Today my class was exploring many different outcrops in Salem Virginia. As we were inspecting one outcrop rocks started to tumble from the top of the mountain. A couple of us got hit in the head and one of my classmates even got hit in the back of the neck. Good thing we had out helmets on! In the pictures below you will see that one rock hit my classmates clipboard and broke it in half. Luckily we were all safe but if it had happened at the wrong moment and a car was coming by while the rockfall happened some of the students could have been hit by a car. Also we were lucky that nothing bigger than a baseball fell from the cliff.
This is the area where the rockfall happened. Most of the rocks that fell are gone because cars were driving by.
![IMG_2743[1].JPG](https://images.ecency.com/p/4i88GgaV8qiGEw1xifwYz2xp7RJEnNpBZq7dn2K6137wwzHr975V83dYq6pmLe9VZndyCs6eNoNc8RCKfHyM23LhjqY98z3783dctfs7f3E3sqKcRHRersPRR8?format=match&mode=fit)
Here is the clipboard that broke in half stopping a rock from hitting one of my classmates.
The formation that we were looking at was the Millboro formation. It had a strike and dip of N75E, 20SE.
Description: Black, thinly laminated shale and shaly siltstone, weathers to a brown to ran soil. Soil is thin, fissile, generally contains abundant shale chips, easily dug-up in animal burrows or tree roots. Millboro tends to be deeply dissected by streams, often contains numerous outcrop-sized complex folds near thrust faults, and concretions in certain horizons. Best outcrops are in streams and crumbly roadcuts. It is gradational with the overlying Brallier Formation.
Picture of my class walking along the road to the next outcrop.
![IMG_2752[1].JPG](https://images.ecency.com/p/4i88GgaV8qiGEw1xifwYz2xp7RJEnNpBZq7dn2K62zi6cxDGXYNDh4NZFPPuw1AePXNkXhvSLCB3rw4msojw7G9WPR2dBFJGziCpLKxG4mtKhdG8dYVcNZtxHL?format=match&mode=fit)
Moral of the story is to always stay safe and wear the right gear because you never know what is going to happen.