Audio
Access Wayside: Granite Foundations
Transcript
Downslope from Jordan Pond House, along the Jordan Pond Path, a wayside exhibit features an informational panel angled atop a stone pedestal. Trees surround the pond. Mountains with rounded peaks, called the Bubbles, stand in the distance.
The exhibit's title, "Granite Foundations," appears in the sky over an aerial view of Jordan Pond surrounded by vibrant green mountains. Labels identify Penobscot Mountain, North and South Bubble mountains, Pemetic Mountain, Cadillac Mountain, and Eagle Lake in the distance. Dotted lines indicate a U-shaped valley and moraine, a mound of rock, gravel, and sand left as the glaciers melted. An arrow points to the exhibit's location at the edge of the pond: "You Are Here."
A line leads to a point on South Bubble mountain. An inset photograph shows a massive boulder called Bubble Rock perched precariously on a rocky slope, with Eagle Lake in the distance.
Introductory text reads: "Rounded mountains, a deep lake, and sheer cliffs reveal this valley's icy past. But long before glaciers sculpted Acadia's surface, the granite foundation was forged deep in the Earth. Over 500 million years ago, colliding continents created a mass of hot magma, or molten rock, far below the Earth's surface. It cooled and crystallized, creating the strong, beautiful Cadillac granite, admired for its distinct pink, gray, and black minerals. Hundreds of millions of years of erosion, including a final polish by mile-thick glaciers, gradually shaped the resistant granite into the landscape you enjoy today."
Two circular images compare Cadillac granite, with its small purple crystals, to Lucerne granite, which is gray with larger crystals.
Text continues: "See the large boulder in the lake to your left? Like Bubble Rock, it is a glacial erratic - a rock carried here by ice from a different location. Both boulders are made of Lucerne granite, glacially transported more than 30 miles from the northwest. Compare the Lucerne and Cadillac granites for differences in color and crystal size."
More text reads: "Look for glacial evidence as you travel about the park. Notice the north-south alignments of ridges, valleys, elongated lakes, and coves created by rivers of ice."
Description
An audio description is provided for "Granite Foundations," an interpretive wayside at Acadia National Park.
Credit
NPS Photo
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