Names __________________________
___________________________
_________________________ _________________________ ________________________
Date _______________________________
Period __________
MINI-PROBLEM: STONE MOUNTAIN MONADNOCK
Conclusion Questions
1. How much elevation do we gain on our walk to the top of Stone Mountain from the start of the
West Trail? What is the slope gradient in degrees? What is the slope gradient in degrees from the
small lake near the Stone Mountain mansion to the summit?
2. What type of rock composes Stone Mountain? What is its name? How old is the rock?
3. What event or events may have occurred to cause the formation of Stone Mountain rock and the
rock that surrounds it?
4. Why is Stone Mountain so tall compared to the surrounding schists and gneisses? Think in terms
of the nature of exfoliation versus the weathering of foliated rocks.
5. There appears to be 2 textural (crystal size) types of white bands in Stone Mountain. One is
composed of a rock very similar to Stone Mountain rock, the other is pure white and made up mostly
of quartz or feldspar.
What do geologists call these white bands?
When and how do these bands form?
Why are they lighter in color than Stone Mountain rock?
Some of these bands have texture zones inside that parallel the bands? What caused these zones?
6. Consider stops 3-8. Stone Mountain is like a model for the Earth. Life somehow becomes
established on this solid rock. How? Using the given table, analyze the steps that you think occur
over time.
Name of Process __________________________________
Stop
#
Stage Description
Analysis
7. What do the features observed at stop 9 indicate about Stone Mtn?
8. What are the features at stop 10 and what do they indicate about Stone Mtn.?
9. What is the name of the white mineral found at stop 11? How is it historically related to its
abundant presence just south of the Fall Line in rocks of Cretaceous age (90-100mya)?
10. The new rock found at stop 11 is the same rock found in several N-S bands that cut across the
Piedmont province to the east. What kind of rock is it? What is its name? How old is it? What event
or series of events occurred to form this rock?