Cucumber Falls essays

Cucumber Falls essays On Monday October 28 2002, My Geology Science Class made a field trip to Cucumber Falls also known as Cucumber Run or Cucumber Ravine is a tributary of Youghiogheny River about 3/4 mile downriver from Ohiopyle Falls in Southwestern Pennsylvania, to learn first hand about the rocks and the stream in the area. I have learnt that this region of Pennsylvania has a lot of igneous metaphoric limestone rock and sandstone rock. The stream is perennial, meaning it flows all year round and a bedrock stream and has very little soil left, because it has been eroded and washed away. This stream got its shape from headward erosion, which is the lengthening of a river's course by erosion backwards from its source. There are three types of erosion at work on this stream which we have seen, Physical, Biological and Chemical erosion. Physical erosion occurs as the water flows down stream and over the falls, crashing into the rocks like a hammering action, slowly breaking and cracking the rocks. The softer rock erodes faster than the harder rock, as it is less resistant to erosion than the harder rocks, leaving a hard base to the streams floor and banks forming a narrow channel in rock increasing the flow and speed of the stream rapidly increasing the erosion. Due to the violent nature of the waterfalls, there is no vegetation, the reason for no vegetation in this area is because of the force of the falls and the force of the water falling, eroding away all the nutrients and soil, in which vegetation needs to lay down roots and grow. Biological erosion occurs from trees growing, sending their roots into the rocks, in search of nutrients to grow, as there is little soil left, causing the rocks to crack and eventually break, sometimes exposing more soft rock or coal. Chemical erosion occurs as streams water infiltrates into the rock and coal deposits, dissolving the soluble minerals and rusting the iron within the coal and washing them do ...