Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

September 14, 2005

Epodgiboot080205

Referred by: Shawn Malone, Lake Superior Photos
Summary authors & editors: Shawn Malone

The above photo showing a boot shaped hunk of sandstone was taken in Lake Superior on July 15, 2005. This eroded sandstone is part of the Jacobsville Formation, dating from the late Precambrian (Keweenawan), and it's one of the oldest formations in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The sandstone found here is characterized by deep red colors combined with white streaking or mottling -- it was quarried for buildings in the late nineteenth century, including buildings in Munising and Marquette, Michigan. In the shallower waters near the shore of Lake Superior, the multicolored sandstone looks spectacular in aerial flyovers, especially over Grand Island, just west of Pictured Rocks.

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