Cross Mountain | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 2,062 ft (628 m) |
Geography | |
Location | Franklin County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Parent range | Appalachian Mountains |
Topo map(s) | USGS Clear Spring (MD, PA) Quadrangle |
Cross Mountain is the highest peak in the Bear Pond Mountains, a sub range of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States. This grouping of mountains straddle the Maryland and Pennsylvania border.
Cross Mountain and Hearthstone Mountain 2,021 feet (616 m) which is on the Maryland side, form a unique geologic formation known as the "Punchbowl". This feature was created by the weathered shales of the Ordovician age in the center of a south-plunging anticline, having been eroded to expose a large amphitheater like feature (punchbowl). Cross and Hearthstone Mountain are made of hard resistant quartzite of the Tuscarora Formation of the Silurian age.
Cross Mountain is also the site of a deactivated microwave relay station, that was used during the Cold War. The unit was encased in a 103 ft. tower, and known as the "Cannonball" site 2. The site was closed in 1977. Access to the summit is still restricted.
Garrett County is the westernmost county of the U.S. state of Maryland completely within the Appalachian Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,806, making it the third-least populous county in Maryland. Its county seat is Oakland. The county was named for John Work Garrett (1820–1884), president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Created from Allegany County in 1872, it was the last county to be formed in the state. The county is part of the Western Maryland region of the state. Garrett County is bordered by four West Virginia counties and to the north the Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary known as the Mason–Dixon line. The eastern border with Allegany County was defined by the Bauer Report, submitted to Governor Lloyd Lowndes, Jr. on November 9, 1898. The Potomac River and State of West Virginia lie to the south and west.
The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough, including a chain of valley lowlands, and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountains system. The trough stretches about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from Quebec in the north to Alabama in the south and has been an important north–south route of travel since prehistoric times.
Tropospheric scatter, also known as troposcatter, is a method of communicating with microwave radio signals over considerable distances – often up to 500 kilometres (310 mi) and further depending on frequency of operation, equipment type, terrain, and climate factors. This method of propagation uses the tropospheric scatter phenomenon, where radio waves at UHF and SHF frequencies are randomly scattered as they pass through the upper layers of the troposphere. Radio signals are transmitted in a narrow beam aimed just above the horizon in the direction of the receiver station. As the signals pass through the troposphere, some of the energy is scattered back toward the Earth, allowing the receiver station to pick up the signal.
Conococheague Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, is a free-flowing stream that originates in Pennsylvania and empties into the Potomac River near Williamsport, Maryland. It is 80 miles (129 km) in length, with 57 miles (92 km) in Pennsylvania and 23 miles (37 km) in Maryland. The watershed of Conococheague Creek has an area of approximately 566 square miles (1,470 km2), out of which only 65 square miles (170 km2) are in Maryland.
Wills Creek is a 38.6-mile-long (62.1 km) tributary of the North Branch Potomac River in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the United States.
Marsh Creek is a 26.6-mile-long (42.8 km) tributary of the Monocacy River in south-central Pennsylvania and north-central Maryland in the United States.
Little Conococheague Creek is a 12.4-mile-long (20.0 km) tributary stream of the Potomac River in the U.S. states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The stream rises on Two Top Mountain, west of the Whitetail Ski Resort in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, and proceeds south into Washington County, Maryland. It empties into the Potomac about 2 miles (3 km) southeast of Big Spring, Maryland. The watershed of the creek is 18 square miles (47 km2) and includes Indian Springs Wildlife Management Area. Tributaries include Toms Run.
Town Hill is a mountain range that is located in Allegany County, Maryland and Bedford and Fulton counties in Pennsylvania.
Butler Knob is a peak on the Jacks Mountain ridge in south central Pennsylvania in the United States. The "Knobs" summit is underlain with weather resistant quartzite of the Tuscarora Formation. Butler Knob is accessible by a rough road, where there is a closed firetower on the summit. The firetower presently hold a weather station that gives current forecasts for the area.
The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, US.
The Clinton Group is a mapped unit of sedimentary rock found throughout eastern North America. The interval was first defined by the geologist Lardner Vanuxem, who derived the name from the village of Clinton in Oneida County, New York where several well exposed outcrops of these strata can be found. The Clinton Group and its lateral equivalents extend throughout much of the Appalachian Foreland Basin, a major structural and depositional province extending from New York to Alabama. The term has been employed in Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, though in many of these areas the same interval is referred to as the Rose Hill, Rockwood, or Red Mountain Formations. Historically the term "Clinton" has also been assigned to several lower Silurian stratigraphic units in Ohio and Kentucky which are now known to be significantly older than the Clinton Group as it was originally defined. Many parts of this succession are richly fossiliferous, making the Clinton Group an important record of marine life during the early Silurian. Several economically valuable rock-types are found within this interval, though it is perhaps best known as a significant source of iron ore
Parnell Knob is a mountain in the Ridge and Valley Appalachians region of south central Pennsylvania. This knob rises above the village of St. Thomas, where Front Mountain and Broad mountain come together. It is a feature sculptured by the hard dense Tuscarora quartzite of the Silurian age. Parnell Knob is conspicuous in that it rises abruptly above the relatively level Great Appalachian Valley.
Mt. Pisgah is a peak that is located in northeastern Pennsylvania's Glaciated Low Plateau region, also known as the Endless Mountains. This mountain peak lies next to a state park named after the mountain, Mt. Pisgah State Park. There is a hiking trail to the summit that has a view of the surrounding countryside, 1,000 feet (305 m) feet below. Stephen Foster lake is also located at the base of the mountain.
The Bear Pond Mountains are a subrange in the Appalachian Mountains, that straddle Pennsylvania and Maryland in the United States. These mountains are a part of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians and reach their highest point at Cross Mountain (Pennsylvania) 2,062 feet (628 m). A unique geologic feature known as the "Punchbowl" occurs in this range. This feature was created by the weathered shales of the Ordovician age in the center of a south-plunging anticline, having been eroded to expose a large amphitheater-like feature (punchbowl). Cross and Hearthstone Mountain are made of hard resistant quartzite of the Tuscarora Formation of the Silurian age, which form the walls of the bowl.
Bald Mountain is a prominent peak in Northeastern Pennsylvania which stands above the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton area. On the summit is an outcrop of Catskill conglomerate known as the "Pinnacle Rock". From the summit one can view the northernmost extension of the geologic province known as the Glaciated Low Plateaus section. The mountain itself is in the Ridge and Valley Appalachians.
Rays Hill is a mountain ridge in Pennsylvania's Ridge and Valley Appalachians region. It is bordered to the east by Sideling Hill. About halfway along its run, the west side of Rays Hill ties into Broad Top Mountain, a large plateau.
The Devonian Harrell Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Tysons Corner Communications Tower, also known as Site E, is a classified United States military microwave tower located in Tysons Corner, Virginia. The tower is administered by the United States Army from Fort Belvoir.
Pisgah Mountain, or Pisgah Ridge on older USGS maps, is a ridgeline running 12.5 miles (20.1 km) from Tamaqua to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania from the Little Schuylkill River water gap to the Lehigh River water gap.
Alan R. Geyer (1979) "Outstanding Geologic Features of Pennsylvania", Geological Survey of Pennsylvania
Albert LaFrance, Secret Cold War Landscape, Presidential Emergency Facilities Microwave Radio Relay Station Site 2 - "Cannonball" atop Cross Mountain, near Shimpstown, PA., Cold War webring, last update June 12, 1999.