The bedrock geology of the Newton area tells a fascinating story of a time about 585 million years ago when Newton was part of the great southern continent of Gondwana and not far from the South Pole. The rocks record a history of great volcanic eruptions and sedimentary basin deposits (the famous puddingstone!) in areas between the volcanoes. Join us and learn a bit about how the rocks tell us their story.
This trip will not be one of the usual Conservator “walks” since we will need to carpool to travel to different sites in and around Newton to see the different rock types. If there is time and interest we may choose to go a bit beyond Newton to view rocks within a volcanic caldera from that time.
Meet in the parking lot of the Hammond Pond DCR Reservation, at the west end of Hammond Pond off of Hammond Pond Parkway near Rt. 9, behind the movie theatre at “The Street” complex. We will first visit rocks in the woods near here and then carpool to the other exposures.
Trip will last ~3 hours. If there is moderate rain or worse, the trip will be cancelled. You can call the leader the evening before if in doubt. Most stops are close to a road, but at one stop we will walk a few hundred yards into the woods and there is a bit of scrambling to reach the exposure.
Trip Leader: Chris Hepburn, 617-964-1137
