400 Million years ago, there was a major collision in South Hero. It wasn't a boat or car accident, but rather the crashing, grinding and piling up of nine different layers of bedrock caused by tectonic action.
Having grown up on the South Shore of Long Island where there are only two types of "rocks" -- sand and glacial cobbles, I always believed that I would never be interested in geology. However, seeing a map of the bedrock of South Hero and learning how bedrock geology influences the natural communities above, changed my mind.
South Hero is quite an interesting place geologically. The eastern half made up of two bedrock types. The western half a mish-mash of eight more.
With names like the Stony Point Formation, the Cumberland Head Formation, the Valcour Formation and Providence Island Dolostone, I now have a greater appreciation for the outcropping we see everyday as we walk, bike and drive through the Islands.
I might just have to go on a rock hunt!
