Schist is a metamorphic rock which consists of many layers of elongated minerals which exhibit foliation.
Yesterday a classmate Lisa (http://lisajaneboyer.wordpress.com) and I went on a hike with our geology professor through Crowders Mountain as a field trip lab. It was unfortunate that not many of the students from our relatively small class could come yesterday, but the three of us had a complete blast! This is one of my favorite hiking spots in North Carolina. I was thrilled to go here with someone who really knows about the rocks and minerals found in this area because I knew Iwould be remembering this information to tell everyone else I would take hiking at Crowders Mountain (because that’s what I do–I tell people little bits of information so that I can try to spark an interest in them). We had an absolutely wonderful day!
The majority of the rocks we examined were granite (igneous), mica schist (metamorphic), and quartzite enriched with kyanite (metamorphic). I spoke about the kyanite in Crowders Mountain before on at least one blog post, but I did not ever know where exactly to look for it whenever I hiked along the network of trails. Thankfully, I know where to look now because of my professor’s explanation of how kyanite remains in metamorphic quartzite. Quartz (SiO2) is the most abundant mineral in the world. It is definitely abundant in the soils of the piedmont as well.
Crowders Mountain rises about 800 feet from the surrounding piedmont and exists as a monadnock. Essentially, monadnocks are features which remain because everything else around them eroded away over many, many years. The sandstone, shale, and mudstone (sedimentary rocks) as well as granite (igneous rocks) are the protoliths of the metamorphic rocks which exist in the Kings Mountain Belt in this region of North Carolina and South Carolina. This area is abundant in quartz, mica, and kyanite.
Kyanite is actually quite easy to spot kyanite within the metamorphic quartzite rock. It remains and kind of “sticks up” to the surface of these rocks because the kyanite is very resistant to weathering. I was thrilled when Lisa helped me to find some kyanite crystals on the surface of a rock similar to this which actually exhibited their characteristic blue-gray color. This photo was taken at the top of Crowders Mountain. Smaller rocks which are still full of kyanite are very easy to spot on the trails leading up to the top of Crowders Mountain as well.
There is abundant evidence of weathering and erosion at the top of Crowders Mountain. It is obvious why this area is so popular with climbers!
The views from the top of Crowders Mountain are of course beautiful, but the weathered rocks which remain at the surface are my real interest. We were unfortunately unable to see the Charlotte skyline from the top yesterday because it was too hazy along the horizon.
This is a pretty large area of schist which was right along one of the trails on the way to the top of Crowders Mountain. Not all of the trails are covered in gravel (I think gravel trails are annoying) within the network of trails. This trail doubles as a service road for the cell phone tower toward the top of Crowders Mountain. Don’t worry, the cell phone tower is not at the top of Crowders Mountain where one has the best scenic views of the piedmont and Charlotte. The joke of the day was talking about any schist we saw (for obvious reasons).
Amy's Exploration of NC Geology 