The Cascadilla Gorge hike was one of my favorite Rose events this year. I especially enjoyed learning about the history of the gorge and trying to envision the natural forces that shaped the area. One of the cooler aspects of the hike was when our guide pulled a rock from the cliff and it had several shell fossils. It seemed crazy to me that any old rock from the cliff could contain imprints of organisms that lived millions of years ago. I was always curious about why the waterfalls in Cascadilla Gorge, Ithaca Falls, and Fall Creek Gorge have almost perfect stairsteps. The reason is that the waterfalls are actually made up of two (or more) different types of rocks. One rock is softer, so over time, the softer rock is eroded away, leaving behind the harder rocks. This is also the reason why there are large pieces of rocks near the bottom of the waterfalls. Those are the harder rocks, and they aren’t eroded so easily, so when they break off of the main bedrock, they don’t get broken down by the force of the water.
Rose Scholars Spring 2017
Endless possibilities
Sounds like a great event. Thanks for teaching me the reason for the stair steps, I never knew that.
I recently brought my parents to see Buttermilk Falls for the first time. My mother actually asked if the falls were man-made, because the lines in the rock are so sharp, and the stair step is so weirdly perfect. It’s interesting to learn how the falls were actually formed.
It’s also incredibly cool that your guide found fossils near here. This whole area has such an interesting geological history, which we benefit from in the form of nice hills (small mountains?) and indeed, waterfalls.