Landforms: The Local Geology
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 44° 19.326 W 124° 06.355
10T E 411815 N 4908243
This geology sign is located at the parking lot for the Smelt Sands State Park.
Waymark Code: WMD30A
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 11/11/2011
Views: 8
Marker Name: Landforms: The Local Geology
Marker Text: Most of the trail is on an ancient, rocky beach that was originally formed by wave erosion before the last ice age when the sea level was higher than it is presently. Now the rocks are being ended by wave action for the second time, producing massive boulders and sculptured forms.
Most of the dark colored rocks that you see at this end of the trail are basalt, which came from ancient lava flows. Much of the basalt is mixed with sandstone and siltstone, rocks formed by sedimentary deposits. At the north end of the trail is sandstone known to geologists as the Yaquina Formation, which may be as much as 25,000,000 years old. The exposed, weathered sandstone often appears as rust colored, rough spheres.
Short, sandy “pocket” beaches found in the rocky bench are where the waves have eroded a fracture in the rocks, or where the rock is less resistant. The first of these beaches to the north is known as Smelt Sands, where seasonal dip-netting for smelt has occurred since the days of the earliest settlers.
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