Earth Science Digital Image Library - Mud Cracks
Earth Science Digital Image Library - Mud Cracks
Grade Levels
5th Grade, 7th Grade
Course, Subject
Science and Technology and Engineering Education, Science
Related Academic Standards
Topic
Deposition
Description
Well preserved mud cracks, lighter in color relative to the red matrix, in the High Falls Shale (Upper Silurian) provide evidence for a near shore environment of deposition. Mud cracks form where sediment dries while it is temporarily exposed to the air. "The most favorable places for mud cracks to form are the floodplains of large rivers, the landward portions of large deltas, and the wide flat shores of shallow lakes that shrink or disappear during the dry season" (Longwell, C.R. 1952. Physical Geology: John Wiley and Sons, page 270). Mud cracks in a rock layer provide important clues to the environment in which the sediment was deposited. By studying the present, geologist can reconstruct or understand the past (Principle of Uniformitarianism).
Location
High Falls, Ulster County, NY
Credits
With support from the Center for Applied Technologies in Education, The Earth Science Digital Library is an initiative authored by Russell Agostaro, Newburgh Enlarged City School District, Newburgh, New York.
Description
The Earth Science Digital Image Library is an archive of quality digital images for teacher and/or student reference in their studies of Earth Science. For additional information about the image, please click on a link below:
