Delaware's Iron Age EarthCache

Iron (Fe) is a metallic element and composes about 5% of the Earth’s crust. When pure it is a dark, silvery-gray metal. It is a very reactive element and oxidizes (rusts) very easily. The reds, oranges and yellows seen in some soils and on rocks are probably iron oxides. The inner core of the Earth is believed to be a solid iron-nickel alloy. Iron is one of the three naturally magnetic elements; the others are cobalt and nickel. Iron is the most magnetic of the three. The mineral magnetite (Fe3O4) is a naturally occurring metallic mineral that is occasionally found in sufficient quantities to be an ore of iron. Hematite is iron oxide (Fe2O3). The amount of hematite needed in any deposit to make it profitable to mine must be in the tens of millions of tons. Hematite deposits are mostly sedimentary in origin, such as the banded iron formations (BIFs). BIFs consist of alternating layers of chert (a variety of the mineral quartz), hematite and magnetite. They are found throughout the world and are the most important iron ore in the world today. Their formation is not fully understood, though it is known that they formed by the chemical precipitation of iron from shallow seas about 1.8-1.6 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic Eon.

The state of Delaware makes up a large part of the Delmarva Peninsula which includes parts of DELaware, MARyland and VirginiA. It is bounded on the north by Delaware Bay and on the south by Chesapeake Bay and can be separated into two distinct geologic provinces, the piedmont (foothills) and the Atlantic Coastal Plain. These two provinces are separated by a zone called the fall line. The fall zone is a narrow band approximately following Route 2 (Kirkwood highway) across northernmost Delaware. The piedmont rocks are the highly deformed and metamorphosed remnants of the core of an ancient mountain range that formed 250 - 543 million years ago. At their tallest, these mountains are estimated to have been as tall as the present day Alps or Rockies. The Appalachians are all that remains today of this ancient mountain range. During the formation of this mountain range, the rocks of the piedmont were buried under miles of rock which was then metamorphosed. The first Known activity unique to Iron Hill was the quarrying of stone called jasper by the Native Americans.

Jasper could be found in quantity on Iron Hill and was excellent for making Projectile points. In the early 1700s A group of Welsh settlers received a grant of 30,000 acres surrounding Iron Hill, this included the area of Chestnut hill. They Began Mining the deposits of Iron ore and continued to do so until the ore ran out. It is rumored that the iron from these mines was used for shipbuilding during WWI.
Many events of historical significance took place in this area as well. The battle of Cooch’s Bridge took place in 1777. A seven-hour battle took place covering the entire hill and surrounding area. Many lives were lost and soldiers were buried by local folk where they fell, in unmarked graves, leading to many ghost stories of soldiers wandering the woods at night.

Your mission is to visit both Chestnut hill Iron mine and the Iron Hill Iron Mines. The above coords will take you to Chestnut hill, there you will need to gather the following information: 1)What year did mining begin at Iron Hill? 2)What year did Mining begin at Chestnut Hill? 3) what year did mining cease? 4) about 75 feet beyond the coords down the wooden trail is the remnants of a structure, Archaeologists are unsure of its origins, tell me what you think it is. Now At Iron Hill: N 39 37.879 W 075 45.487 This building is the Iron Hill museum. 1)What makes this building historically significant? 2)What years was this building active and who funded it? Email all this info to me through my peofile.
NO SPOILER LOGS SPOILER LOGS WILL BE DELETED Although you could probably find all this info without visiting you are expected to visit both locations and provide a picture of you with GPS in hand at one of the 2 locations. Please no spoiler photos. Enjoy this area and learn a little something you never knew.

Please visit: http://www.pencaderheritage.org/main/phmain_1.html And http://www.ironhillmuseum.org

Just a little experiment: Bring a compass and see what happens to it as you wander the trails at both locations.