earth science

Pocono Formation

Pocono Formation is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pocono Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Mississippian Pocono Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, in the United States. It is also known as the Pocono Group in Maryland and West Virginia, and the upper part of the Pocono Formation is sometimes called the Burgoon Formation or Burgoon Sandstone in Pennsylvania.

Key takeaways

Pocono Formation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pocono Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pocono Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Mississippian Pocono Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia, in the United States. It is also known as the Pocono Group in Maryland and West Virginia, and the upper part of the Pocono Formation is sometimes called the Burgoon Formation or Burgoon Sandstone in Pennsylvania. The Pocono is a major ridge-former In the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the eastern United States The Pocono is also a lateral equivalent of the Purslane Sandstone in Maryland and West Virginia. D. Brezinski of Maryland Geological Survey recommended abandoning use of the term Pocono in Maryland in favor of "Purslane" in 1989.

Description The Pocono is a dominantly gray color with quartzitic medium to coarse-grained sandstones. The base of the Pocono Formation is marked by conglomerate.

Notable exposures The type section of the Burgoon Sandstone is in the valley of Burgoon Run, above Kittanning Point, Blair County, Pennsylvania. A spectacular exposure of the Purslane Sandstone (equivalent to the Pocono) is at the I-68 road cut through Sideling Hill in Maryland.

Age Relative age dating of the Pocono places it in the lower Mississippian period. The lower boundary is with the Spetchy Kopf Formation and Huntley Mountain Formation. In South-central Pennsylvania, the Pocono often interfingers with the Rockwell Formation.

See also Geology of Pennsylvania Canaan Valley

References

External links Media related to Pocono Formation at Wikimedia Commons

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pocono Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pocono Formation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pocono Formation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pocono Formation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pocono Formation

In research: Pocono Formation appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pocono Formation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pocono Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Carboniferous Maryland, Carboniferous System of North America, Carboniferous West Virginia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pocono Formation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pocono Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pocono Formation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pocono Formation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pocono Formation in simple terms?

Why does Pocono Formation matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pocono Formation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pocono Formation.