State Line Serpentine Barrens | |
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Coordinates | 39°44′N 76°00′W / 39.733°N 76.000°W |
Designated | 2009 |
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]
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]