Bare rock & Limestone Pavement: The bedrock of the alvar is limestone. This area is a limestone plateau formed during the Ordovician era. Below the limestone there are several layers of Cambrian schists, which form terraces on the slope. The alvar (term used to refer to a type of habitat where bare limestone bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil) has dolines (circular depressions), sink holes, and shore-ridges. The limestone, and thin soil covering is highly alkaline. Lichens grown on much of the limestone surface. You can also see boulders, strewn hither and yon, which were part of a moraine deposit left by glacial activity from 12,000 years ago.
Bare rock & Limestone Pavement: The bedrock of the alvar is limestone. This area is a limestone plateau formed during the Ordovician era. Below the limestone there are several layers of Cambrian schists, which form terraces on the slope. The alvar (term used to refer to a type of habitat where bare limestone bedrock is covered by a thin layer of soil) has dolines (circular depressions), sink holes, and shore-ridges. The limestone, and thin soil covering is highly alkaline. Lichens grown on much of the limestone surface. You can also see boulders, strewn hither and yon, which were part of a moraine deposit left by glacial activity from 12,000 years ago.