Download Haystack Volcanic Geology

Bea
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Bedrock Geologic Map
of Haystack and Vicinity
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State Rd
Gary Boone (Professor Emeritus in Geology, Syracuse University, Presque Isle native)
William Forbes (Professor Emeritus in Geology, University of Maine at Presque Isle, Washburn native)
Chunzeng Wang (Associate Professor in Geology, Environment, and GIS, University of Maine at Presque Isle)
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Gary Boone
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Hughes Rd
Bill Forbes
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Chunzeng Wang
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Waddell Rd
(Geologic work in progress)
on
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Richardson Rd
Haystack Volcanic Geology
and Geologic History
Geologists in action
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DShs - Haystack volcanic suite
Haystack
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Sj - Jemtland Formation of pelite and limestone
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To Mapleton and Presque
Sfc - Frenchville Formation - conglomerate
Sfs - Frenchville Formation - sandstone
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Haystack
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Rhyolitic tuff with felsitic texture
Sns - New Sweden Formation of pelite
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Ss - Spragueville Formation of limestone
and pelite
SOcm - Carys Mills Formation of limestone
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Opm - Pyle Mtn Formation of argillite
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Ow - Winterville Formation of volcanics
Porphyritic quartz trachyte (lava)
with plagioclase as phenocrysts
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Maine State Reserved Land
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Lava flow with vesicular and amygdaloidal
(vesicules/holes filled with minerals) textures; the
matrix has a trachytic texture.
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You are here
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Sff - Frenchville Formation - feldspathic
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Felsitic tuff (ash) with spherical lapilli
and plagioclase fieldspar fragments
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Park Boundary
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Du - Devonian unamed pelite
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Dudley F
Volcanic agglomerate (accumulation
of exploded pre-existing lava rock
and mineral fragments)
Silicified rhyolitic tuff (ash)
# Bonnie's Bump
Dudley Rd
Area of large# detailed map
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Chapm a
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Pyle Mtn.
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Microscopic thin section view
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Contour interval = 10 feet
How and when was Haystack volcano formed?
These strata may have accumulated to thicknesses as much as several thousands of feet, completely burying the
remains of Haystack. We do not think the seaway was ever that deep, because the strata you see bordering
Haystack today, with the exception of the Pyle Mountain Argillite, are mostly not typical of deep oceanic red clays
and cherts. The sediments simply accumulated as the seafloor subsided, maintaining a rather shallow-water
environment during this period of time.
Stratovolcanoes typically erupt on active continental margins, but are also known to erupt as submarine volcanoes
on the ocean or sea floor adjacent to island chains, or arcs, as near Samoa recently. We think Haystack began its
life in the submarine environment, but as it grew, it broke sea level and became a volcanic island. Many
stratovolcanoes have developed this way in the southwest Pacific, where broad belts of seafloor crust are being
shoved under the crust of island arcs where stratovolcanoes are common. This involves convergence of tectonic
plates. We suspect that Haystack, Squapan Mtn., and Quoggy Joe adjacent to Echo Lake may record the beginning
of the destruction of the northeast-trending Aroostook—Matapedia seaway in this same tectonic fashion, perhaps
beginning in Silurian time, approximately 430 million years ago (430 Ma).
About 400 million years ago (400 Ma), compressive East—West directed forces within this part of the Earth’s crust
began to fold the accumulated strata of sedimentary and volcanic rocks — including Haystack — and regional uplift
destroyed the Aroostook—Matapedia seaway. You might imagine this process as like starting with a pile of rugs at
the bottom of a large wading pool, with people on opposite sides of the rugs shoving them toward each other! The
wrinkles or folds so created would thicken the pile, eventually bringing it above water level. The steeply oriented
bedding and cleavage in the strata of our region are just a reflection of the flanks of these folds.
As shown in the illustration, Haystack was prone to violent eruptions. It produced more ash deposits than lava flows
(see photos in the map), and so formed a volcanic mountain called a stratovolcano, like Mt. St. Helens and others of
the Cascades. In contrast, basaltic volcanoes form broad shields, because of the fluidity of basaltic lava.
As erosion of the folded strata continued, gradually over millions of years, Haystack and other nearby stubs of extinct
volcanoes (Squapan Mtn., Quoggy Joe) were exhumed as prominent "fossil" landforms, forming a landscape similar
to that of today.
What was the fate of Haystack during the Ice Age?
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This was all part of the making of the then-newly formed Acadian fold-mountain belt, extending from Newfoundland
southwestward through Maine into our central Atlantic states. In the valleys of the new Acadian mountains, small
molasse basins developed as the mountains began to be eroded. These molasse deposits consisted mostly of
sands and gravels (becoming sandstone and conglomerate later). The Mapleton Sandstone underlying much of
Creasey Ridge was formed in this way.
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What happened after the extinction of the Haystack volcano?
After being active for an indeterminate length of time, perhaps roughly 50,000 years, Haystack became extinct.
Erosion of its cone began, but was halted by the area’s subsidence below sea level in the Aroostook—Matapedia
seaway. This seaway was the repository of sediments, consisting of Latest Ordovician argillite, Silurian limestones,
and Devonian sands (Chapman Sandstone and equivalent formations), some limestones, and basaltic lava flows,
such as at Edmunds Hill of Mapleton.
Should you have any comments and questions, please contact: Dr. Chunzeng Wang at [email protected]; phone 207-768-9412.
Copyright: Geospatial Information Technology Center of the Universit of Maine at Presque Isle
About 100,000 years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch, the climate turned very cold; more snow accumulated than
melted; it compacted into ice, and over a few thousand years formed a massive, continental-scale glacier (ice-sheet)
that covered much of the northern half of North America. Over Maine, the ice sheet was thick enough to override Mt.
Katahdin and also Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, so it may have been 8,000´ to 10,000´ thick.
Imagine an ice sheet one and a half, to two miles thick above Haystack!
All glaciers that accumulate snow in their source areas are capable of flowing, like cold molassas, or silly-putty. The
source area was in north-central Québec and Labrador. The grit and stones in the basal ice scoured the land
beneath it, leaving grooves and striations on bare ledge (bedrock) surfaces to record its movement after the glacier
melted. These scour-marks in Maine generally trend NW—SE, and show that the active ice sheet moved
southeastward. Between Haystack and Pyle Mountain, there is a broad cleft that trends in that direction, and the
active ice likely deepened the col between the two mountains. Glaciers do not make mountainous topography, they
merely enhance, or steepen the flanks of mountains and large hills.
The Pleistocene Epoch ended about 50,000 years ago, marking the beginning of the Holocene. The climate at our
latitude began to warm up beginning some 15,000 to 18,000 years ago, and by about 11,000 years ago, the
continental ice sheet in this area had thinned with only small patches remaining. A boreal forest environment soon
covered Aroostook. Haystack once again, at last was exposed to the light of day.
Acknowledgments
We thank Judi Hudson of Castle Hill, Martine Burnham and others at MaineDOT, and Scott Thompson, Maine State Park Warden, for their cooperation,
Rodney Lamoreau of Castle Hill for providing well samples, and Bonnie Wood and Dana Allison for granting access to their properties. UMPI freshman
Nolan Gagnon pleasantly served as field assistant. This project was partly funded by University of Maine at Presque Isle Faculty Development Funds.
The geologic map is digitized and modified from the following maps:
Roy, D. C., 1987, Geologic Map of the Caribou and Northern Presque Isle Quadrangles, Maine. Maine Geological Survey Open-File No. 87-2.
Roy, D. C., 1978. Geologic Map of a Portion of Northeastern Aroostook County, Maine. Maine Geological Survey Open-File 78-21.
Roy, D. C., 1978, Bedrock Geology of the Ashland 15' Quadrangle and Surrounding Area, Maine. Maine Geological Survey Open-File 78-20.