The town of Aurora is home to two geologic features created by ancient glaciers. Silsby Plain This feature is an example of geologic deltas, which are formed where streams produced by melting ice enter a body of water. The Silsby Plain was a delta deposited into a narrow marine inlet when the sea was at…
Parker Cleaveland House, National Historic Landmark [75 Federal Street in Brunswick] Parker Cleaveland, nationally known for his contributions to the study of mineralogy, lived here from 1806 to 1858. A professor at Bowdoin College, he conducted some of the earliest studies of mineralogy in the United States. In 1816 his Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology was the…
SEE: ROBERT E. PEARY
Geology in Maine is heavily influenced by collisions with the Earth’s plates and by the impact of glaciers. BEDROCK GEOLOGY The geologic history recorded in Maine’s bedrock covers close to 1.5 billion years – approximately one-third of the total age of the Earth. Over this period a variety of geologic processes – sedimentation, deformation (folding…
At one time or another, almost everyone in Maine has glimpsed a swift little streak of light dashing across the night sky. These are meteors, commonly called falling or shooting stars. Because they arrive at very high speeds – anywhere from 7 to 46 miles per second – they vaporize by air friction in a…