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Cadillac Mountain

Cadillac Mountain is the highest elevation point on Mount Desert Island, standing 1529 feet tall. The view from the top is spectacular and the summit is easily accessed. There are two trails, north and south ridge, and a road that will take you there. 

A large ice sheet covered Mount Desert Island from 25ka to ~12.5ka (Slocum et al., 1989). The beautiful, rounded landforms on Cadillac Mountain are a result of glacial abrasion and plucking. 

There are two rock types at Cadillac Mountain. The first one is the Cadillac Granite. This pink rock, made up by quartz, potassium feldspar, and hornblende cooled down slowly inside a magma chamber ~420Ma ago! The second rock type is basalt. Basalt is a dark-coloured rock that cooled down quickly when it intruded the already existing granite. 

Be a Geologist: Trace the dike!

Here you can see some students working at the Blue Hill overlook. You too can be a Geologist! Go to the Blue Hill overlook and try finding the two different rock types. Then, try to trace the basalt dike that crosses the entire mountain! You can see it on the two ridge trails, at ground level, as well as cutting the road (with an impressive vertical cross-section!).

Hint: the dike is at its widest on a hill on the Southern Ridge. Can you find it?

Challenge: take your map of Acadia National Park and try to map the dike! Find the dike on the ground, then locate yourself on the map and add a little dot at every point where you spot the dike! You should end up with a nice long line that transects the mountain N-S.

Watch this video to learn more!

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