The Geology of Baxter State Park and Mt. Katahdin

Introduction

A poem by the late Governor Baxter expresses a faith, that is shared by many people, that mountains are a fixed and permanent part of the landscape. We use the phrase "everlasting hills" as a symbol of permanence. The earth does not seem to change very much, except from season to season, in the years of a single lifetime. But if you look closely at the earth and you remember what you see, you can see that the earth does change. Mount Katahdin has changed and is changing, little by little. Anyone who has come to Katahdin for 20 years or more will know of some of these changes: new roads and trails have been cut where before there were trees and forest litter and old trails have become deeply eroded and worn. New landslides have scarred mountainsides and old scars have become overgrown. A hiker, by chance or design, kicks loose a stone which bounds and rolls to some lower place. Each year, little changes like these have taken place and have served to change the mountain by so much. These small changes and many, many more that have gone unnoticed, add up in the long run, to a mountain and a landscape that are ever changing. This is one of the basic concepts of geology: the earth is constantly changing by tiny amounts and these small changes in the long run of geologic time add up to almost incredible change.

In the Baxter Park region there is a record of some of the changes that this part of the earth has experienced. There is evidence here of primitive creatures who lived out their times in vast shallow seas which once covered this area. A vast change took place when these ancient seas were rocked by violent earthquakes and fiery volcanoes made huge piles of lava rock. Later in time, after the volcanoes had been quiet for nearly 300 million years, Mt. Katahdin and all the land for as far as the eye can see and farther, was covered by a vast sheet of glacial ice. It rasped and gouged and bulldozed the rocks, the ledges and the soil, changing the land and leaving an indelible mark on the landscape.

All of these changes in the past have left some kind of record and this record is the basis for the geology of the Mt. Katahdin region. The discussions which follow are an account of the geologic history of the Mt. Katahdin region as it is recorded in the rocks and in the landscape.

Along with Governor Baxter, we can be glad that Mt. Katahdin will belong forever to the people of Maine, but when we learn the lessons taught by its rocks and its scenery, we come to realize that Katahdin itself will not remain unchanged: it has seen many vast changes before and there is no reason to believe that it will not continue to change in times yet to come.

Introduction Bedrock Glacial geology Geologic features Acknowledgments Glossary References Plates

Last updated on January 11, 2008

Contents

The Geology of Baxter State Park and Mt. Katahdin

Introduction