Everything about Watchung Mountains totally explained
The
Watchung Mountains are a group of three long low ridges of
volcanic origin, between 400 ft. (122 m) and 500 ft. (152 m) high, lying parallel to each other in northern
New Jersey in the
United States.
The ridges, known as
Orange or
First Watchung Mountain (the southeastern ridge) and
Preakness or
Second Watchung Mountain (the northwestern ridge), stretch for approximately 40 miles (64 km) from
Somerville (in
Somerset County) in the southwest to
Paterson (in
Passaic County) in the northeast. The discontinuous ridge formed by
Long Hill,
Riker Hill,
Hook Mountain and
Packanack Mountain is sometimes referred to as
Third Watchung Mountain and lies on the northwestern side of Second Watchung.
Collectively, the three ridges demarcate a geologic barrier on the western edge of the plains west of the
Hudson River. The highest point in the Watchungs is High Mountain in
Wayne, which stands at 879ft (268m) above sea level. Other notable summits are Garret Mountain in Paterson and the Hilltop in
Verona,
Cedar Grove, and
North Caldwell. All along the Watchungs there are county reservations, one of which in
Union County is called the
Watchung Reservation.
A section of the Hilltop in
Verona — the site that used to contain a
sanatorium for
tuberculosis sufferers — is the highest point in
Essex County; the county hospital was built there because the high elevation provided clean, mountain air away from the cities to the east, that's beneficial for people with TB.
Since the 1970s, the area has seen extensive
suburban growth, but before the construction of the
interstate highway system, the Watchungs actually held back urbanization.
During the
Revolutionary War, General
George Washington used the protection of the Watchung mountains to erect the first and second
Middlebrook encampment. This position on the high ground also allowed him to monitor the area between
Perth Amboy and
New Brunswick and to identify and disturb British movements between
New York City and
Philadelphia.
Geology
The Newark Basin contains
Traprocks, which are mineral-rich
mafic volcanic rocks. Their resistance to erosion (relative to the surrounding
sandstone and
shale) produce elevated regions above the surrounding terrain. The volcanic rocks of the Watchung Mountains were formed as mafic volcanic material extruded on the surface as surface flows aprroximately 185 million years ago. Most of the Watchung Mountains are examples of extrusive
igneous rocks, displaying characteristic columnar jointing and stacked lava flows. It has been proposed that the
basalts of the Watchung Mountains are extrusive eruptions of the same
magma that created the
Palisades Sill several miles to the east.
The mountains have historically been the site of extensive quarrying of volcanic
basalt.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Watchung Mountains'.
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