tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40912629090549285642024-02-20T13:09:25.308-08:00Geology of Harpers FerryA one-day field trip: May 21, 2011Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-19283216442407010062011-05-22T04:43:00.000-07:002011-05-22T05:51:36.251-07:00Geology of Harpers Ferry: May 21, 2011<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Rapturous weather and enthusiastic students on Saturday, May 21 made for a successful Geology of Harpers Ferry field trip. The one-credit Northern Virginia Community College course led by Beth Doyle explores the region's geology and how terrain shaped the human and military history, a topic covered by Beth's loyal assistant Michael Doyle.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> We convened at the visitors center at 9:45 for a brief orientation, followed by a bus trip into Lower Town. The park service handles the bus trip well, with a pre-recorded introduction to the Harpers Ferry accompanied by some atmospheric folk music.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> The Armorers House and museum provided an overview of the geology and history. We then trekked up a steep hill and challenging steps to Jefferson Rock, for a magnificent overview. Jefferson Rock is a great location from which to admire Loudoun Heights, the Shenandoah River and the overall terrain. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1K5uepPBAb3peDWCg9T1SROQ2ht4U4Q_YhsqgfEXVH1r2O8wpIzMT3_3WeynmPhLmjGUtnj8gZPtTpf-Y0NWPsdj0fa3Cz52pHQGoAcT218-_8tbt4ESnDGZMet1oX2hLbIwx8KZEBmq/s1600/harpers3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1K5uepPBAb3peDWCg9T1SROQ2ht4U4Q_YhsqgfEXVH1r2O8wpIzMT3_3WeynmPhLmjGUtnj8gZPtTpf-Y0NWPsdj0fa3Cz52pHQGoAcT218-_8tbt4ESnDGZMet1oX2hLbIwx8KZEBmq/s320/harpers3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"> <b>Jefferson Rock</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> The trip back down from Jefferson Rock offered a close-up view of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter's_Roman_Catholic_Church_(Harpers_Ferry,_West_Virginia)">St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church</a>, constructed with beautiful stone.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Back in town, we visited what's now called John Brown's Fort for a discussion of John Brown's Raid. At the nearby Point, we could observe the dramatic coming together of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers and start our first detailed discussion of the Maryland invasion of 1862.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-fWEx2vpqlXLDE5QLKRk33dmObBj13Ko3_FvRQ1dH7QZgeZ57yxyrSQdSZXtayANAVycvWj9KS8dsd8ejHb-F-mMyRaKXPbWJ7lSpHwKOViq-mYz3vv5mikQvXjLMx54ny5ZRhUDMgQv/s1600/harpers6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-fWEx2vpqlXLDE5QLKRk33dmObBj13Ko3_FvRQ1dH7QZgeZ57yxyrSQdSZXtayANAVycvWj9KS8dsd8ejHb-F-mMyRaKXPbWJ7lSpHwKOViq-mYz3vv5mikQvXjLMx54ny5ZRhUDMgQv/s320/harpers6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b>The confluence of Shenandoah and Potomac rivers</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Following lunch, we ventured over the Potomac River to the C&O Canal Towpath and a hike to the trail up Maryland Heights. The Maryland Heights trail offers excellent rock exposures and a bracing challenge. The work of Northern Virginia Community College assistant professor of geology <a href="http://www.nvcc.edu/home/cbentley/">Callan Bentley</a> was very useful in helping shed light on the Maryland Height dynamics.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvp6IuDbu74tXgZs0VYO1h35HGdQMKhIEHKue0UZdI0qotYn_hyphenhyphen-zhiMPq-p8_6ZvU8dilwxXQKNRjlkqZkNPSbv3bgBrKzBTYKh8rxVU4xyA88qPIY21IBq6zxQA3IVdOOvpmlkGQU8d/s1600/harpers4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvp6IuDbu74tXgZs0VYO1h35HGdQMKhIEHKue0UZdI0qotYn_hyphenhyphen-zhiMPq-p8_6ZvU8dilwxXQKNRjlkqZkNPSbv3bgBrKzBTYKh8rxVU4xyA88qPIY21IBq6zxQA3IVdOOvpmlkGQU8d/s320/harpers4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b>Rock Exposure on Maryland Heights</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6s4P744x-vGJxBRvBDtWCf6gseM4lye8N_Df4t3-fA-2Ue9i7fj1ioKO3tYvYcw8zXjCZdDGRj38mA9lH52NdJBw0WsNOVLVy-TPygUFv5vlceHDGFna1kSdfkJEk5GM2o6qMme_WFIN/s1600/harpers7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6s4P744x-vGJxBRvBDtWCf6gseM4lye8N_Df4t3-fA-2Ue9i7fj1ioKO3tYvYcw8zXjCZdDGRj38mA9lH52NdJBw0WsNOVLVy-TPygUFv5vlceHDGFna1kSdfkJEk5GM2o6qMme_WFIN/s320/harpers7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><br />
</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b>Rock Exposure on Maryland Heights</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"> From Maryland Heights, it's all downhill! We re-crossed the Potomac River and convened at the Point to recapitulate the day's lessons and observations. A well-done to the Northern Virginia Community College students who challenged themselves with this day at beautiful and illuminating Harpers Ferry.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXtY-Sib1-ww_Vu7x8hLinDn2AlLMe4zdHqE3e5utyZfsTeqx7DKBI6qfV8TopuckskaWvbknAfbxwBuEw60j6sp9UjlnBaunfgG2jClstpXqI4TT49mJyusL2SZjr4105XaO94m8wBrd/s1600/harpers2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWXtY-Sib1-ww_Vu7x8hLinDn2AlLMe4zdHqE3e5utyZfsTeqx7DKBI6qfV8TopuckskaWvbknAfbxwBuEw60j6sp9UjlnBaunfgG2jClstpXqI4TT49mJyusL2SZjr4105XaO94m8wBrd/s320/harpers2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><b>The class</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
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</b></div>Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-27985013127595188122011-05-10T02:15:00.000-07:002011-05-10T02:15:07.829-07:00Rocks. Harpers Ferry has lots of rocks.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrW_DUK6t9yBBbpMIOYktb_9UcNLWm3VB2cPnsCCzMxrTX13HPaKNpleNij1ykN16hOFpH5ni6JmYP6yOgIp12y4eZCEYvZpqlzrOI-jhl70urQG9batWSX0axLzvzOS4TTH3uEfeEv_A/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrW_DUK6t9yBBbpMIOYktb_9UcNLWm3VB2cPnsCCzMxrTX13HPaKNpleNij1ykN16hOFpH5ni6JmYP6yOgIp12y4eZCEYvZpqlzrOI-jhl70urQG9batWSX0axLzvzOS4TTH3uEfeEv_A/s320/IMG_1161.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-27256894114797417462011-05-10T02:13:00.001-07:002011-05-10T02:13:58.936-07:00Jefferson Rock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XtaND6XyssHTYvbdBKuzrgENL5TmbnmnqDua1SVe9hKpCuM81krrXB_dMqQduVUri5GrsAY0pWx6SQJ5QdA4NQZ_h0ZdDDiCChjZPOpYAoZ6El2zdCRO299NRzmvNxcggh6NMhpp8syC/s1600/IMG_1143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XtaND6XyssHTYvbdBKuzrgENL5TmbnmnqDua1SVe9hKpCuM81krrXB_dMqQduVUri5GrsAY0pWx6SQJ5QdA4NQZ_h0ZdDDiCChjZPOpYAoZ6El2zdCRO299NRzmvNxcggh6NMhpp8syC/s320/IMG_1143.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-548398899555815492011-05-09T18:47:00.001-07:002011-05-09T18:47:16.842-07:00Maryland Heights, from the town<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0aPZAuKSljDHLWxQ-DaqbVfj7VO2KpLDnRQm_TIMt2Q4Vig0vdYgAeigpnzgOj7ezL8AO668QVzV3d_FAWHFjQl4a3QISU2kc8KlwvOSwDw9ckOo8dXiVJTGpb2X2hxH3z7Du13d4pOt/s1600/IMG_1127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0aPZAuKSljDHLWxQ-DaqbVfj7VO2KpLDnRQm_TIMt2Q4Vig0vdYgAeigpnzgOj7ezL8AO668QVzV3d_FAWHFjQl4a3QISU2kc8KlwvOSwDw9ckOo8dXiVJTGpb2X2hxH3z7Du13d4pOt/s320/IMG_1127.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>From Harpers Ferry town, we see Maryland Heights looming above.Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-44769769701090994382011-05-09T18:46:00.000-07:002011-05-09T18:46:09.973-07:00Climbing up Maryland HeightsThe trail up Maryland Heights provides a first-hand look at the challenge facing Civil War artillerymen, who had to haul up heavy cannons; it shows, as well, some of the region's intriguing geologic features.Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-50889173437325128552011-05-09T18:42:00.000-07:002011-05-09T18:42:58.333-07:00Maryland Heights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBDCQdWYmXGlR9i-I0wMQLJm0c1YhIlwKGgpwVlqQEXjDfjPSPjVZBbP9KCRkdukfv5wO8sU540vQXhT0TQTtWBh3hnGx_wa_Mz5bcicdM9DNPBOLiXMUjmoC7UdWDi-Vr0El4Psjgr9wT/s1600/IMG_1165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBDCQdWYmXGlR9i-I0wMQLJm0c1YhIlwKGgpwVlqQEXjDfjPSPjVZBbP9KCRkdukfv5wO8sU540vQXhT0TQTtWBh3hnGx_wa_Mz5bcicdM9DNPBOLiXMUjmoC7UdWDi-Vr0El4Psjgr9wT/s320/IMG_1165.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Looming Maryland Heights were the key to control of Harpers Ferry during the Civil War.Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-18363021346502624832011-05-09T18:41:00.000-07:002011-05-09T18:41:21.462-07:00Jefferson's Rock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQqXzD19glk9EzNASvoPxxNRPKStGfPXIUOT77T_MGbBdCMAuXLnpXVzvSTVALXyOCLMXMeoAbEJhaAaJmLRYEc3lCHojRuM-uR7R5cVf1Y9MvGM7rRE5Lp4los6DjgSz9G4psjhEZCPp/s1600/IMG_1141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZQqXzD19glk9EzNASvoPxxNRPKStGfPXIUOT77T_MGbBdCMAuXLnpXVzvSTVALXyOCLMXMeoAbEJhaAaJmLRYEc3lCHojRuM-uR7R5cVf1Y9MvGM7rRE5Lp4los6DjgSz9G4psjhEZCPp/s320/IMG_1141.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Jefferson's Rock.Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4091262909054928564.post-2164818048196563032011-05-09T18:39:00.000-07:002011-05-09T18:39:59.914-07:00Harpers Ferry Field TripGeologic forces built the stage at Harpers Ferry. Man provided the drama.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZke5zrKZ9KFeYAkiGfiJGy9caSCIxNqCtNnUs2RbvRA_INb7bNNqbsHICgbUq5Ed-_ctgn7-0AgnFXO4XBDdHhfdc8RuYg88t_LBNiIO5l7cahjwOA2vuHRy8ZFivK15kOZudGvZxpSOn/s1600/IMG_1140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZke5zrKZ9KFeYAkiGfiJGy9caSCIxNqCtNnUs2RbvRA_INb7bNNqbsHICgbUq5Ed-_ctgn7-0AgnFXO4XBDdHhfdc8RuYg88t_LBNiIO5l7cahjwOA2vuHRy8ZFivK15kOZudGvZxpSOn/s320/IMG_1140.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>As we ready ourselves for the May 21, 2001 field trip to Harpers Ferry, we are reminded again of what an extraordinary place it is. From Jefferson's Rock, above the town, we see the coming together of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.Beth Doylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03444673743596132941noreply@blogger.com0