kimerajamm
Joined: 28 Nov 2010
Posts: 785
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 Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:32 pm Post subject: The virgin |
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Next below these is the late Devonian and early Mississippian Huntley Mountain Formation, which is made of relatively soft grayish-red shale and olive-gray sandstone. This is relatively hard rock and forms many of the ridges. Below this is the red shale and siltstone of the Catskill Formation, about 760 feet (230 m) thick and some 375 million years old. This layer is relatively soft and easily eroded, which helped to form the Pine Creek Gorge. Cliffs formed by the Huntley Mountain and Catskill formations are visible north of the park at Barbour Rock. The lowest and oldest layer is the Lock Haven Formation, which is gray to green-brown siltstone and shale over 400 million years old. It forms the base of the gorge, contains marine fossils, and is up to 600 feet (180 m) thick.[46][47][50][51]
The Allegheny Plateau has a continental climate, with occasional severe low temperatures in winter and average daily temperature ranges of 20 °F (11 °C) in winter and 26 °F (14 °C) in summer.[52] The mean annual precipitation for the Pine Creek watershed is 36 to 42 inches (914 to 1,070 mm).[49] The highest recorded temperature at the park was 104 °F (40 °C) in 1936, and the record low was −30 °F (−34 °C) in 1934.[53]
[hide]Climate data for Colton Point State Park
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 30
(-1.1) 33
(0.6) 41
(5) 54
(12.2) 65
(18.3) 73
(22. 77
(25) 76
(24.4) 68
(20) 58
(14.4) 45
(7.2) 34
(1.1) 54.5
(12.5)
Average low °F (°C) 13
(-10.6) 15
(-9.4) 23
(-5) 33
(0.6) 43
(6.1) 52
(11.1) 56
(13.3) 54
(12.2) 48
(8.9) 38
(3.3) 30
(-1.1) 19
(-7.2) 35.3
(1.85)
Precipitation inches (mm) 1.88
(47. 1.72
(43.7) 2.40
(61) 2.52
(64) 3.05
(77.5) 4.56
(115. 3.66
(93) 2.92
(74.2) 3.23
(82) 2.60
(66) 2.77
(70.4) 2.12
(53. 33.43
(849.1)
Source: The Weather Channel[53]
Ecology
A log drive on Pine Creek. Clearcutting caused the "Pennsylvania Desert", local extinction of many species, and changes in seasonal stream flow.
Descriptions from early explorers and settlers give some idea of what the Pine Creek Gorge was like before it was clearcut. The forest was up to 85 percent hemlock and white pine; hardwoods made up the rest of the forest.[54] The area was inhabited by a large number of animal species, many of which have vanished by the end of the 20th century. A herd of 12,000 American Bison migrated along the West Branch Susquehanna River in 1773. Pine Creek was home to large predators such as Wolves, Lynx, Wolverines, Panthers, Fishers, Bobcats and foxes; all are locally extinct except for the last three as of 2007. The area had herds of Elk and deer, and large numbers of Black Bears, River Otters, and Beavers. In 1794, two of the earliest white explorers to travel up Pine Creek found so many rattlesnakes on its banks that they had to sleep in their canoe. Further upstream, insects forced them to do the same.[6]
The virgin forests cooled the land and streams. The creeks and runs flowed more evenly year-round, since centuries of accumulated organic matter in the forest soil caused slow percolation of rainfall into them.[54][55] Pine Creek was home to large numbers of fish, including trout, but dams downstream on the Susquehanna River have eliminated the shad, salmon,[d] and eels once found here by blocking their migrations.[6] Habitat for land animals was destroyed by the clearcutting of forests, but there was also a great deal of hunting, with bounties paid for large predators.[6]leather vest
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