Your Nearest Neighbor could be a Billion-year-old Boulder
A new residential community in Prescott, AZ, is filled with rock formations found nowhere else in the country.
Sedona, AZ (PRWEB) June 7, 2005 -- (Prescott's neighbor to the northwest and
known for its spectacular red rock formations) has nothing on this new
residential community.
Granite Park, a residential community located in
Prescott, Arizona, is filled with 1.4 billion-year-old granite rock formations.
These towering boulders add a level of majesty to this community found nowhere
else.
Rock formations of this type are rare in the United States.
Northern Arizona to southern California are the most common locations for these
statuesque boulders.
Formed in the Precambrian age, 1.4 billion years
ago, these rocks started life under the earth's surface as large masses of
molten rock, according to Dr. Archie M. Dickey, professor of environmental
science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The rocks then cool before
reaching the surface.
"This procedure is referred to as an intrusive
igneous rock formation," said Dr. Dickey. "The molten rocks cool slowly
and in the process form large, course-grained rocks."
After the granite
was exposed at the surface, it was then at the mercy of the elements. Wind,
rain, snow all started eroding the rocks.
However, in the case of these
particular formations, they produced their unique shapes and vistas because the
granite first weathered in blocky, rectangular joints.
Visitors can
actually see this throughout Granite Park – the blocky reddish-brown linear
lines on the boulders. Dr. Dickey explains that as the weathering continued, the
granite turned into its now round distinctive shape. This type of
weathering is called spheroidal weathering.
Residents of the new Granite
Park community will be able to stroll down trails featuring these
two-hundred-foot high rock cliffs and four-foot-wide passages. Some of those
trails will connect to Prescott city parks.
For more information, please
contact Sun Pine Homes, 928-776-6600 or toll free 800-778-6604, or email: e-mail
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb247513.htm