The 500 million year story of Acadia National Park | Acadia National Park geology travel guide

Have you ever been to Acadia National Park in Maine? Or maybe you are planning a trip up to the beautiful National Park soon? In this video, I dive into the geologic history of Acadia National Park, starting out over 500 million years ago when the crust of Mount Desert Island was part of a micro-continent near the equator, millions of years before the supercontinent Pangea even came together. I'm a geologist, so when I travel to a new place, I find it extremely satisfying to learn about the area's geologic history so I can explore that place with a new perspective. In Acadia, you can stand on rocks that used to be molten magma deep beneath the surface - you can hike to boulders dropped by glaciers in the last ice age while looking down at glacially carved valleys and lakes - and so much more. I hope by watching this video you not only have a list of places to visit when you do go to Acadia, but that you leave knowing a little bit more about the incredible natural history of this beautiful place. Thanks for watching! If you'd like to do a bit of extra reading, I've included some of the sources I used in my research for this video down below.

If you're interested in learning more about geology, watch my other videos and subscribe for when I post more in the future! :)

0:00 Intro
1:46 Beginning of Section 1/Ellsworth Schist
3:20 Bar Harbor Formation
4:58 Beginning of Section 2
5:29 Gabbro-diorite
6:12 Granites
7:25 Shatter Zone
8:20 Places to see Cadillac Mountain Granite
9:09 Diabase dikes
10:46 Beginning of Section 3: Glaciation
10:59 Large Unconformity
11:46 Last Ice Age
12:40 Effects of the ice sheet on Acadia's geography
14:52 Glacial erratics
16:10 Post-glacial isostatic rebound
16:53 Current geologic processes
17:28 Outro

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Reading material/resources:
Turbidity current demonstration: https://bit.ly/2HNsCwl
Interactive bedrock geology map (also an app for phones!): rockd.org
Surficial Geology Map of MDI: https://bit.ly/37fqmXn
Bedrock Geology Map of MDI: https://bit.ly/2Vbla11
Ancient Earth interactive globe: https://bit.ly/3o6tGuN
Geology of Mount Desert Island: Maine Geological Survey, Dept. of Conservation: https://bit.ly/2KHm83a
Basalt Dikes at Schoodic Point: Maine Geological Survey: https://bit.ly/2VhpWKo
Field Guide to Acadia National Park (ebook) by Russel D. Butcher: https://bit.ly/3mno8eY
USGS Acadia National Park geology: https://on.doi.gov/2J84eX9
Acadia's geologic story - NPS.gov: https://bit.ly/39pdO2w
‘Historic Acadia National Park: The stories behind one of America’s great treasures by Catherine Schmitt: https://bit.ly/3obC7VT
The shatter zone: https://bit.ly/3q8XkBx
Glacial history of Acadia: https://bit.ly/3mjLbHF

Images credits:
"Black shale" by James St. John (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeol...) is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
“Ellsworth Schist” by Mark Adams (Rockd.org)
"Bar Harbor Formation (Silurian-Devonian; Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA) 2" by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0
"Bar Harbor Formation (Silurian-Devonian; Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA) 11" by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“Gabbro & diorite & granite dikes (Devonian; Hulls Cove, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA)” by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“Diorite (Devonian; Hulls Cove, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA) 3” by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“Gabbro & diorite & granite dikes (Devonian; Hulls Cove, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA) 4” by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0
"On the Cliffs" by I Am Janosik (https://www.flickr.com/photos/iamjano...) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
“The Bubbles & Jordan Pond (Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA) 2” by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“Glacial striations (Bar Harbor Formation, Silurian-Devonian; Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA) 2” by James St. John is licensed under CC BY 2.0
“Acadia national park - glaciers” by altondooley (https://vmnhpaleontology.wordpress.co...) is licensed by CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Topography image of MDI: Acadia-NP-TF by Martin D. Adamiker (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...) is licensed by CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)