington/Jefferson National Forests .......................................................www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj United States Geological Survey...........www.usgs.gov
Table of Contents Overview of West Virginia Geology.....................3 Geology of Cacapon Resort and Lost River state parks Introduction.................................................8 Rocks exposed in the parks.............................9
Cacapon Resort State Park............................ 13 • Stratigraphic Features............................... 14 • Structural Features.................................... 17 • Topographic Features................................ 20
Lost River State Park.................................... 24 • Stratigraphic Features............................... 25 • Structural Features.................................... 31 • Lee Sulphur Springs.................................. 34 • “Lost” River............................................. 35
1
ARTWORK Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21 Figure 22 Figure 23 Figure 24 Figure 25 Figure 26 Figure 27 Figure 28 Figure 29 Figure 30 Figure 31 Figure 32 Figure 33 Figure 34
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Spruce Knob, West Virginia Geological history of West Virginia Seneca Rocks, West Virginia Physiographic Provinces of West Virginia Cross section of physiographic provinces Locator map for Lost River and Cacapon Resort state parks Cacapon Mountain, Cranny Crow overlook Generalized Stratigraphic Column of West Virginia and Rocks Found in the Parks Looking east from Cacapon Mountain Cacapon Lake dam Arenicolites on Keefer Sandstone Arthrophycus alleghaniensi on Tuscarora Sandstone Marine fossils in Oriskany Sandstone Differential weathering, Prospect Rocks Pot holes, Prospect Rocks Northeast dipping beds of Oriskany Sandstone Cacapon Resort State Park facilities map Cross section of Cacapon Resort State Park Southeast view of Cacapon Mountain Stream flowing into sinkhole on golf course Looking east from Cheeks Rocks Ripple marks on bedding, Cheeks Rocks Cross bedding, Hampshire Formation Helmick Rock Cabin 12 with stone chimney Cranny Crow overlook Lost River State Park facilities map Steeply dipping Hampshire Formation beds Cheeks Rocks, near axis of Sideling Hill Syncline Cross section of Lost River State Park Lee Sulphur Springs Hanging Rock Lost River
Overview of West Virginia Geology page 3 page 3 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 11 page 13 page 13 page 14 page 15 page 15 page 16 page 16 page 17 pages 18-19 pages 20-21 page 21 page 22 page 24 page 25 page 26 page 27 page 27 page 27 pages 28-29 page 30 page 31 pages 32-33 page 34 page 35 page 36
West Virginia is called the Mountain State largely because the average elevation is over 1,500 feet above sea level. This is the highest average elevation of any state east of the Mississippi River. The relief, difference between the highest and lowest points, of the state is 4,613 feet. The lowest point is at Harpers Ferry on the Potomac River (247 feet); the highest is at Spruce Knob on the Allegheny Plateau in Pendleton County (4,860 feet). The geologic history of West Virginia prior to one billion years ago is poorly understood. More recent geologic history can be deciphered from clues found in the exposed bedrock. For example, the oldest exposed rock in the state is a metamorphosed lava deposited 600 million years ago called the Catoctin Greenstone. The Catoctin is found in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Eastern Panhandle. Most rocks in West Virginia are sedimentary and were deposited during the Paleozoic Era, 542–245 million years ago.
Figure 1. Harpers Ferry — 247 feet above sea level.
All sedimentary rocks were deposited originally in rivers and streams on older land surfaces (“terrestrial”) or in oceans (“marine”), compressed by the weight of deposits added on top, and generally cemented by quartz or calcite. Clastic sedimentary rocks contain particles and grains of older rocks, disintegrated by Figure 2. Spruce Knob — weathering and carried by wind or water 4,860 feet above sea level. to the site of deposition. “Calcareous” rocks have been cemented with calcite (calcium carbonate) and “siliceous” rocks by quartz (silicon dioxide). A limestone contains mainly calcite, deposited as grains, nodules or fossils, or formed by 3 chemical dissolution from water.
Nugget The dominant geologic event in the formation of the Appalachian Mountains began during the Permian Period — more than 250 million years ago.
West Virginia contains little igneous rock (molten or volcanic source) or metamorphic rock (changed from preexisting rock by heat, pressure, and time). Exceptions include igneous bodies in Pendleton County and the Catoctin Greenstone in the Eastern Panhandle. Movements of the earth’s crust (tectonic plates) cause episodes of mountain building, called orogenies, which have major effects on the land surface of an area. The Taconic Orogeny was the first of these to affect West Virginia. This event formed mountains to the northeast of the state that subsequently became a source of sands and silts (clastics) and marine (carbonates) sediments deposited during the Ordovician, Silurian and early Devonian periods. Highlands to the northeast were again uplifted during the Devonian Period in an episode called the Acadian Orogeny, which provided a source of clastic sediments in the Middle and Late Devonian. Shallow seas covered West Virginia in the Middle Mississippian Period (about 330 million years ago), during which time carbonate sediments (limestones) were deposited. During the Pennsylvanian Period, West Virginia was a low-lying and swampy coastal plain that allowed the deposition of sandstone, shale, and most importantly, the numerous coal deposits for which West Virginia is famous. The Appalachian Orogeny began during the Permian Period. This was the dominant geologic event in the formation of the Appalachian Mountains. Europe, Asia, and North America (Laurasia) and Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, and India (Gondwanaland) all came together forming a supercontinent called Pangea. This collision resulted in folding and thrust-faulting, especially in the eastern part of the state, as the Appalachian Mountains rose to heights approaching the modern Alps. Erosion then became the predominant geological process; hence, there are no sedimentary rocks younger than the late Paleozoic Era found in West Virginia. There are, however, several Mesozoic (Jurassic) igneous bodies of rocks found in Pendleton County.
4
Although the mile-thick ice sheets of the “Ice Age”
Figure 3. Geological history of West Virginia.
5
(Pleistocene Epoch of the Neogene Period) never reached West Virginia, they impacted the state by damming rivers, forming lakes and creating new drainage patterns. Lake Monongahela formed when advancing ice sheets and glacial sediments dammed the ancestral Monongahela River system near Pittsburgh. Farther south, Lake Tight was formed when the ancestral Kanawha River, known as the Teays River, was blocked by ice and/or glacial sediments.
Figure 4. Seneca Rocks, a Tuscarora Sandstone formation in Pendleton County.
During the Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, tectonic activity associated with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean caused fracturing of the earth’s crust in the Pendleton County area of eastern West Virginia and subsequent intrusion of mafic (iron rich) igneous dikes. In the early Cenozoic period, more extensive igneous activity in the same area resulted in the intrusion of numerous igneous sills and dikes. A dike is an igneous body that cuts across layers of adjacent rock. Sills are igneous bodies that parallel adjacent beds. No known tectonic event has been linked to the Cenozoic intrusives.
Figure 5. Physiographic provinces of West Virginia.
Physiographic Provinces
6
A physiographic province is a landform region underlain by similar geologic structure where the terrain has been shaped by a common geologic history. Most of West Virginia is a dissected, westward-tilting plateau called the Appalachian Plateau Province. In the northeast part of this province, a subprovince called the Allegheny Mountain Section combines elements of the folded mountains to the east and the dissected plateau. The eastern boundary of the Appalachian Plateau, called the Allegheny Front, is a prominent geological and topographic feature that runs northeast-southwest across the state. East of the Allegheny Front are a series of long folded mountains and valleys defining the Valley
Figure 6. Cross section of physiographic provinces.
and Ridge Province. East of the main group of folded mountains and valleys is the Great Valley subprovince. Along the eastern state boundary in Jefferson County is the Blue Ridge Province.
7
GEOLOGY of CACAPON RESORT STATE PARK and LOST RIVER STATE PARK Introduction
Cacapon Resort and Lost River state parks are the two largest parks located in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle. Separated by about 53 miles, each park has its own beauty and character. However, they are geologically similar ������� in that both are located ������ within the Valley and Ridge ���������� physiographic province and the topography is typical of this region. Folded bedrock, combined with differing rates of rock weathering, has led to ���������� the development of long, ���������� parallel northeast trending mountain ridges separated by broad valleys.
Figure 7. Cacapon Resort State Park and Lost River State Park locator map.
8
All bedrock in these two parks is of sedimentary origin. Sedimentary rocks usually have a layered or bedded appearance, and are commonly seen in road cuts or exposed hillsides in West Virginia. Loose sand became sandstone. Mud compacted to form shale. Calcareous shells or chemical precipitations from sea water became limestone. Thick peat deposits from swamps compacted to form coal. While there are some non-commercial coals found in Devonian and Mississippian-aged rock, there is no coal occurring in either park. Much of the scenic splendor of Cacapon Resort State Park and Lost River State Park is a direct result of what underlies the surface. Bedrock type and character, combined with the effect of the forces that have altered the rock since the sediments were deposited and the rock
formed, have contributed to the topographic features seen today in these beautiful parks.
Geological descriptions
The following section lists rock units found in Cacapon Resort and Lost River state parks with descriptions of each unit. Geologists describe rocks based on constituents, such as grain and cement type; grain size (for instance, sand and shale); color; thickness of the layers that make up sedimentary rocks (massive, thinbedded); how resistant the rocks are to weathering; depositional environment (terrestrial, marine); and diagnostic features, such as characteristic way of breaking or presence of nodules, fossils, and particular bedding patterns (cross-bedding). With this information, a person can recognize the units in the field. The meaning of many of these terms should become clear in the text that follows.
Figure 8. Cacapon Mountain rises above the lodge at Cacapon Resort State Park. Inset, the view from the Cranny Crow overlook at Lost River State Park.
Rocks exposed within Lost River State Park Rockwell Formation (Mr) — Light gray to dark gray sandstone with conglomeratic zones. Occasionally iron
9
stained; cross-bedded. Occasional plant fossils found. Underlies Big Ridge north of Howards Lick in Lost River State Park. Hampshire Formation (Dhs) — Composed of terrestrial, fine-grained red and reddish-gray sandstone and shale with minor tan and light-green shale and sandstone beds; mostly unfossiliferous. The Hampshire underlies most of Lost River State Park.
Rocks exposed within Cacapon Resort
Mahantango Formation (Dmt) — Contains dark-gray siltstones and mudstones with minor fine-grained sandstone. These units frequently weather spheroidally, separating along fractures and bedding into small chips. Some beds of the Mahantango contain marine fossils consisting of brachiopods, crinoids, tentaculites, and trilobites. Underlies U.S. Route 522 outside of Cacapon Resort State Park. Marcellus-Needmore Shale (Dmn) — The Marcellus is composed of black to dark-gray marine shales that easily split along close planes. The Needmore Shale is medium to dark greenish-gray to brownish-black with dark-gray limestone nodules. Oriskany Sandstone (Do) — The Oriskany is a white to light-gray, medium- to coarse-grained, quartz sandstone with quartz pebble conglomeratic zones. It frequently exhibits cross-bedding and contains abundant marine fossils (brachiopods). Carbonate and silica cement is common.
10
Devonian and Upper Silurian-aged carbonates and shales (DS) — These beds are subdivided into the Helderberg group, the Tonoloway Limestone and the Wills Creek Formation. The Helderberg Group is a marine deposit composed mainly of massive gray limestone with fossils. The Tonoloway Limestone is a thinly bedded finegrained, laminated gray argillaceous (clay-rich) limestone that breaks into small, platy fragments. Occasionally, salt crystal casts and mud cracks can be seen in the
Figure 9. Generalized Stratigraphic Column of West Virginia and Rocks Found in Lost River and Cacapon Resort state parks.
Tonoloway, indicating deposition in repeatedly exposed mudflats. The Wills Creek Formation is an assemblage of gray and sometimes red shales, thin-bedded limestones, and friable (easily crumbled) yellow-tan sandstone.
11
Bloomsburg Formation (Sb) — The Bloomsburg Formation is a zone of thin-bedded, dark-red sandstones with occasional red siltstones and shales that break with an irregular fracture. McKenzie Formation (Smc) — This formation is made up of dark calcareous shales and thin-bedded, dark-gray argillaceous limestones with marine fossils. The most common fossils in the McKenzie limestones are ostracods that appear as abundant tiny black oval shells. Keefer Sandstone (Sk) — The Keefer is a relatively erosion-resistant, dense, fine-grained, gray-white marine sandstone; parts are iron stained, containing minor cross bedding. It is marine in origin and commonly contains traces of vertical (relative to bedding) worm burrows. Rose Hill Formation (Srh) — The Rose Hill Formation is a relatively thick assemblage of yellow-tan and red marine shales with thin siltstone and sandstone layers. It occasionally contains dense, red, hematitic (iron-laden) sandstone layers. Tuscarora Sandstone (St) — The Tuscarora is a white to light-gray, resistant marine sandstone containing occasional cross-bedded layers and conglomeratic zones of quartz pebbles. It underlies the highest points on Cacapon Mountain. Juniata Formation (Oj) — The Juniata Formation consists of thin- to thick-bedded red, cross-bedded terrestrial sandstone and siltstone. Contains interbedded shale and occasional thin light-gray sandstone. Underlies the upper parts of the northwest slope and occasionally the crest of Cacapon Mountain.
12
Oswego Sandstone (Oo) — The Oswego, the oldest bedrock exposed, is a gray to light-green cross-bedded sandstone with occasional pebble conglomerate zones. It weathers to a tan color and is void of fossils. Underlies the northwest slope of Cacapon Mountain in the southwest corner of Cacapon Resort State Park.
Cacapon Resort State Park Cacapon Resort State Park was acquired by the state in 1934. Since that time additional purchases have enlarged the park to its present area of 6,115 acres. The park extends 12 miles along the summit and southeastern slopes of Cacapon Mountain from the northwestern corner of Frederick County, Virginia, northeastward to within one mile of the Potomac River and the state of Maryland, nearly all the way across Morgan County. Many of the buildings, Cacapon Lake dam, and other facilities of the park were constructed in the mid 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The relief (the difference between the highest and lowest points) of the park is nearly 1,500 feet. The highest altitude of 2,300 feet is near the southwestern end of
Figure 10. Looking east from the Cacapon Mountain overlook.
Figure 11. Cacapon Lake dam.
13
the bedding. This fossil is characteristic of the Tuscarora Sandstone and is used as a guide (guide fossil) in the identification of that formation. Figure 12. Arenicolites on bedding surface of Keefer Sandstone. Nugget Highest point—2,300 feet—near the southwestern end of the park. Lowest point—850 feet—near the park entrance. Relief—1,450 feet.
14
the park, where Batt Road turns to the northeast at the summit of Cacapon Mountain; the lowest is about 850 feet, near the park entrance.
Stratigraphic Features
Boulders and blocks of Keefer Sandstone are numerous throughout the main recreational areas of the park. Many of the boulders contain what looks like small rounded white pebbles, one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch across. These are actually regular-shaped, long, thin, quartz-filled tubes extending into or completely through the sandstone layers. These features are burrows called Arenicolites made by worms that lived in the unconsolidated sands on the bottom of the shallow Silurian seas. The tubes have since been filled with milkyquartz, precipitated from solutions seeping through the sand, to give the appearance of pebbles when seen in cross section. Similar, although less common fossil markings, are found in the Tuscarora Sandstone. Larger interlaced grooves, frequently one-half of an inch wide, on the original upper side of beds in the Tuscarora and corresponding ridges on the under side of the adjacent beds, are trails and feeding tubes of unknown ancient organisms. These features are called trace fossils, which are important as they preserve evidence of how animals lived and interacted with their environment. The trace fossil Arthrophycus alleghaniensis differs from Arenicolites by running parallel to, instead of across,
Fossils are more numerous in the Helderberg Limestone and Oriskany Sandstone. Some layers in these rocks consist almost entirely of shells of marine animals. Button-like forms are impressions of parts of the stems of plant-like animals known as crinoids; flat shells are those of brachiopods and bivalves, ancestors to present-day clams; and coiled forms are remains of gastropods (snails). Inorganic features of rocks found in the park include ripple-marks (shallow depressions and ridges) formed by water currents moving across loose sediment. Some bedding planes of the thinlayered Tonoloway Limestone, cropping out along the main road and North Fork of Indian Run near the Old Inn, are marked with a polygonal pattern of cracks or lines. These are called mud cracks, caused by the shallow sea bottom drying and shrinking from time to time. These structures are identical to the cracks that form when a mud puddle dries. Curved, parallel streaks of persistent color may be seen occasionally in the Keefer and Tuscarora sandstones. These represent thin layers of sand of different mineral content deposited at variable angles to the sea floor, much as sand is deposited in sandbars today. Layering at
FIGURE 13. Arthrophycus alleghaniensi on bedding surface of Tuscarora Sandstone. FIGURE 14. Marine brachiopod (fossil shell) remains in Oriskany Sandstone.
Structural Features
Figure 15. Above, differential weathering of Tuscarora Sandstone at Prospect Rocks. Figure 16. Above right, potholes on bedding surface of Tuscarora Sandstone at Prospect Rocks.
16
an angle to and between, bedding planes is called “crossbedding” and is a common feature of many sandstone formations throughout the state. Variation in the composition and amount of cement bonding grains together often leads to interesting rock shapes through “differential weathering.” The effects of differential weathering can be seen at Prospect Rock. Variations in the cementing material between successive beds resulted in the deep horizontal grooves and “table rock” feature. Variations in cementing material laterally within a single bed have caused rounded depressions. These hollows are similar in form to “potholes” formed by erosion in rock floored stream channels at the sites of rapids and waterfalls. The Oriskany Sandstone’s constituent quartz grains are held together by calcareous (limy) cement, which is weaker than the silica cement bonding the grains of the Keefer and Tuscarora. The limy cement is easily removed by weathering so that quarries in the Oriskany yield a very fine sand from the crumbly, weathered layer. Oriskany sand has been hauled in from quarries to form the beach of Cacapon Lake. The Oriskany also is noted for its high-silica content and is produced for making glass and other silica products from quarries in Warm Springs Ridge, seen along Route 522 northeast of Berkeley Springs.
Near the end of the Paleozoic Era, a collision between sections of the earth’s crust, called tectonic plates, exerted great horizontal pressure from the southeast on the rocks of West Virginia. This caused an upward buckling of the bedrock, resulting in the formation of the Appalachian Mountains. In the eastern portions of the state, this uplift caused the rocks to wrinkle or fold into upwarps and downwarps called anticlines and synclines. The ridge of Cacapon Mountain directly overlies the axis (center line) of the Cacapon Mountain Anticline. The bedrock under the park to the southeast of the anticlinal axis dips (tilts) to the southeast. Over the ridge, on the northwestern slope of Cacapon Mountain, the rocks dip to the northwest. Anticlines are commonly bordered on either side by downfolds called “synclines” (beds concave to the surface). The axis or center line of the first major syncline northwest of the park is approximately on the crest of Sideling Hill, where rocks of Mississippian age are exposed. There is a spectacular exposure of the axis of this syncline where Interstate 68 cuts through Sideling Hill, just west of Hancock, Maryland. The axis of the first major syncline to the southeast of the park is six miles distant from the park entrance and about one mile beyond Sleepy Creek Mountain, the first major ridge visible looking eastward from the park. While the axes of anticlines and synclines tend to control the trend or direction of valleys and ridges, the crests and troughs of the underlying bedrock
Figure 17. Northeast dipping beds of Oriskany Sandstone near park entrance.
17
Cacapon Resort State Park Figure 18. Cacapon Resort State Park facilities map.
FIGURE 19. Generalized cross section of Cacapon Resort State Park and Cacapon Mountain.
do not always correspond to topographic highs and lows. The adjacent synclines to the Cacapon Anticline underlie highly elevated ridges, and it is not uncommon for anticlines to underlie valleys (as at Canaan Valley). Rather, the earth’s topographic features also result from differences in the erosion and weathering rates of the rock sections exposed. Where less resistant formations were at the surface, they were worn away to valleys; where there were more resistant ones, ridges remain.
Topographic Features
20
The recreation hall and entrance to the beach are on the lowest ridge known as Warm Spring Ridge. The resistant formation is the Oriskany Sandstone. An outcrop of the Oriskany can be seen along the north side of the road just after entering the park. This gap in the ridge, eroded
by Indian Run, has provided an easy access route from the main entrance to the lodge and cabin areas. Along the northwestern slope of Warm Spring Ridge, outcrops of blue-gray Helderberg Limestone can be seen. Some of these beds consist mostly of fossils of marine animals, ancestors to present-day clams, oysters, and snails. The golf course and main lodge are underlain by thinbedded limestones and shales of the Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian. Limestone and shale generally weather and erode faster than sandstone. Weathering of these soft rocks has formed the valley between Warm Spring and Piney Ridge. Limestone is chemically weathered as weak acids
21
FIGURE 20. Southwest view from golf course showing Piney Ridge and Cacapon Mountain.
dissolve the soluble calcium carbonate. Rain and stream water dissolve carbon dioxide, forming carbonic acid. Forest vegetation can contribute tannic acid to stream and groundwater. Groundwater can become acidified from carbon dioxide in soils. Dissolving of limestone occurs not only at the surface, forming valleys and small depressions, but also in the sub-surface. As acidic groundwater moves through fractures in the limestone, it dissolves the rock, forming voids. Over time, these voids grow larger, forming caverns. When the ceiling of a cavern nears the surface, it can become weak and collapse. The surface feature which develops is called a sink hole. There are some shallow sink holes in the park in the northeast part of the golf course. Shale, composed of extremely fine-grained clay minerals, is not soluble by weak acids; however, the bedding is much thinner than in most limestone or sandstone. Therefore, shale is easily broken into platy fragments by frost and water.
22
Piney Ridge is a line of knobby hills and terraces along the upper slopes of Cacapon Mountain. Here, the resistant Keefer Sandstone has slowed the wearing away of the land. The most spectacular outcrops of Keefer Sandstone in the park are southeast of the parking
overlook on Batt Road about half a mile below the summit where the South Fork of Indian Run has cut through Piney Ridge. Boulders and blocks of Keefer Sandstone are abundant throughout the park below Piney Ridge. They have been widely used in construction of the buildings, retaining walls, gate-posts, and Cacapon Lake dam. The Rose Hill Formation underlies the area between Piney Ridge and the summit of Cacapon Mountain. The Rose Hill consists of several hundred feet of red, olive, or buff shales interbedded with red sandstone layers less than a foot thick in most places. The summit of Cacapon Mountain is underlain by the oldest and toughest formation in the park, the Tuscarora Sandstone, a very hard, erosion-resistant rock. The Tuscarora consists almost entirely of medium- to thickbedded white, gray, or pinkish sandstone that weathers to a dirty gray and is often covered with leathery-leaved plant growths called “lichens.” The grains of sand in the Tuscarora are firmly cemented with silica (quartz) which creates a strong enough bond that breaks occur across, rather than around, the constituent grains. This results in fresh fractures appearing smoother and brighter than in the weaker calcite-cemented Oriskany Sandstone. Exposures of Tuscarora may be observed closely for several hundred feet along Batt Road below the summit where they form the northwest bank of the road. Prospect Rocks, near the northeastern end of the park, are a series of northwest-facing cliffs also cut into the Tuscarora.
FIGURE 21. Stream flowing into sink hole developed in limestones under golf course. Nugget The oldest rock formation in the park is Tuscarora Sandstone under Cacapon Mountain.
23
park. The scenery, topography, and geology of the park area is typical of the Valley and Ridge physiographic province with parallel northeast-trending mountain ridges and broad valleys visible eastward from summits in the park. Figure 22. Looking east from Cheeks Rocks, Rockwell Formation.
24
Lost River State Park Lost River State Park, located in south-central Hardy County, covers an area of 3,712 acres. The park extends northeast from Howards Lick Run for five miles along the summit and slopes of Big Ridge, one of the highest ridges in the vicinity. The park continues for 1.5 miles to the southwest of Howards Lick Run. This section includes most of the recreation facilities and cabin sites along Cabin Fork, and also extends up the slopes of Piney Ridge to the west and East Ridge to the southeast. These ridges are essentially lower, southwestward continuations of Big Ridge. Many of the buildings and other facilities of the park were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Altitudes in the park range from 1,750 to 3,210 feet, thus the “relief” of the park (the difference between the highest and lowest points) is 1,460 feet. The highest point is about one mile northeast of the Cranny Crow overlook at the summit of Big Ridge, and the lowest is along Howards Lick Run at the main entrance to the
Stratigraphic Features
The Hampshire Formation underlies most of the park and generally consists of mostly six- to 12-inch layers of brownish-red sandstone, which are interbedded in many places with thin layers of red and green shales and less frequently with conglomerate. The colors are caused by different forms of iron oxide distributed between the grains of the rocks. Red shows the presence of ferric oxide (Fe2O3) and green indicates ferrous iron (FeO). Ferrous iron may form from ferric iron by the reducing action of organic matter such as decaying plants buried with the sediments and now almost completely consumed. Differing amounts of original organic matter from place to place may explain the presence of both colors in one rock layer. Individual blocks long separated from the parent layer may appear gray through leaching of the surface iron, but broken open they usually show the original red. The Hampshire and Rockwell were deposited by streams that flowed across a low coastal plain along the eastern
Figure 23. Ripple marks on underside of bedding, Rockwell Formation sandstone at Cheeks Rocks. Nugget Highest point—3,210 feet—summit of Big Ridge. Lowest point—1,750 feet—at the park entrance. Relief—1,460 feet.
25
Figure 24. Cross beds in Hampshire Formation outcrop above first sharp turn on Fire Tower Road.
side of a broad arm of the ocean that covered large areas of North America during the late Devonian and early Mississippian. As the sand grains, pebbles, and clays were being deposited, currents sometimes swept the loose sediments into parallel shallow depressions and ridges (ripples). These were frequently preserved by burial and cementing of the grains. Now they are exposed on bedding planes at many places in and near the park as ripple marks.
Figure 25. Helmick Rock on South Branch Mountain. 200 feet of relief in Rockwell Formation. Talus slope at base provided stone for many buildings at Lost River State Park.
As the channels carrying these streams migrated across the coastal plains, the sediments deposited would record changing channel positions in the form of cross-bedding. Cross-beds can be seen in some outcrops of the Rockwell Formation. Some of the bedding planes are marked by a roughly polygonal pattern of cracks, ridges, or lines. These are impressions of mud cracks caused by the occasional drying and shrinkage of sediments in the shallow streams and lakes on the ancient coastal plain, similar to the cracks formed when a mud puddle dries. At times of low flow, mud cracks can be seen on bedding plane surfaces of Hampshire Formation rocks in the bed of Howards Lick Run.
26
Most of the sandstone seen in the chimneys and walls of park buildings was brought from Helmick Rock
Figure 26. Silurian Tuscarora Sandstone was used to make the base of the chimney of Cabin 12 at the park.
Figure 27. Cranny Crow overlook.
27
LOST RIVER State Park Figure 28. Lost River State Park facilities map.
Figure 30. Cheeks Rocks, near axis of the Sideling Hill Syncline. Rockwell Formation sandstones dipping southwest.
Structural Features
Figure 29. Steeply dipping beds of the Hampshire Formation at road intersection.
30
on the northwest slope of South Branch Mountain. Helmick Rock is a sandstone outcrop of the Rockwell Formation, the same rock unit underlying Big Ridge. As weathering and erosion remove material from joints and bedding planes, large sandstone blocks fall from the two-hundred-foot cliffs and are strewn along the northwestern side to form a “talus slope.” Helmick Rock is about seven miles from the park, on the road to Moorefield (county Route 12). Silurian Tuscarora Sandstone also has been used in some of the park buildings, for instance, the base of the chimney of Cabin 12. This probably came from the gap east of Mathias where the Tuscarora surfaces. Not all of the flat flagstones of the walks are of local origin. Slabs of red sandstone forming the porch of the restaurant in the administration building were brought from Watoga State Park in Pocahontas County. The most distant source for rock used in the park would be the algae-covered marble blocks lining Lee Sulphur Spring. It is believed that these were imported from Italy and installed by General Henry Lee in 1801.
Near the end of the Paleozoic Era, a collision between tectonic plates of the earth’s crust caused great horizontal pressure from the southeast to be exerted on the rocks of West Virginia. This caused a buckling upward of the bedrock resulting in the formation of the Appalachian Mountains. In the eastern portions of the state, this uplift caused the rocks to wrinkle or fold into upwarps and downwarps called anticlines and synclines. The formation of the Appalachian Mountains caused the originally flat-lying deposits of the Hampshire and Rockwell to be greatly deformed. At the road junction just below the swimming pool, layers of red and green shale stand nearly vertical, a result of localized folding of the weak shales as stronger sandstones above and below slid against them. Polished and grooved fractures (slickensides) found in some of the sandstone sections show that those beds broke across the bedding, as well as slipped along bedding planes. A major structural feature, the Sideling Hill Syncline, passes through the park. The axis of the fold is centered along the summit of Big Ridge. It continues northeastward through Maryland, where the axis can easily be seen in a spectacular roadcut through Sideling Hill on Interstate 68, west of Hancock. The crests and troughs of folded formations do not nessessarily
31
Nugget The axis of the Sideling Hill Syncline can be seen in a spectacular roadcut on Interstate 68, east of Hancock, Md.
Figure 31. Generalized Cross Section of Lost River State Park area.
correspond respectively to mountains and valleys. Rather, the topography results from differences in erosion and weathering rates of the rock sections which were exposed in linear belts after the folding. Resistant formations such as the upper Hampshire and Rockwell form ridges; whereas, less resistant rocks generally underlie valleys. The valley of Cabin Run in the area of the administration building and cabins follows the upended shale mentioned before, while the wide valley of Lost River from Mathias to Baker follows the much broader belt of nonresistant Middle Devonian shale.
32
The synclinal structure of Big Ridge can be seen from the trails in the vicinity of Cheeks Rocks. On the southeast side the sandstone layers tilt (dip) northwest, while on
the northwest side they dip southeast. The exact axis or line of reversal of dip also may be seen in the Rockwell sandstone outcrops about 650 feet northeast of the fire tower on the summit of Big Ridge. Along the axis at Cheeks Rocks and Millers Rocks dips are relatively flat. Many unusual rock shapes can be found along the extremities of Big Ridge. These are formed by differential weathering. Variations in the strength of the material cementing the grains together have resulted in deep horizontal grooves and “table rock” features. Vertical cracks or joints in the layers have been widened to form miniature canyons and, in a few cases, small natural bridges. Joints were formed by tension that pulled the rock layers apart across the bedding as they were folded. They are common structures throughout the park.
33
Figure 32. Lee Sulphur Springs. Marble blocks lining spring are reported to have been imported from Italy.
34
Lee Sulphur Springs
“Lost” River
Ever since the first Lee ownership, the spring has been a center of health-seeking and recreation. General Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee, father of Robert E. Lee, is said to have built the family cabin in 1800. It still stands in restored condition near the spring. He later built a two-story, 100-by-49-foot log hotel that stood up-slope from the present swimming pool. The hotel burned in 1910. Many more curative results were ascribed to drinking and bathing in this and other mineralized spring water in the 19th century than today, which made the area a popular destination for visitors from throughout the middle Atlantic states.
The Lost River, for which the park takes its name, parallels state Route 259 in a northeast trending valley, underlain by less resistant Devonian shales, which is typical of the Valley and Ridge physiographic province. Howards Lick Run, the main stream in the park, empties into Lost River at Mathias. North of the town of Baker, Lost River turns eastward, cutting a narrow gap through the ridge underlain by the Hanging Rock Anticline, exposing rocks older than those found in the park. Old state Route 55 follows Lost River through this gap.
The principles controlling such springs are fairly simple. Rainwater seeps into a porous and permeable bed, such as sandstone, at points higher on a structure, in this case perhaps to the west along the Whip Cove anticline. Water flows beneath the surface due to gravity between impermeable beds like the interbedded shale in the Hampshire until the carrier bed (aquifer) is exposed at a lower level or the water can work its way to the surface along faults or joints. In its passage through the rocks it dissolves mineral matter and may pick up gases, additional water, and other liquids from the pores of surrounding rocks. The flow rate of Lee Sulphur Spring is less than one gallon per minute, small compared with a giant spring, such as Berkeley Springs in Morgan County (Berkeley Springs State Park) that discharges as much as 2,000 gallons per minute. The water is pleasant tasting but the odor of sulfur and hydrogen sulfide, which gives it a “rotten egg” smell, can be strong.
Entering the gap from the west, late Silurian/early Devonian carbonates (limestone and dolomite) are exposed. Being on the western side of the axis (centerline) of the anticline, these rocks dip to the northwest. Continuing eastward through the gap, across the axis, rocks dip to the southeast. It is on this side that an exposure of the Silurian-aged Tuscarora Sandstone nearly overhangs the road in a feature called Hanging Rock, also the source name of the anticline. This structure is nicely exposed by roadcuts made in construction of new Route 55. Four miles east of Hanging Rock, the Lost River flows over an exposure of limestone. Eroded voids in the bedrock cause some of the river’s water to be diverted
Figure 33. Hanging Rock.
35
Figure 34. Lost River, looking downstream from beneath the old state Route 55 bridge. During times of very low flow, the river sinks at this point into voids in underlying limestone.
36
underground for about two miles before it reemerges. The water follows joints and bedding planes in the Tonoloway Limestone that have been enlarged by acids in the water, dissolving the soluble limestone. During periods of very low flow, all water in the Lost River channel may be diverted underground. This feature is what gives the river its name. The river flows underground in a northeast direction to its resurgence east of Sandy Ridge, paralleling the strike (direction of the axes of anticlines and synclines) of the bedrock. Pressure is built up as the water is confined underground, causing it to emerge with force forming Cacapon River.
GEOLOGIC MAPS Cacapon Resort State Park and Lost River State Park
A geologic map shows the distribution of different kinds of rocks and structural features (anticlines, synclines, faults, etc.) It is a summary of all the geologist knows in an area, and is usually printed on top of a topographic map, called a base map, for orientation. The base map is printed with light colors so it doesn’t interfere with the geologic features on the map. The geology is represented by colors, lines and special symbols unique to geologic maps. The map itself is usually accompanied by one or more vertical cross sections so that a person can picture rocks at and below the surface in three dimensions. The rock units depicted on these maps are described in the “Rocks exposed in the parks” sections, beginning on page 9. The base maps used are the standard USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps. Topographic maps of West Virginia are available from West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey.
West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Morgantown, WV
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
�������������
��������
�� �� �������������� �����������������
������������ ����������
��������������� ������������
���������� ����������
�����������
����������
����� �����
���������
�����������
������������� ��������
����� ����
�������
������
����������
���������������� �����������
������������� ���������������� ��������������������
�����
������
������� ������
��
��������
����������
��������� ������ ����������� ���������
������
������������
�������������������� ����������
����� ����
����������
�������������� ����������� ����� ����
�������
����������� ������ ����
��
����� �����
���� �������
������������
����� �������� �����������
��������
�������
�������
���������
������ ������
������� ������������
���� ����� ������ ���������� �������� ���� ���������
��������� �������� ������
������ ������
��
������������
���������������������� ���������������������
���������� ������� ����
West Virginia State Parks 1–800–CALL WVA www.wvstateparks.com
Lost River State Park..........................www.lostriversp.com Cacapon Resort State Park...................www.cacaponresort.com West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey .......................................................www.wvgs.wvnet.edu West Virginia State Parks.....................www.wvstateparks.com West Virginia Division of Tourism.........www.wvtourism.com Berkeley Springs State Park.................www.berkeleyspringssp.com Berkeley Springs Tourism....................www.berkeleysprings.com Hardy County, WV..............................www.hardycountywv.com Monongahela National Forest...............www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf George Washington/Jefferson National Forests .......................................................www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj United States Geological Survey...........www.usgs.gov
The
Geology of
Cacapon Resort and Lost River State Parks
West Virginia Department of Commerce West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey West Virginia State Parks
One in a Series of State Parks Bulletins Ken Ashton, Geologist West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey
