History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 46

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 46
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 46

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173

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.

sands at the eastern terminus of these ridges are the small particles that were carried along by a current that had lost much of its rapidity of movement ; while the lamine of shale beyond these ridges, forming the layers of the Red Shale Valley, consist of the clayey elements that were easy of transportation, and floated on to be deposited in waters more quiet,-perhaps almost tranquil. In support of this hypothesis are the conglomerate, of coarse but well-worn fragments, forming the top of the hill below Stockton; the hed of finer pebbles beyond ; the pits of building-sand in the same ridge, farther to the east ; the line sand, graduating into a sandy shale and then into a red shale, at the eastern terminus of Sandy Ridge.

Quarries ut Stockton and in its vicinity .- Sandstones outerop at various sites in the Triassic parts of our county, but there are only a few places at which they are in layers thick enough to work well for building purposes. At Stockton and in its vicinity are numer- ous quarries. Here the layers of sandstone are some- times six or seven feet in thickness. Especially is this the case in Hoppock's quarry, at Prallsville, from which have been taken the stones for the con- struction of some of the strongest pieces of masonry within the Central States,

The stones in this quarry are beautiful. In respect to grain, they are fine ; in color they are light gray ; in composition they are mainly quartz and fellspar. In this quarry the layers are divided into regular, smooth-faced blocks of large size. From it have been taken cuboidal blocks the sides of which were six feet across. With the "wedge and feather" these blocks spilt easily. With the chisel they are readily worked into handsome cornices, sills, stepstones, and the like.

As at present worked, the face of the quarry is about thirty-three feet. The dip of the strata here is gently towards the northwest.

This quarry was opened about 1813. In 1832-33 it was worked by the Delaware and Raritan Canal Com- pany. Some years ago it was worked by one Kessler. It is now in the care of the heirs of William Hop- pock, deceased.

Several of the largest railroad-bridges in the Lehigh Valley, and many other of the most important stone structures built within the present decade, are con- structed of material from the quarries at Stockton and vicinity.

The quarries in the vicinity of Stockton have each its peculiarity of bedding. The one at Brookville is thin-bedded. In this the layers range from right to fifteen inches in thickness. In color the stone is a buflish gray.

The quarry at Stockton exhibits layers ranging in thickness from six to twenty-four inches. In this are a few intercalations of shale. The color of the stones here is light gray. Out of the stones of this quarry many a beautiful building has been constructed.

In the canal company's quarry, north of the Wick-

ceheoche Rivulet, the layers range in thickness from four to eight feet. The rock is composed almost ex- clusively of quartz-grains. In some places it i- con- glomerate. It contains very little cementing material. In color it is almost white.

The layers all dip towards the northwest. They are divided by two systems of joints which are nearly at right angles. These extend almost vertical. Upon this, to a great extent, depends the case with which this quarry is worked. A blast here sometimes forces a block that would weigh twenty-five tons.

Raren Rock .- At this place is a deposit of coarse quartz-grains that have solidified into a very hard sandstone. These are quarried and used for building purposes. The layers are not very thick. In color they are light gray. Near by is another formation of sandstone, also quarried for building purposes. In this the stone is fine-grained and in thin layers. In color it is pale red. Some layers are rather shaly.

Sergeant's Quarry .- About a mile southwest of Flemington, on a farm owned by John Sergeant, is an outerop of sandstone that has occasionally been worked for building-stone. The layers are thin and the grain of the rock very fine. In color it is buff, inclining to gray.

About a mile south of Flemington, on a farm owned by Gershom C. Sergeant, is an outerop of sandstone strata. These have never been worked for building- stone. The strata are but few, and are quite thin. In color the stone is buff, with shining speck- of mica. It consists mainly of fine grains of quartz, feldspar, and small flakes of mica, cemented by means of the oxide of iron. The dip of these strata is very stoep.

Flagstone Quarries at Milford .- Along the Hakiho- kake Creek, about a mile from Milford, is an exten- sive quarry of excellent Hagstone, owned by Mr. Clark. In this quarry the layers range in thickness from one to twelve inches. They are divided by a system of joints extending N. 75º E. Another system extends N. 15° W. They split evenly, yielding slabs with even surfaces that are highly prized for flooring or sidewalks. The dip of the layers is 20° S. fr W. In color the stone is bluish : in grain it is fine. From this quarry have been taken stones that measure twenty-two feet in length by seventeen in breadth. This quarry was opened in 1860. In it have been found thin senms of coal and impressions of stems of plants. Here, too, have been found some indistinct footprints.

On a branch of the Hakihokake is Rowland's marry. In this the layers are thickest at the top, and range from one to twenty-four inches. The rock is composed almost entirely of quartz. In grain it is rather coarse; in color, a dark gray. Here, too, have been found this seams of coal. From this quarry have been taken stones that were twenty by twenty fert.

These quarries are located upon a high hill near the Belvidere and Delaware Railroad, and are easy to

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HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

work. From them are shipped large quantities of very superior flagging.

Conglomerate .- The following description of the conglomerate of Hunterdon County, found in the "Geology of New Jersey for 1868," is so lucid and so complete that it is quoted nearly eutire :

" Along the Delaware River, above Milford, there is a remarkably coarse conglomerate exposed io the high bluff on the roadside. A red shaly rock alternates with this conglomerate. The latter is generally in beds from one to ten feet thick, and with less shale between them towards the northwest. The dip is 150-20° N. 60° W. The conglomerate thins out io certaio strata, and shale takes its place. Nearly all of the mate- rial io it is silicious. Some of the rounded quartzites io it are a foot in diameter. There are a fow red-shale pebbles, and very rarely one of limestone is seen among them. The matrix is red and similar to the material of the alternating layers of shale. The general aspect of the rock is dull red, in places grayish. This conglomerate is seen along the river for nearly two miles. It may also be seen in the Nockamixon Cliffs, on the opposite side of the river.

" West of this and along the river road, south of the Presbyterian church, at Johnson's Ferry, a conglomerate crops ont, dipping 40º N. 60º W. It cuosists of a red siliceo-argillaceons paste, cementing together angular and partially-rounded pebbles and masses of quartz, gneiss, and grayish limestone. Some of these imbedded fragments are a foot in diameter. The rock appears hack of the church, dipping steeply to the southeast, while close to it on the north is the magnesian limestone, which also dips towards the southeast. The two rocks are here seen only a few rods apart.

" Near Amsterdam a calcareous conglomerate occurs, near the residence of Jacob Robbins, on the east of the road to Holland Station. It bas been used for lime, but only to a small extent. Its dip appears to be towards the sontheast.

"At Little York some ragged rocks of calcareous conglomerate are seen projectiug above the surface. Their dip is almost vertical.

" A calcareous conglomerate occurs near New Germantown and Leba- non, occupying a narrow strip of country between the gneiss and the red shale and sandetone. That near New Germantown lies west of Cold Brook, and extends, hetweeo that stream and a part of the Fox Hill range, from the village northerly about one and a half miles to the resi- dence of 11. C. Hoffman, at the road-corners. Northward the drift pre- vents the farther tracing of this rock. East of Cold Brook the rock is a hard, flinty, red quartzite. The conglomerate is made up of blue-lime- stone pebbles, and slightly-rounded masses cemented together by a red shaly paste. It is quarried on several farms as a source of line.

"Northwest of New Germantown, and west of the conglomerate just described, a calcareous rock is quarried, near the North Rockaway Creek, on the laods of Peter W. Melick.

" West-southwest of these outcrops is the conglomerate north and northeast of Lebanon. Whether it is connected with that at New Ger- mantowo is uncertain. It is seen on several farms east of the Lebanon and Cokesburg road, occupying a belt of country about half a mile wide, bordering the gneiss on the north and the red shale on the south. The rock dipe to the north and northwest, except at Hothinan'e quarry, where it dips gently towards the south. At Van Sickle's and at Ramsey's quar- ries the dip is about ten degrees towards the northwest. Near George E. Apgar's the rock dips also to the northwest.

"Northeast of Pottersville, near the border of the gneiss, there is a hill containing a calcareo-silicious conglomerate. The hill is about half a mile long, and perhaps one hundred feet high. On the surface the rock in cellular or amygdaloidal, owing to the calcareous matter dissolving out and leaving the cavities in it. On the west-northwest is u limestone that has been quarried. It is probably this conglomerate."

TRAP-ROCKS.

Of trap-rocks in IIunterdon County there are two kinds, basaltic and trachitic, the former being much the more abundant.

Trap-rock of the Sourlund Ridge .- From the Dela- ware northeastward to the terminus of the Sourland Ridge, as a core through its centre, extends a layer of basaltic trap. It outcrops at but few places, but it

may be traced all along by the overlying belt of gritty soil bestrewed with basaltic bowlders that has resulted from its decay.

It may be seen in places along the western escarp- ment of Goat Hill, on the top of Goat Hill, south of Mount Airy, at Fisher's Peak, along the sides of the road that extends from Ringos to Rocktown, at Ba- saltic Cliff, along the side of the road south of Basal- tic Cliff, and west of the Rock Mills. It is in the form of a dike between layers of altered shale. With the strata of shale it seems, in all particulars, entirely conformable. Its thickness cannot be accurately de- termined, yet we may approximately measure it. Upon its surface the soil that has resulted from its de- composition is about half a mile wide ; perhaps the underlying trap-rock is about the same width. The outcrop south of Ringos affords a favorable oppor- trinity to determine the dip of this stratum of trap. At this site the dip is N. 20° W. The altered sbale that outcrops along its southern border, and conse- quently extends beneath it, and that which out- crops along its northern border, and as a consequence overlies it, has a dip, upon an average, of twenty de- grees towards the northwest. If, then, the dip of this trappean layer is twenty degrees, and its horizontal surface is half a mile wide, its thickness must be not far from nine hundred and sixty-four feet-a dike of no mean proportions.

The trend of this trappean dike is not straight or direct ; at one place it exhibits a remarkable curve. Starting from the Delaware at Goat Hill, it extends northeast for about five miles ; it then curves north- ward to Fisher's Peak ; thence it extends northeast to Basaltic Cliff; thence southeast to Snydertown, where it resumes its northeastern course, and continues it to the terminus of the ridge.

Trap of Gilbo .- The main bulk of this hill consists of basaltle trap. Its ontcrop seems to be ellipsoidal, the greater diameter, which is about a mile and a half in length, extending nearly north and south. To- wards the west, quite to the river, the trap is bare ; upon the other side it is covered with strata of altered shale. These strata seem to dip uniformly towards the northwest, and are conformable to those of the shale between which it is injected.

Trap near Point Pleasant .- Near Point Pleasant is an outerop of trap that is very fine-grained. As measured across it along the road it is about two hun- dred yards wide. From the river eastward it can be traced about a mile. It forms the core of a hill that rises to the height of about two hundred and fifty-five feet above mean tide-level.

Upon the southeast side this trap is flanked by very hard strata of altered shale that form the western terminns of that long line of outcrops that extends, with interruptions, from this site, in a curve, along the southern and eastern brow of the table-land to the Cakeponlin Creek,-a distance of about eighteen miles. Upon the northwest a deep ravine in part sep-

175

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF HUNTERDON COUNTY.

arates it from the altered shale. However, a little way back from the river it is covered by strata of al- tered shale that form the western terminus of that chain of outcrops that extends, in a curve almost parallel with the line of outerops just described, from this site to the bank of the Cakepoulin Creek.

Trap near Sidney .- In a cut through the hill near Sidney, made by the construction of the Easton and Amboy Railroad, trap is disclosed. In color and in texture it very much re-embles the trap at Point Pleas- ant. It seems to be in a stratum that stands vertical. On the east side it is flanked by the altered shale that forms the northern terminus of that chain of outerops that gives prominence to the brow of the table-land.

There are many considerations that lead to the be- lief that the trap near Sidney and that near Point Pleasant are connected,-that both are but the out- crops of a great dike of trap that extends between the layers of altered shale whose outcrops form the brow and the counter-brow of the table-land. Al- though within these two lines of outerops of altered shale there are neither outerops of trap between these points, nor even fragments of trap in the soit, nor yet that ochre-color of the surface peculiar to a soil that results from the decay of the trap, yet it may be that but a few feet beneath the surface of a soil made from the disintegration of the altered shale a stratum of trap extends from the Point Pleasant outerop to the outerop in the cut made by the Easton and Amboy Railroad. In support of this hypothesis is the fact that from two sites in the chain of out- crops forming the brow of the table-land may be traced the trap-dike of Dike Hill. One of these sites is almost north of Sand Brook; the other is north- west of the same village.

Again, from a site in the brow of the table-land just south of the point at which the road extending from Flemington to ('roton crosses the brow may be ! traced the dike of basaltie trap that extends from the above-named place across the Red Shale Valley to its terminus in Basaltie Cliff. Also, from a site in the same line of outerops about three miles farther north may be traced, in the direction of Round Mountain, a dike some two miles in length.

It seems that at the time of injection there was thrown in between the layers of altered shale a quan- tity of molten liquid not large enough to till the space to the surface, and yet seemingly large enough to separate the layers several feet, and, as it cooled, to hold them apart. Consequently, subsequent to the injection, all along from Point Pleasant to the rail- road out there must have been a yawning abyss. This chasm must have been peculiar.

The northern side, formed of the layers of shale baked hard by the heat escaping from the injected molten fluid, must have so projected southeastward as to effeet a partial covering-a long deep trench partly covered with a shaly roof that projected for-

ward and upward. The rear portion of the floor must have been level and formed a trappean rock ; the front part must have been composed of altered shale that sloped upward to the opening. Hence, it must have appeared like an immense corridor extending from end to end along the brow of the table-land.

In the course of time this chasm began to be filled with débris and detritus from the contiguous sides. As the roof wall had no columns to support it, and as upon its under side as well as upon its upper side it was subjected to the disintegrating influences of the atmosphere, it soon began to moulder and fall to pieces, and to fill the chasm with the ruins of its decay. As along its free margin fragments were de- tached and fell, a mural-like escarpment resulted ; hence those outerops of altered shale that form in many places the wall-like line of elevation that we call the counter-brow.

.14 the detritus and débris of the contiguous lands have not, in many places, entirely filled the space be- tween, a long narrow hollow or valley i- left, the trough formed of the brow and the counter-brow of the table-land.

Trap of Round Mountain .- An ellipsoidal area cov- ered with trap forms the central and the most elevated parts of Round Mountain. The greater diameter of this area extends east and west; it is about one mile and a half long. The other diameter is less than a mile. Perhaps the core of this hill consists of trap.

Trap of Cushatong Mountain and Pickle's Moun- tain .- On the north, the east, and the south sides. Round Valley is environed with a narrow area of trap that in shape somewhat resembles a horseshoe. This trappean arca forms the core and the most ele- vated parts of Cushatong and Pickle's Mountain. In- deed, in many places the sharp back of the projecting dike constitutes the crest of the mountain ; in others the core of trap is covered by n soil that has resulted from its deeay. Everywhere the sides of the ridge are bestrewed with fragments of the decaying trap. In fact, the entire ridge that forms the elevations known as Cushatong and Pickle's Mountain seems to be composed of trap.

The trap of this semicircular belt is of that variety known as trachyte. It seems to be in the form of a dike that stands vertical,-which has broken ver- tically through both the underlying Archaan rocks and the successive layers of shale. In these respects, in chemical composition, and in position it differs very greatly from the dikes in the southeast part of the county.

In appearance this trachytie trap differs very much from the basaltic. The crystals of which it is com- posed are coarse; when exposed to the weather it becomes white, and its surface is rough; it fractures with a heavy blow, yielding a rough surface ; its specific gravity is 2.74; in composition feldspar pre- dominates: " in its fracture and general appearance it resembles »yenitie granite."

176

HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

For architectural purposes this rock has very little value, but the soil that results from its decay is very fertile and well adapted to the cultivation of the cereals as well as to that of pears, apples, plums, cherries, and especially of peaches. On this soil the peach-tree grows to extraordinary proportions and lives to an extraordinary age. In quality the fruits that grow upon this soil are superior.

Trap of New Germantown and Silver Hill .- " Near the gneiss of the Highlands and west of New Ger- mantown is another semicircular trap-range, and facing the open semicircle is a round hill of the same rock, known as Silver Hill. Both of these outcrops are bordered on the north and east by the calcareous conglomerate of the Triassic age. Silver Hill is quite elevated, and very stony on its top and north side. Its southern slope is shaly. The main ridge, west of the village of New Germantown, has the conglom- erate on the east along Cold Brook and near the vil- lage. This ridge bends west and crosses the Rocka- way at Trimmer's mills, where its breadth is only one hundred yards. Its northwest termination is just be- yond the Potterstown road and the Tewksbury town- ship line. South of this is red shale. In the valley between this and Silver Hill the surface is also shaly, but no shale is seen in place. North and west of these trap-outcrops is the gneiss, separated from it by blue limestone at one point, and probably by the con- glomerate also, which, as has already been mentioned, occurs east of these hills."*

Anastomosing and Insulated Trap-Dikes .- The trap above described seems to exist, for the most part, in the form of dikes, which have been made by inject- ing, at an early time, molten liquid through long lines of fissures in the basement or Archæan rocks into the spaces between layers of shale. With the ex- ception of the trap which forms the ridge known as Cushatong and Pickle's Mountain, it is all in layers or beds entirely or nearly conformable to the strata of the shale between which it lies. Indeed, in every case the trap seems not only to exist in a layer with regular outline, but the layer itself is stratified, in most places, with the greatest regularity.

But another system of dikes exists that presents other peculiarities. Notable among these peculiari- ties are the following: They do not exist in layers conformable to the strata of shale; on the contrary, they stand vertical, and for the most part seem to be in dikes that extend across the strata of shale. In each case the bed of trap is narrow, and in some no- table cases a dike extends between two larger masses of trap in the form of dikes, forming a kind of anasto- mosis. In some cases the dike is short and narrow and entirely separated from any of the less or larger dikes, forming a kind of trappean island in an area of shale.

Of the anastomosing dikes, the most notable is that

one which extends between the hill west of Fleming- ton, near the brow of the table-land, and Basaltic Cliff, upon the Sourland Ridge. This line of trap is not direct. Commencing at the cemetery, we can trace it a little north of east across the road that ex- tends from Flemington to Klinesville. A few yards beyond it curves around towards the south, then to- wards the west until it recrosses this road. From this site it trends a little east of south to the crest of Bleak Ridge ; from thence southwest to Basaltic Cliff. All the way across the Red Shale Valley it may be easily traced by the ochreous soil that has resulted from its decay, as well as by the train of small-in some places large-pieces of trap with which the ochreous soil is bestrewn. It may be seen in place at both sites where it extends across the Flemington and Klinesville road, on the hill not far from the ceme- tery west of Flemington, in the side of the road that extends from Flemington to Stockton, near the mines, and in the railroad cut north of Copper Hill.

The northern part of this dike is the narrowest. In the side of the road north of Flemington it stands vertical and is well exposed ; here it has a thickness or width of about three feet. Near the old mines it seems to be about ten feet thick. Where cut through by the railroad, north of Copper Hill, it is about eighty feet wide. At the summit between Copper Hill and Pleasant Corner, also at A. T. Wil- liamson's gate, in the Old York Road, it is about thirty feet wide.

The trap of this dike is basaltic; it is fine-grained and very dark. Upon the surface, at some places, the fragments are very small and very few ; at others they are very large and very abundant. From Cop- per Hill southward they are abundant.

There is a peculiarity as respects the position of the surface-fragments of trap of this dike. Whether large or small, all of them lie upon the ochreous soil covering the subjacent trap, or else are upon the shaly soil to the eastward of it. It may be that within the last few years, in a few cases, by agricul- tural processes, more or less of the small fragments have been transported westward of this dike. My attention was called to this peculiarity in the spring of 1858. At that time, from Copper Hill southward, the dike extended through forests. Consequently, we may assume that the surface-trap had not been moved by art. At this time it was quite impossible to find even small specimens upon the shaly soil that skirted the dike along its western border. But upon the shaly soil towards the east from the dyke are found, in many places, thousands of tons of trap, and, what is somewhat remarkable, the largest fragments are farthest eastward. -

This singularity leads to the belief that at the time of, and perhaps for a short period after, its in- jection this dike acted as a volcano, throwing up into the air from its boiling surface of molten fluid quan- tities of lava that solidified more or less while in the

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 46

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170