Erie Stone

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Erie Stones or pierres Erienes are rocks used in First Nations (Native American) traditional medicine. Francois Gendron, [1] the French Jesuit surgeon at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons mission, first described its use in the 1640s in letters later published in 1660. Gendron described the sources of these stones as being at the base of Niagara Falls and that a local Native American group settled there and traded this item to other First Nations communities. The ointment created from this rock was said to help the healing of "wounds, fistulas and malignant ulcers". [1]

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons living museum in Ontario, Canada

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the province of Ontario. Eight missionaries from Sainte-Marie were martyred, and were canonized by the Catholic Church in 1930. Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1920. A reconstruction of the mission now operates as a living museum.

Niagara Falls Waterfalls of Ontario,Canada and New York,United States

Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York. They form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge.

Exactly what the rock was that this ointment was made from has been open to debate since Gendron first described it. He described the rock as a yellowish salt formed from the petrification of foam formed at the foot of Niagara Falls. [1] There is also debate among historians whether he actually visited the area to collect samples or was supplied with them and a description of their location from Native American traders.[ citation needed ]

Jury and Jury [2] interpreted Gendron’s description as describing calcareous tufa, a rock formed by precipitation from supersaturated limestone deposits. Hunter, [3] however, identified it with aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, with inclusion of magnesium sulphate and calcium sulphate. Hunter was able to collect samples from below Niagara Falls in 1982. According to him the mineral forms by the seepage of slightly acidic rain water through limestone formation in the Niagara gorge, most notably the dolostone formation near the top of the Niagara Escarpment. This seepage causes carbonate minerals to dissolve out of the dolostone changing them to a bicarbonate form. Below the dolostone the Rochester Shale is impenetrable to the seeping water causing it to flow horizontal and emerge and run down the rock face of the gorge. Some of this water evaporates leaving a layer of calcium carbonate and aragonite on the rock face. In some areas the accumulation is not much more than a thin film but in others areas he notes it can be four or five centimeters thick.

Tufa Porous limestone rock formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of ambient temperature water

Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of ambient temperature water. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits known as travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as (meteogene) travertine. It should not be confused with hot spring (thermogene) travertine. Tufa, which is calcareous, should not be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock with a similar etymology that is sometimes also called "tufa".

Aragonite carbonate mineral

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3 (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including precipitation from marine and freshwater environments.

Dolostone Sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite

Dolostone or dolomite rock is a sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In old USGS publications, it was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolostones or magnesium-rich limestones. Technically, dolostone has a stoichiometric ratio of nearly equal amounts of magnesium and calcium. Most dolostones formed as a magnesium replacement of limestone or lime mud prior to lithification. It is resistant to erosion and can either contain bedded layers or be unbedded. It is less soluble than limestone in weakly acidic groundwater, but it can still develop solution features over time. Dolostone can act as an oil and natural gas reservoir.

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Limestone Sedimentary rocks made of calcium carbonate

Limestone is a carbonate sedimentary rock that is often composed of the skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, foraminifera, and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). A closely related rock is dolostone, which contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. In fact, in old USGS publications, dolostone was referred to as magnesian limestone, a term now reserved for magnesium-deficient dolostones or magnesium-rich limestones.

Marble non-foliated metamorphic rock commonly used for sculpture and as a building material

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated, although there are exceptions. In geology, the term "marble" refers to metamorphosed limestone, but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material.

Calcite carbonate mineral

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 3 as "calcite".

Chalk A soft, white, porous sedimentary rock made of calcium carbonate

Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is an ionic salt called calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite shells (coccoliths) shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores. Flint (a type of chert) is very common as bands parallel to the bedding or as nodules embedded in chalk. It is probably derived from sponge spicules or other siliceous organisms as water is expelled upwards during compaction. Flint is often deposited around larger fossils such as Echinoidea which may be silicified (i.e. replaced molecule by molecule by flint).

Marl Lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and silt

Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and silt. The dominant carbonate mineral in most marls is calcite, but other carbonate minerals such as aragonite, dolomite, and siderite may be present. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, formed under freshwater conditions; specifically an earthy substance containing 35–65% clay and 65–35% carbonate. It also describes a habit of coralline red alga. The term is today often used to describe indurated marine deposits and lacustrine (lake) sediments which more accurately should be named 'marlstone'. Marlstone is an indurated rock of about the same composition as marl, more correctly called an earthy or impure argillaceous limestone. It has a blocky subconchoidal fracture, and is less fissile than shale. The term 'marl' is widely used in English-language geology, while the terms Mergel and Seekreide are used in European references.

Dolomite carbonate mineral - CaMg(CO₃)₂

Dolomite is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally CaMg(CO3)2. The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomitic rock type is dolostone.

Niagara Escarpment

The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment, or cuesta, in the United States and Canada that runs predominantly east/west from New York, through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls, for which it is named.

Stalagmite elongated mineral formation which forms on a cave floor

A stalagmite is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings. Stalagmites may be composed of lava, minerals, mud, peat, pitch, sand, sinter and amberat.

Travertine A form of limestone deposited by mineral springs

Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. In the latter, it can form stalactites, stalagmites, and other speleothems. It is frequently used in Italy and elsewhere as a building material.

Speleothem A structure formed in a cave by the deposition of minerals from water

Speleothems, commonly known as cave formations, are secondary mineral deposits formed in a cave. Speleothems typically form in limestone or dolostone solutional caves. The term "speleothem" as first introduced by Moore (1952), is derived from the Greek words spēlaion "cave" + théma "deposit". The definition of "speleothem" in most publications, specifically excludes secondary mineral deposits in mines, tunnels and on man-made structures. Hill and Forti more concisely defined "secondary minerals" which create speleothems in caves as;

A "secondary" mineral is one which is derived by a physicochemical reaction from a primary mineral in bedrock or detritus, and/or deposited because of a unique set of conditions in a cave; i.e., the cave environment has influenced the mineral's deposition.

Ooid sedimentary grains

Ooids are small, spheroidal, "coated" (layered) sedimentary grains, usually composed of calcium carbonate, but sometimes made up of iron- or phosphate-based minerals. Ooids usually form on the sea floor, most commonly in shallow tropical seas. After being buried under additional sediment, these ooid grains can be cemented together to form a sedimentary rock called an oolite. Oolites usually consist of calcium carbonate; these belong to the limestone rock family. Pisoids are similar to ooids, but are larger than 2 mm in diameter, often considerably larger, as with the pisoids in the hot springs at Carlsbad in the Czech Republic.

Oolite Sedimentary rock formed from ooids

Oolite or oölite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word ᾠόν for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of 0.25–2 millimetres' diameter; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites. The term oolith can refer to oolite or individual ooids.

Lime (material) calcium-containing inorganic mineral

Lime is a calcium-containing inorganic mineral composed primarily of oxides, and hydroxide, usually calcium oxide and/ or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for calcium oxide which occurs as a product of coal seam fires and in altered limestone xenoliths in volcanic ejecta. The word lime originates with its earliest use as building mortar and has the sense of sticking or adhering.

Carbonate rock

Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3) and dolostone, which is composed of the mineral dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2).

Niagara Gorge

Niagara Gorge is an 11 km (6.8 mi) gorge carved by the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends at the Niagara Escarpment near Queenston, Ontario, where the Falls originated about 12,500 years ago. The Falls have receded upstream toward Lake Erie by slow erosion of hard Lockport dolomite, combined with rapid erosion of the relatively soft layers beneath it.

Anthodite

Anthodites (Greek ἄνθος ánthos, “flower”, -ode, adjectival combining form, -ite adjectival suffix) are speleothems (cave formations) composed of long needle-like crystals situated in clusters which radiate outward from a common base. The "needles" may be quill-like or feathery. Most anthodites are made of the mineral aragonite (a variety of calcium carbonate, CaCO3), although some are composed of gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O).

Calcareous an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate

Calcareous is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.

Frostwork

In geology, frostwork is a type of speleothem with acicular ("needle-like") growths almost always composed of aragonite or calcite replaced aragonite. It is a variety of anthodite. In some caves frostwork may grow on top of cave popcorn or boxwork.

Mackinac Falls

Mackinac Falls is a submerged 100-foot-high (30-metre) waterfall formation under the waters of the Straits of Mackinac. The formation, which lies approximately one mile (1.6 km) east of Arch Rock on Mackinac Island, was the former outflow point for water flowing eastward from Lake Chippewa into Lake Stanley. The formation was discovered on August 16, 2007.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gendron, Francois and Jean-Baptiste de Recoles Quelques Particularitez Du Pays Des Hurons En La Nouvelle France, 1660, p7-8
  2. ↑ Jury, Wilfred and Elsie McLeod Jury Sainte-Marie Among the Huron. Oxford University Press, Toronto. 1954, pp. 106-107
  3. ↑ Hunter, James Erie Stone: A Seventeenth Iroquoian Medicinal Trading Commodity, Kewa 85-2:2-8.
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