37 Geology Education (Posters)

GEOLOGICAL BROCHURE FOR SAMPSON STATE PARK, NEW YORK

Paper number: 37-10
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

Sampson State Park is located in central New York State on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake. The park is primarily covered by glacial till of variable thickness and composition overlying Middle Devonian strata of the Hamilton Group. The region around Seneca Lake has experienced several glaciations. The majority of the glacial till and sediment that comprise the bottom of the lake were deposited during the Wisconsin Glaciation. Bedrock outcrops in Sampson State Park at the southern end of the Lake Trail north of Indian Creek where limestones and shales of the Ludlowville and Moscow formations are exposed. Black shale is poorly exposed at the northern end of the park.

A 20 cm x 28 cm (8" x 11") two-sided brochure for use at Sampson State Park was designed. The brochure begins with general information on the park and the surrounding region, including physical statistics on Seneca Lake. The brochure gives a brief overview of the surficial history and formation of the lake basin. A summary of the bedrock stratigraphy follows, including a stratigraphic column of the Hamilton Group and a diagram of the bedrock exposed on the lakeshore. The common fossils found in the bedrock and cobbles on the lakeshore are illustrated; these include the crinoids Gastrocoma, the gastropod Platyceras, the tabulate coral Pleurodictyum, several Rugose corals, the brachipods Mucrospirifer, Pseudoatrypa, and Tropidoleptus, and the trace fossil Zoophycos.