The Beam (geological outcrop)

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The Beam is a geological outcrop on US Route 2 in South Hero, Vermont that is well known for its display of small-scale thrust faults originating from the Taconic Orogeny. The Beam is frequently visited by geology students studying the geology of New England. [1]

Outcrop visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth

An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth.

South Hero, Vermont Town in Vermont, United States

South Hero is the most populous town that is both comprising part of Lake Champlain's largest island of Grand Isle and in Grand Isle County, Vermont. South Hero's population was 1,631 at the 2010 census.

Geology The study of the composition, structure, physical properties, and history of Earths components, and the processes by which they are shaped.

Geology is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Geology can also include the study of the solid features of any terrestrial planet or natural satellite such as Mars or the Moon. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other earth sciences, including hydrology and the atmospheric sciences, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated earth system science and planetary science.

Geology

The Beam is found in the Cumberland Head Formation and is composed of two beds of calcareous shale, divided by a bed of micrite. The micrite bed displays rigid body displacement with roof thrusts and ramp thrusts along the length of the exposed bed. The shale displays pressure dissolution with steeply dipping cleavage in the shale and abundant calcite veins and slickenlines. Both beds were subjected to east-west compression and as a result of their differing mineralogy, they shortened in different ways. Many lecturers who visit this site use the outcrop as a small scale example of the large scale tectonics active in the Vermont region. [2]

Bed (geology) stratigraphic subdivison

Beds are the layers of sedimentary rocks that are distinctly different from overlying and underlying subsequent beds of different sedimentary rocks. Layers of beds are called stratigraphy or strata. They are formed from sedimentary rocks being deposited on the Earth's solid surface over a long periods of time. The stratigraphy are layered in the same order that they were deposited, allowing a differentiation of which beds are younger and which ones are older. The structure of a bed is determined by its bedding plane. Beds can be differentiated in various ways, including rock or mineral type and particle size. The term is generally applied to sedimentary strata, but may also be used for volcanic flows or ash layers.

Shale A fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock

Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock, composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering or bedding less than one centimeter in thickness, called fissility. It is the most common sedimentary rock.

Micrite limestone constituent formed of calcareous particles formed by the recrystallization of lime mud

Micrite is a limestone constituent formed of calcareous particles ranging in diameter up to four μm formed by the recrystallization of lime mud.

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Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point Boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale

A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point, abbreviated GSSP, is an internationally agreed upon reference point on a stratigraphic section which defines the lower boundary of a stage on the geologic time scale. The effort to define GSSPs is conducted by the International Commission on Stratigraphy, a part of the International Union of Geological Sciences. Most, but not all, GSSPs are based on paleontological changes. Hence GSSPs are usually described in terms of transitions between different faunal stages, though far more faunal stages have been described than GSSPs. The GSSP definition effort commenced in 1977. As of 2012, 64 of the 101 stages that need a GSSP have been formally defined.

Permian Basin (North America)

The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in the southwestern part of the United States. The basin contains the Mid-Continent Oil Field province. This sedimentary basin is located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It reaches from just south of Lubbock, past Midland and Odessa, south nearly to the Rio Grande River in southern West Central Texas, and extending westward into the southeastern part of New Mexico. It is so named because it has one of the world's thickest deposits of rocks from the Permian geologic period. The greater Permian Basin comprises several component basins; of these, the Midland Basin is the largest, Delaware Basin is the second largest, and Marfa Basin is the smallest. The Permian Basin covers more than 86,000 square miles (220,000 km2), and extends across an area approximately 250 miles (400 km) wide and 300 miles (480 km) long.

Geology of the Australian Capital Territory

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Torridonian

In geology, the term Torridonian is the informal name for the Torridonian Supergroup, a series of Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic arenaceous and argillaceous sedimentary rocks, which occur extensively in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The strata of the Torridonian Supergroup are particularly well exposed in the district of upper Loch Torridon, a circumstance which suggested the name Torridon Sandstone, first applied to these rocks by James Nicol. Stratigraphically, they lie unconformably on gneisses of the Lewisian complex and their outcrop extent is restricted to the Hebridean Terrane.

Millstone Grit

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Hamilton Group

The Devonian Hamilton Group is a mapped bedrock unit in the United States. The unit is present in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia. In Virginia, it is known as the laterally equivalent Millboro Shale. The group is named for the village of Hamilton, New York. Details of stratigraphic nomenclature for this unit as used by the U.S. Geological Survey are available on-line from the National Geologic Map Database. These rocks are the oldest strata of the Devonian gas shale sequence.

Marcellus Formation marcellus shale

The Marcellus Formation or the Marcellus Shale is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. Named for a distinctive outcrop near the village of Marcellus, New York, in the United States, it extends throughout much of the Appalachian Basin.

Green Point, Newfoundland and Labrador point in Newfoundland

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The Lias Group or Lias is a lithostratigraphic unit found in a large area of western Europe, including the British Isles, the North Sea, the Low Countries and the north of Germany. It consists of marine limestones, shales, marls and clays.

Enon Formation

The Enon Formation is a geological formation found in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces in South Africa. It is the lowermost of the four formations found within the Uitenhage Group of the Algoa Basin, its type locality, where it has been measured at a maximum thickness of 480 metres (1,570 ft). Discontinuous outcrops are also found in the Worcester-Pletmos and Oudshoorn-Gamtoos Basins, including isolated occurrences in the Haasvlakte, Jubilee, and Soutpansvlakte Basins near the small town Bredasdorp.

An inlier is an area of older rocks surrounded by younger rocks. Inliers are typically formed by the erosion of overlying younger rocks to reveal a limited exposure of the older underlying rocks. Faulting or folding may also contribute to the observed outcrop pattern. A classic example from Great Britain is that of the inlier of folded Ordovician and Silurian rocks at Horton in Ribblesdale in North Yorkshire which are surrounded by the younger flat-lying Carboniferous Limestone. The location has long been visited by geology students and experts. Another example from South Wales is the Usk Inlier in Monmouthshire where Silurian age rocks are upfolded amidst Old Red Sandstone rocks of Devonian age.

The New Albany Shale is an organic-rich geologic formation of Devonian and Mississippian age in the Illinois Basin of the United States. It is a major source of hydrocarbons.

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Hakatai Shale

The Hakatai Shale is a Mesoproterozoic rock formation that outcrops in the Grand Canyon, Coconino County, Arizona. It consists of colorful strata that exhibit colors that vary from purple to red to brilliant orange on outcrop. The colors are the result of the oxidation of iron-bearing minerals in the Hakatai Shale. It consists of lower and middle members that consist of bright-red, slope-forming, highly fractured, argillaceous mudstones and shale and an upper member composed of purple and red, cliff-forming, medium-grained sandstone. Its thickness, which apparently increases eastwards, varies form 137 to 300 m. In general, the Hakatai Shale and associated strata of the Unkar Group rocks dip northeast (10°-30°) toward normal faults that dip 60° or more toward the southwest. This can be seen at the Palisades fault in the eastern part of the main Unkar Group outcrop area. In addition, thick, prominent, and dark-colored basaltic sills and dikes cut across the purple to red to brilliant orange strata of the Hakatai Shale.

Geology of Skye

The geology of Skye in Scotland is highly varied and the island's landscape reflects changes in the underlying nature of the rocks. A wide range of rock types are exposed on the island, sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous, ranging in age from the Archaean through to the Quaternary.

Exmoor Group

The Exmoor Group is a late Devonian to early Carboniferous lithostratigraphic group in southwest England whose outcrop extends from Croyde in north Devon east across Exmoor to Minehead in west Somerset. The group comprises the following formations the:

Lone Rock Point

Lone Rock Point is a promontory north of Burlington, Vermont and on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. It is publicly accessible via a trail network and sits on land owned by the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont.

Not to be confused with former rock and roll group, The Tyrones.

References

  1. Wright, Stephen F., ed. "Field Trip Guidebook Number Four." Vermont Geology 8 (2001): n. pag. Print. http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/geo/GMGVTSoc/VTGS_2001.pdf
  2. Adam Schoonmaker, Adam. "Evidence Against The Allochthonous Nature Of The Stanbridge Nappe At Highgate Gorge, Northwestern Vermont." (2009): n. pag. Web. 14 Mar. 2016. <http://www.atmos.albany.edu/geology/webpages/NEIGC09Highgate.pdf>.