Editing Calvert Cliffs State Park

{{Short description|State park in Maryland, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox park
| name            = Calvert Cliffs State Park
| photo           = Calvert_Cliffs,_Calvert_Cliffs_State_Park.jpg
| photo_caption   = The park's namesake cliffs
| photo_alt       = Cliffs
| photo_width     = 280
| map             = USA Maryland
| map_caption     = Location in Maryland
| map_width       = 280
| relief          = 1
| label           = Calvert Cliffs State Park
| location        = [[Calvert County, Maryland]], United States
| nearest_city    = [[Lusby, Maryland]]
| coordinates     = {{coord|38|24|10|N|76|25|19|W|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref      = 
| area            = {{convert|1311|acre|abbr=on}}<ref name=acreagereport/>
| elevation       = {{convert|112|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| established     = 1960s
| free_label      = 
| free_data       = 
| designation     = [[List of Maryland state parks|Maryland state park]]
| administrator   = [[Maryland Department of Natural Resources]]
| visitation_num  = 
| visitation_year =  
| visitation_ref  = 
| status          = 
| website         = {{Official website}}
| embedded        = 
}}

'''Calvert Cliffs State Park''' is a public recreation area in [[Lusby, Maryland|Lusby]], [[Calvert County, Maryland|Calvert County]], [[Maryland]], that protects a portion of the cliffs that extend for 24 miles along the eastern flank of the [[Calvert Peninsula]] on the west side of [[Chesapeake Bay]] from [[Chesapeake Beach, Maryland|Chesapeake Beach]] southward to [[Drum Point, Maryland|Drum Point]].<ref name=mdnr/><ref name=mgs/> The [[state park]] is known for the abundance of mainly [[Middle Miocene]] sub-epoch [[fossil]]s that can be found on the shoreline.<ref name=micro/>

==Natural history==
===Geology===
The park contains the [[type locality (geology)|type locality]] site of the Early to Middle [[Miocene]] [[Calvert Formation]].<ref name=mgs2/><ref name=vogt>{{cite book|author-last1=Vogt|author-first1=Peter|author-last2=Eshelman|author-first2=Ralph E.|author-last3=Godfrey|author-first3=Stephen J.|editor-last=Godfrey |editor-first=Stephen J.  |title=The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Calvert Cliffs, Maryland [Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology; no. 100])|chapter=Calvert Cliffs: Eroding Mural Escarpment, Fossil Dispensary, and Paleoenvironmental Archive in Space and Time |date=2018 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press |location=Washington, DC |url=https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo117196 |access-date=10 March 2019}}</ref> These rocks are the [[sediment]] from a coastal ocean that covered the area during that time. The age of the formation is (19-)18–15(-14) [[million years ago]] ([[Megaannum#SI prefix multipliers|Ma]]), i.e. it extends essentially over the [[Hemingfordian]] [[NALMA|stage]]. This formation occurs in Maryland and neighboring [[Virginia]].  The cliffs are between {{convert|20|-|40|m|order=flip}} high and extend for {{convert|40|km|order=flip}} along the coast.<ref name=vogt />

In addition, rocks of the younger [[Choptank Formation|Choptank]] and the [[St. Marys Formation]]s are exposed here. This makes Calvert Cliffs State Park extremely interesting for its [[paleoclimatology]] and [[paleontology]], because the accessible [[Stratum|strata]] provide a good record of the [[Middle Miocene Climate Transition]] and document a minor [[mass extinction event]] — the "[[Middle Miocene disruption]]." [[Fossil]] collecting and "[[rockhound]]ing" are permitted on the beach; the cliffs are closed due to the dangers of erosion.<ref name=mdnr/>

===Paleontology===
[[File:Calvert Zone 10 Calvert Co MD 2.jpg|thumb|left|Fossils from the Calvert Formation, Zone 10, Calvert Co., MD (Miocene)]]
The [[Calvert Formation]] is notable for its plentiful fossil [[shark]] teeth. Especially popular among "rockhounds" are those from giants such as ''[[Carcharocles]]'' and the famous [[megalodon]]<ref name=guy/> (which is often included in ''Carcharocles'').

The ancestral [[baleen whale]] ''[[Eobalaenoptera harrisoni]]'' and the [[merganser]] ''Mergus miscellus'' were described from the Virginian part of the formation. From the uppermost layer, deposited 15–14 Ma, they represent the oldest known member of their [[family (biology)|family]] and [[genus]], respectively. Some remains of a prehistoric [[loon]] (''Gavia'') from the lowermost parts of the Calvert Formation, dating back nearly 18 Ma, are the oldest records of that genus from North America, and among the oldest worldwide. Fossils of the [[Swordfish|sword fish]]-like [[Eurhinodelphis|Eurhinodelphis longirostris]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.edu/object/eurhinodelphis-longirostris:nmnhpaleobiology_3431163 |title=Eurhinodelphis Longirostris |publisher=National Museum of Natural History |access-date=18 April 2020}}</ref> have been found in zone 14 of the formation.

Other notable baleen whales from this area include a ''[[Cephalotropis|Cephalotropis coronatus]]''. One was discovered by hobbyist paleontologist Jeffery DiMeglio in 2004 after cliff erosion caused by [[Hurricane Isabel]] exposed the skull and scapula.<ref name=hurricane/> Mandibles, neck vertebrae, and scapulae were also found during the dig. The skull and vertebrae are on display at the [[Calvert Marine Museum]].<ref name=museum/> Other items found in the field jackets of the whale were fish bones, hundreds of mollusks, a ''[[Hexanchus|Hexanchus gigas]]'' tooth, and two ''[[Carcharodon|Carcharodon hastalis]]'' teeth.

==Social history==
On his 1612 map, [[John Smith of Jamestown|Captain John Smith]] identified the area as "Rickard's Cliffes," having given them his mother's family's name.<ref name=smith/><ref name=journal/> Some 350 years later, the state park was developed with the General Assembly funding land purchases in each year from 1965 to 1968, then in 1969, dedicating money to the installation of the park's initial roads, parking area, and utilities.<ref name=authorization/>

==Industrial neighbors==
The [[Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant]] is located a short distance north of the park. The [[Dominion Cove Point LNG|Dominion Cove Point]] [[liquid natural gas]] receiving station is visible off shore from the park beach.

==Activities and amenities==
Calvert Cliffs State Park is mostly forested, with some wetland areas and a small pond for fishing. The park has {{convert|13|mi}} of marked hiking trails. A quarter-mile-long sandy beach is accessible via a {{convert|1.8|mi|adj=on}} trail. Some 550 acres are open to hunting upland game, turkey, and deer.<ref name=mdnr/> The park is rich in biodiversity and is home to numerous species of plants and animals, with at least 163 species of birds observed in the park.<ref name=ebird/>

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=mdnr>{{cite web |url=https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/southern/calvertcliffs.aspx |title=Calvert Cliffs State Park |publisher=Maryland Department of Natural Resources |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name=acreagereport>{{cite web |url=https://dnr.maryland.gov/land/Documents/Stewardship/CurrentAcreageReport.pdf |title=DNR Lands Acreage Report |publisher=Maryland Department of Natural Resources |access-date=October 19, 2024}}</ref>

<ref name=mgs>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgs.md.gov/geology/fossils/fossil_collecting.html |title=Fossil Collecting Sites at Calvert Cliffs |publisher=Maryland Geological Survey |access-date=July 15, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=mgs2>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgs.md.gov/geology/fossils/calvert_cliffs_fs.html |title=Calvert Cliffs Fossils |first=Jeanne D. |last=McLennan |date=1973 |publisher=Maryland Geological Survey |access-date=July 15, 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=smith>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithtrail.net/captain-john-smith/smiths-maps/ |work=Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail |title=Smith's Maps |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=December 10, 2013 |archive-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529141445/http://www.smithtrail.net/captain-john-smith/smiths-maps/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=journal>{{cite web |url=http://www.bayjournal.com/article/bays_coastal_cliffs_are_but_shells_of_their_former_selves |title=Bay's coastal cliffs are but shells of their former selves |first=Kent |last=Mountford |publisher=Chesapeake Media Service |work=Bay Journal |date=June 1, 2009 |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name=guy>{{cite web |url=http://www.fossilguy.com/sites/calvert/calv_meg.htm |title=Megalodon - Megatooth fossils found at the Calvert Cliffs of Maryland  |publisher=The Fossil Guy |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name=micro>{{cite web |url=http://www.foraminifera.eu/calvertcliffs.html |title=Calvert Cliffs, Maryland |publisher=The Foraminifera.eu-Project |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name=authorization>{{cite report |url=https://archive.org/stream/historicalsummar352mary#page/38/mode/2up/search/cliffs |title=Historical Summary of Capital Improvements Authorized by General Assembly 1964 through 1978 |publisher=State of Maryland Department of State Planning |page=38 |year=1978 |access-date=October 7, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name=ebird>{{cite web |url=http://ebird.org/ebird/GuideMe?step=saveChoices&getLocations=hotspots&parentState=US-MD&bMonth=01&bYear=1900&eMonth=12&eYear=2011&reportType=location&hotspots=L285147&continue.x=82&continue.y=17&continue=Continue |title=Bird Observations at Calvert Cliffs State Park |work=[[eBird]] |publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |access-date=May 31, 2011}}</ref>

<ref name=hurricane>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4110784 |title=Ancient whale skull left in hurricane's wake |first=Stephen |last=Manning |agency=Associated Press |publisher=NBCNews.com |date=January 30, 2004 |access-date=December 12, 2016}}</ref>

<ref name=museum>{{cite web |url=http://www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/240/Paleontology-Exhibits |title=Paleontology Exhibits |publisher=Calvert Marine Museum |access-date=November 2, 2017}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/southern/calvertcliffs.aspx Calvert Cliffs State Park] Maryland Department of Natural Resources
*[https://dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/Documents/CalvertCliffs_map.pdf Calvert Cliffs State Park Map] Maryland Department of Natural Resources

{{Protected areas of Maryland}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Lusby, Maryland]]
[[Category:State parks of Maryland]]
[[Category:Parks in Calvert County, Maryland]]
[[Category:Miocene paleontological sites of North America]]
[[Category:Cenozoic paleontological sites of North America]]