|The Massabesic Gneiss looks like ice cream|
swirled with fudge because of heat and
pressure from 500 million years on the surface
The Massabesic Gneiss was Goliath. Forged in the tectonic rift that cleaved coastal New England from its former mooring point in an ancient Africa, it survived a trek across a long vanished ocean and 500 million years of survival at the surface of the Earth. Its bold endeavors are catalogued in folds left by heat and pressure along the way.
|The ice on the trail is a good metaphor for the park. As the pool |
of magma melted the land below, and added weight above.the
land gave way, allowing magma to rise up through the crack.
|The gabbro that makes up Meloon Hill flowed up through the|
cracks left when the roof of the magma chamber collapsed
Millions of years of erosion laid waste to the softer diorite, and shaved quite a bit off of the gabbro. The monzonite, more resilient than the rest, remained. Its stark cliffs are now a monument to the epic battle between a seasoned champion and a literal under...dog. That is, until a new champion arises.
|The view from one monzonite ridge to another.|
In the middle are the diorite lowlands.
Eby, G.N.. "Mount Pawtuckaway Ring Dike Complex." Geology of the coastal lowlands, Boston to Kennebunk, Maine. S.l.: New England Intercollegiate Geologic Conference, 1984. 240-248. Print.
McGarry, MaryAnn. "Volcanoes in New Hampshire ." Plymouth Portfolio. Plymouth State University, 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.plymouth.edu/eportfolio/view/view.php?id=12819>.
Reidy, Daniel E.. "Jurassic Period." New Hampshire Geology Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.nhgeology.org/>.