Annotated "Where on Google Earth?" #5
I've got a nice tough A.W.o.G.E. for you today. Hint: it's somewhere in the Virginia Piedmont. The presence of an airplane over the photographed site may help confirm the location, once you think you've found it.
In the comments section below, be the first to name the location and why the treeless area suffers so much sulfuric acid, and you will win a "GEOLOGY ROCKS" bumper sticker.
5 Comments:
The middle of the denuded area is 38.5752N, 77.3494W. (The airplane is 38.5779N, 77.3541W).
This is in Prince William County - the closest city is Dumfries, but it's also not far at all from the Quantico base. The stream is Quantico Creek, and I'm not sure what the road is. I initially thought to look close to Quantico, thinking that something from the base might have screwed up the pH of the denuded area, but I'm throwing that theory out the window since that part of the creek is upstream from the base. I can't say I know on my own what stripped the trees, but I was curious and looked it up. I won't say what I found here, so other people can still do the puzzle.
(And also, I won't say it because I think looking it up in something other than Google Earth is cheating, isn't it?)
The sort of shimmery image of the airplane in front of the actual airplane is pretty cool and freaky looking all at once. Is it just from the plane moving as the image was captured? Do you have any ideas?
Julian,
I think you win!
(Using Google is fine -- it's all about exploration, right?)
Yes, this is in Prince William Forest Park, the bastard stepchild of the Virginia NPS sites.(Shenandoah gets all the glory!) I led a field class to PWFP last weekend, and while we didn't see any shimmery ghost airplanes (I don't know what that thing is either), we did visit the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine.
This pyrite hydrothermal disseminated deposit was mined up through World War II, mainly for the sulfur (which was used in gunpowder, among other things). However, having a bunch of pyrite tailings at the surface isn't so great, and we see that pyrite breaking down into rust and sulfuric acid. The acid has made it tough for trees to grow in this area, and an extensive reclamation effort has been made by the NPS in order to restore the soil to a functional pH. When we tested the water on our field trip, the lowest pH we found was 3, and the highest was 6.
Congratulations Julian! Thanks for playing.
Umm, except I couldn't find your address on your website. E-mail me the address you want me to send the bumper sticker to, OK?
cbentley @ nvcc. edu
IS the dark green where acid-tolerant conifers are displacing the otherwise dominant hardwoods?
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