Stark's Knob is a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

pillow lava Pillow lavas are lavas that contain characteristic pillow-shaped structures that are attributed to the extrusion of the lava underwater, or ''subaqueous extrusion''. Pillow lavas in volcanic rock are characterized by thick sequences of disconti ...

formation near

Schuylerville, New York Schuylerville () is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The village is located in the northeastern part of the Town of Saratoga, east of Saratoga Springs. The Village of Victory is adjacent to Schuylerville to the southwest ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It formed about 460 to 440 million years ago in relatively shallow sea water. It is often mistakenly referred to as a

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

, probably because early investigators described it as a volcano or

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged mag ...

. It was here during the

Saratoga Campaign The Saratoga campaign in 1777 was an attempt by the British high command for North America to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River valley during the American Revolutionary War. It ended in the surrender of the British ...

of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

that General

John Stark Major-General John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Batt ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

cut off the retreat of British General

John Burgoyne General John Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British general, dramatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 to 1792. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several batt ...

's army, hence its name.

Geology

Stark's Knob formed in the

Connecticut River Valley The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

during the

Taconic orogeny The Taconic orogeny was a mountain building period that ended 440 million years ago and affected most of modern-day New England. A great mountain chain formed from eastern Canada down through what is now the Piedmont of the East coast of the Unit ...

, when the shrinking

Iapetus Ocean The Iapetus Ocean (; ) was an ocean that existed in the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic eras of the geologic timescale (between 600 and 400 million years ago). The Iapetus Ocean was situated in the southern hemisphere, between the paleoco ...

caused marine sediments to accrete onto the coast of the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n continent. This bulldozing effect also inevitably dragged in an island chain that probably resembled the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese Island chain. As a result, pressure in the rocks caused magma to erupt on the sea floor. The pillow lava that eventually formed Stark's Knob flowed out of these cracks and onto the sea floor. Fossils of snails found in sedimentary rock sandwiched between the pillows indicate that the lava formed during the early, or more likely, Middle

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start ...

age. The snails also show that the lava was formed in shallow seas, as the species of snail was native to shallow water. Eventually the rocks were pushed up and out of the water. Over time, the rock was upthrust and tilted to a westerly direction. The thrusting also pushed the rock from the Connecticut River Valley to its present location, just west of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

History

Revolutionary War

During the

, the knob provided a crucial asset for American forces led by General

. Forces were stationed between the knob and the nearby

to block possible escape of British forces led by General

. British forces were in nearby

Schuylerville Schuylerville () is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The village is located in the northeastern part of the Town of Saratoga, east of Saratoga Springs. The Village of Victory is adjacent to Schuylerville to the southwest ...

at the time, just south of the knob. Accounts differ to what happened next, but either Stark's forces placed cannons on the knob or, more likely, placed them at the base of it, blocking the only avenue of escape for the surrounded British. The knob is named for General Stark.Parks and Recreation
Village of Schuylerville website, accessed November 6, 2010

Modern history

In 1916, the property was deeded to the state. This was partly to prevent the mining of the formation for use in road building. After many years of virtual neglect and a number of proposals to sell the property, the state finally decided to take action to prevent the site's further decay as well as curb vandalism and maintain trails. In 2005, the site was incorporated into the master plan of Hudson Crossing Park, a bi-county park centered on Champlain Canal Lock 5 Island.

References

External links

1949 USGS Map of the Knob and the surrounding areaStark's Knob
Cornell University website {{Coord, 43, 7, 5.76, N, 73, 35, 15.77, W, type:mountain_region:US, display=title Geology of New York (state) Volcanism of New York (state) Ordovician volcanism Geography of Saratoga County, New York Protected areas of Saratoga County, New York Landforms of Saratoga County, New York Rock formations of New York (state)