The Old Man of the Mountain on Cannon Cliff was a granite rock formation that gave the appearance of an old man when viewed from a certain angle, and it was one of the most visited places in New Hampshire until it suddenly collapsed on May 3, 2003. Now, a new online interactive 3D model developed by Matthew Maclay, who is a master’s student in Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences at Dartmouth College, looks to digitally restore this once great geologic treasure.
Screenshot of Old Man of the Mountain within the interactive 3D model. (Credit: Matthew Maclay)
"People continue to have a very emotional connection to the Old Man of the Mountain—the state emblem of New Hampshire, so I am really excited that this 3D model will provide the public with an opportunity to learn more about this natural wonder and the weathering processes affecting the underlying geological structure of the area," said Maclay.
For the project, Maclay first worked with Carolin Ferwerda and Dr. Jesse Casana at Dartmouth’s Spatial Archaeometry Lab where they used a drone to conduct aerial scans of the old site of Old Man. This was followed by digital reconstruction using film negatives taken between 1958 and 1976 that were then processed using the Planetary Surface Processes Computing Lab, which is led by Dr. Marisa Palucis, who is an assistant professor of earth sciences at Dartmouth. Finally, Maclay used photogrammetry to finish the digital rendering of Old Man both present and absent from Cannon Cliff.
"As a New Hampshire native, I visited the Old Man many times as a child and like so many other state residents I felt a real sense of loss when it finally collapsed," said Dr. Jesse Casana, who is a professor of anthropology and director of the Spatial Archaeometry Lab at Dartmouth. "I’m really happy to be part of this project helping to digitally bring the Old Man back to life."
The interactive model begins in space and as the user scrolls down the page they are flown to the face of Cannon Cliff where Old Man once resided. This is followed by black and white images of Old Man from 1958 and 1976 to demonstrate how Old Man looked from various angles. The digital re-creation of Old Man then appears on the cliff side and the user can see how it once looked before its unfortunate collapse on May 3, 2003.
"This model has for the first time enabled a precise determination of how much rock fell from Cannon Cliff when the Old Man collapsed," said Brian K. Fowler, who is an engineering geologist and White Mountains scholar and president of the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund. In 1976, Fowler carried out the geological survey just before Interstate 93 was built through Franconia Notch.
“I hope that our research will get people excited about visiting Franconia Notch State Park, where they can look at the stunning Cannon Cliff from some of the many nearby hiking trails and see 'geology in action,' as we like to call it,” said Maclay.
Sources: Western White Mountains, ArcGIS, EurekAlert!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
