Fox Forest in Pictures

Fox Forest #1. Trees and glacial erratic boulders.

For this week’s Monday Geology Picture I shared a picture of a stone wall incorporating a large glacial erratic. I took this picture recently in Fox Forest in southern New Hampshire. Yesterday, my husband and I went on a lovely hike in the forest. We saw quite a few glacial erratics… parts of the forest are piled high with them! We also saw many stone walls incorporating glacially dropped stones. Most of the forest is relatively young and grew up over the past hundred years or a little less on top of former farmland. You thus see old stone walls, the outlines of former fields, throughout the forest. You can also see old building foundations and even an old cemetery. A few parts of the forest are “virgin” and contain older trees, including some that are hundreds of years old. All in all, I recommend a walk in the forest. You can see some glacial geology… and learn about the trees and other vegetation, too!

I thought I’d share a few more pictures of our hike yesterday. If you want to read more about glacial erratics and stone walls in New England, I highly recommend this Earth Magazine article. Thanks to AGI for recommending the article to me on Twitter!

Without further ado, here are some more pictures from lovely Fox Forest:

Fox Forest #2. More glacial erratic boulders amidst the trees. — Fox Forest #2. More glacial erratic boulders and trees.

Fox Forest #3. A glacial erratic boulder, with geologist on top for scale.

Fox Forest #4. Erratics, erratics everywhere!

Fox Forest #5. Moss-covered erratics and some ferns.

Fox Forest #6. A stone wall made out of glacial erratics.

Fox Forest #7. A closer view of the stone wall.

Fox Forest #8. A long stone wall running through the forest.

Fox Forest #9. A stone wall incorporating a very large erratic boulder.

Fox Forest #10. An old cemetery in the middle of the forest.

Fox Forest #13. A fallen headstone, in the process of being restored. — Fox Forest #12. A fallen headstone, in the process of being restored.

Fox Forest #14. Another large erratic boulder, with another geologist for scale. — Fox Forest #13. Another large erratic boulder, with another geologist for scale.

Fox Forest #15. Another stone wall. — Fox Forest #14. Another stone wall.

Fox Forest #16. Fading afternoon light in the forest, near the entrance to the hiking trail. — Fox Forest #15. Fading afternoon light in the forest, near the entrance to the hiking trail.

Monday Geology Picture: Glacial Erratics and a Stone Wall, Fox Forest, New Hampshire

A stone wall incorporating a large glacial erratic boulder, Fox Forest, New Hampshire.

Continuing with my recent blogging themes of stone walls and glacial erratics, here is a picture of a stone wall in Fox Forest in New Hampshire. This stone wall was built out of glacial erratics and incorporates a large glacial erratic that was most likely left in situ… that is, left more or less where the glacier deposited it. Today, the stone wall is located in the middle of a relatively young forest. A hundred or so years ago, it was part of a farm. If you find yourself in southern New Hampshire, I recommend a hike in Fox Forest. It’s a lovely place, and you’ll see quite a few glacial erratics and stone walls!

Monday Geology Picture: Glacial Erratic Boulder, New Hampshire

My favorite glaical erratic, circa 2015. — My favorite glacial erratic, circa 2015.

I’m visiting family in New Hampshire at the moment… and also spending a little time with my favorite glacial erratic. I’ve posted about this particular glacial erratic before here and here. For this week’s Monday Geology Picture post I thought I’d share another shot of this stunning glacially deposited boulder. Enjoy!

Monday Geology Picture(s): More Glacial Erratics on the Lake

Setting off by kayak to explore the glacial erratics of Franklin Pierce Lake. Note the glacial erratic in the background.

Last week, I shared a picture of me sunbathing by my favorite glacial erratic, which is located near the Mervine Family Cabin on Franklin Pierce Lake in New Hampshire. This week, I thought I’d share a few more pictures of glacial erratics on Franklin Pierce Lake. Note the large sizes of these erratics and also how many of them are fairly angular. The erratics are mostly igneous and metamorphic rocks, and many of them contain large feldspar crystals.

I took all of the pictures in this post during a few kayaking trips during a recent visit to my family in New Hampshire. I really enjoy observing geology by kayak– I should do so more often!

My favorite glacial erratic, located on a little island near the Mervine Family Cabin.

Angular erratic boulders. Note the front of my kayak for scale.

Another view of an angular erratic boulder.

A close-up view of the angular erratic boulder in the previous picture.

I found this erratic boulder particularly interesting (note the large feldspar phenocrysts and interesting texture):

A particularly interesting erratic boulder. Check out those large feldspars!

A closer view of the interesting erratic.

Geology Word of the Week: G is for Glacial Erratic

0801 026 — Me, standing on top of a glacial erratic boulder in Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012.

def. Glacial Erratic:
A rock which has been transported and deposited by a glacier and which has a different lithology than the rock upon which it has been deposited. Often, erratic rocks have an angular shape because they were broken off of bedrock by glaciers and have not yet had time to be weathered and rounded by water, wind, and other erosional forces. Glacial erratics can range in size from very small pebbles to very large boulders, but usually it is the boulders which are noticed since these stand out in the landscape and are not easily transported away again.

Recently, I have been thinking a fair amount about glacial erratics and other glacial rocks and deposits, such as tills and moraines. That’s because I currently work for a marine gold exploration company that has a project offshore Nome, Alaska, where glaciers have transported gold to the coast along with erratics and other glacial sediments. If you walk along the beaches of Nome, you can spot quite a few glacial erratics, such as the one I’m standing upon in the above picture.

0801 024 — Another glacial erratic on the beach in Nome, Alaska, Summer 2012. Pen for scale.

Having grown up in New England, I’m no stranger to glacial erratics. In fact, back in September I wrote a little about my favorite glacial erratic, which sits on an island in front of my parents’ lakeside cabin in New Hampshire.