The Felsenmeer Files, Part 4: E Pluribus Unum | Hickory Run State Park, Pennsylvania, USA

Glancing down at one of the larger boulders of the Hickory Run felsenmeer. The comb provides scale. It's about 5 in (12.8 cm) long.

For a more expansive view of this famous "sea of rocks," and for a rundown on how it formed, see Part 1 of this series.

As noted in previous descriptions, the stone that makes up this felsenmeer is the Duncannon Member of the Devonian Catskill Formation. Most of the blocks I saw that had freshly broken faces revealing their true color and texture fit within the mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone categories. But there was also some conglomerate around, as this photo attests.

A US Geological Survey description of the Duncannon notes that it possesses fining-upward cycles. In other words, there is a repeating sequence of coarser particles at the bottom and progressively finer sediments above them. Another term for this pattern is graded bedding.

So this subrounded boulder must have come from the bottom of one of the Duncannon's cycles. Its many clasts, rather poorly sorted in size and set in a granular matrix, make up the whole. They are mostly subrounded, too. That's an indication that they traveled some distance from their original outcrop in the ancient Acadian uplands before they were deposited and relithified.

The boulder, like many of the other rocks here, has developed a thick weathering crust paler than the usual Catskill Formation maroon tint. It also appears to be the happy home of various biofilm communities—probably lichens, cyanobacteria, or both.

To see the other photos and descriptions of this series, visit
my Felsenmeer Files album.

Taken in: United States / Pennsylvania / Kidder Township / Spilt Rock (show map)

Taken on: July 28, 2004

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Camera: Sony CD MAVICA, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony CD MAVICA
ISO:	200
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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