State Line Serpentine Barrens is a 60-square-mile (160 km2) tract of serpentine barrens in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the eastern United States.[1] The protected area is actually an assemblage of six tracts owned by a combination of the Nature Conservancy, the State of Pennsylvania, two counties, a township, and private owners.[1] The largest tract is Nottingham County Park in Chester County, which has also been deemed a National Natural Landmark.[2][1] The second-largest is Goat Hill Serpentine Barrens, jointly owned by the Nature Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Forestry Department (as a unit of William Penn State Forest), and the third-largest, Chrome Serpentine Barrens, is jointly owned by Elk Township and the Nature Conservancy.[1] Rock Springs Preserve in Lancaster County is managed by the Lancaster Conservancy.[2]
| State Line Serpentine Barrens | |
|---|---|
 Serpentine aster grows at the serpentine barrens in Pennsylvania | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 39°44′N 76°00′W / 39.733°N 76.000°W |
| Designated | 2009 |
The site has been named an Outstanding Geologic Feature of Pennsylvania.[3] In the 19th century, the Pennsylvania–Maryland serpentine barrens were mined for chromite and magnesite.[3] Other serpentine barrens in the mid-Atlantic region of North America include Soldiers Delight Barrens in Maryland and some scattered sites on Staten Island, including Serpentine Ridge Nature Preserve.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "State Line Serpentine Barrens". The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ a b Dochter, Seth (June 2019). "Discover the Barrens". Lancaster County Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ a b Reese, Stuart O. (2016). "GOAT HILL SERPENTINE BARRENS, CHESTER COUNTY". dcnr.pa.gov. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
- ^ "Serpentine Barrens in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland". North American Rock Garden Society (nargs.org). Retrieved 2023-11-08.
Further reading
edit- Miller, Gary L. (1977). "An Ecological Study of the Serpentine Barrens in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania". Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. 51 (2): 169–176. ISSN 0096-9222. JSTOR 44112570.
External links
edit
 | This geology article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |