Description: Table Rock is located on the northeast peninsula of Kelley’s Island. Kelleys Island is in fact a mass of solid limestone rock, lifted about twelve feet out of the Lake Erie, and rising in some points to an elevation of 40 or 50 feet above the level of the lake. Geologically, the island consists of successive strata of Columbus limestone with as many as 60 layers which vary in thickness from 2 to 8 inches and full of marine fossils. The eastern shores of the island have mostly been worn smooth from a westbound glacier, producing gentle shores full of rocky beaches. Western facing shores are more sharp and jagged, with erosion caused from the waves of lake. Table Rock is an excellent example, having been separated from the mainland from wave erosion. Standing on a single pedestal, it has undermined to such an extent that is almost ready to topple over. Columbus limestone can be found in a north-south line from Kelleys Island in Lake Erie to south of Columbus and many quarries are, or have been, actively removing this high-calcium limestone for use in production of cement, rip-rap, driveway gravel and road base, agricultural lime, and other uses. The unit was formed in a clear, shallow, tropical sea that covered the state. Fossils of marine animals are abundant in the Columbus Limestone. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F08_003_001
Subjects: Limestone--Ohio; Formations (Geology)--Ohio; Erie, Lake, Coast (Ohio); Lake Erie Islands (Ohio); Historic sites--Ohio--Kelleys Island--Pictorial works; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Kelleys Island (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)