Middlesex+Fell_Geologic+Evidence+of+Volcano

Ciao Signore e Signori (Hello Ladies and Gentlemen), Did you know that there used to be a volcano in Massachusetts? I didn’t until I went on the fieldtrip. Geologists found evidence of volcanoes in the [|Middlesex Fells]. I’m doing this WIKI as an assignment for my science teacher to inform you about part of Massachusetts’ past. By the way, if you’re wondering, my name is Maria and I’m an 8th grader at the [|Amigos School] on 100 Putnam Ave. in Cambridge.

As my class and I arrived at the fells on a school bus, we started to think that it wasn’t going to be much fun, but we were wrong. The fells were adventurous. These rocky, windblown hills were filled with more information than I thought. We observed different rocks and had to hike up two mountainous hills, but as soon as we reached the peak, we had a great view of [|Boston]. During this fieldtrip fascinating things came up. One of the geologic evidences was that the fells were full of igneous rocks. An [|igneous rock] is a rock formed by either magma or lava. What’s the difference between magma and lava you say? Magma is molten rock that is beneath Earth’s surface either in the volcano or mantle. Lava is molten rock that is above Earth’s surface. One type of igneous rock is called basalt, which is known as the sea floor. Since it was formed by lava it has smaller crystals. An example of a rock formed by magma is granite. Since it was created by magma it has bigger crystals. Oh, and did you know that one of the rocks was actually a caldera? A [|caldera] is a collapsing of land after a volcanic eruption. One rock that was different from all of them was an erratic. An [|erratic] is a rock dropped off by a glacier, huge rock made of ice.

In conclusion, this fieldtrip was tiring, but also informative, and a little fun. Anyways until next time, Arrivederci :) (Bye)

Middlesex Fells Map: "... class map" 25 January 2008

 * [|www.ragemtb.com/ maps/fells/fells.htm]**