Sequiota Park Caves EarthCache
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This Earthcache is located at Sequiota Park in Springfield, Mo.
NOTE: YOU CAN ENTER THE TWO SMALL CAVES, BUT YOU CAN'T ENTER THE
CAVE WITH WATER COMING OUT OF IT. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO ENTER IT
TO LOG THE CACHE. IT IS ACCESSED BY PERMIT ONLY.
HISTORY AND INFORMATION
Sequiota Park is part of the Galloway Station area in Springfield,
MO. The area is named Galloway Station after Civil War veteran
Major Galloway. When Galloway was a merchant he stored goods in the
cave. In the 1920's and 30's Sequiota Cave was used to raise
mushrooms and later became a show cave with guided boat tours. The
park was made into a State Park in 1929. Until 1959 it was used as
a fish hatchery. After that the city of Springfield bought the park
and made it a city park.
There are actually three caves at Sequiota Park (possibly of the
same system but they do not connect anymore). When facing the cave
entrances, the cave on the far left is the "Crawl-All-The-Way
Cave," the next cave is the "Walk-All-The-Way Cave" and the cave
with Sequiota Spring flowing out of its mouth is the Sequiota Cave.
The first two caves only go back short distances and can be
explored.
Sequiota Cave is also known as Brashears Cave, Springdale Cave,
and Fisher Cave. Water flows from the spring-fed cave year-round,
and can reach flash flood stages relative easy during moderate to
heavy rains. Normal water depth throughout the cave can reach 3' to
5', then add in another 1' to 3' of silt beneath the water. This
combination makes for an extremely dangerous cave if one does not
have caving experience. It has a waterfall about a quarter mile
into its entrance and has a north and east branch. The East branch
has water that is 68 feet deep.
Sequiota Cave is a U.W. Fish & Wildlife Svc. Federal Engangered
Species protected cave. The cave contains Gray Bats which are on
the U.S. Threatened List. While Sequiota Cave is not a maternity
cave, it does have a respectable population of Gray Bats throughout
most of the year. Gray Bats are sensitive to disturbances,
therefore Sequiota Cave is only accessible through programs through
the Springfield - Greene County Park Board. The Park Board is in
partnership with the Springfield Plateau Grotto, which helps
monitor and restore the cave; the Missouri Department of
Conservation, which co-issues the permit and helps monitor the
cave; and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Svc, which enforces the
Federal Endangered Species laws. The bats have a huge impact on the
area because they consume large amounts of insects nightly, help
with pollination and seed ispersal of numerous plants. For the most
part, bats are clean, healthy, and unagressive towards humans. They
are one of natures misunderstood creatures.The Fisher Cave is one
of the few Endangered Species Caves East of the Great Plains that
is not completely shut down. All historical information was
obtained from this website, which contains much more information
about the
area,Sequiota History
The cave is locked off by a gate and can only be entered by permit
from the Springfield Greene County Park Board. For more information
you can contact Melvin Johnson at (417) 833-8647 or
mjohnson@springfieldmo.gov. Please follow all park regulations and
times. Sequiota Park is open from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
HOW THE CAVES FORMED
Many caves around the world are examples of Karst Topography. This
type of topography is caused by the gradual dissolution of bedrock
materials like limestone, which is very common in Missouri. Karst
features are made when mildly acidic water containing C02 (the same
stuff that makes the bubbles in your soda pop). Water (H20) mixed
with the carbon dioxide (C02) creates H2CO3, which can eat through
soluble bedrock like limestone. As time goes by the acid slowly
dissolves the bedrock causing cracks and openings, as those
openings get bigger more water can flow through them. This process
can form features like sink holes and caves.
CAVE FORMATIONS
If you go into the "Walk-All-The-Way" Cave you can see some
evidence of what water and chemicals have done to the limestone
interior of the passage. Also along the walls you should be able to
see many speleothems (also known as cave formations). Speleothems
are caused by the extra deposit of minerals along cave walls. As
the water that forms the caves enters the open-air of the cave
passage it deposits some minerals onto the cave walls. Over time
these mineral deposit transform into sometimes elaborate formations
like stalactites (rocky formations connected to the roof of the
cave) and stalagmites (formations that grow up from the floor of
the cave). The most common speleothem seen in the
"Walk-All-The-Way" passageway is flowstone. Those kinds of features
are the wavy sheets of deposit that "flow" down the side of the
cave walls. The thinner see thru variations of flowstone are
sometimes called cave bacon.
HOW TO CLAIM THIS EARTHCACHE
In order to claim this cache you must go to the posted coordinates
and answer the following questions and take a picture of yourself
at the cave site.
To answer one of the questions you will need a tape
measure.
1) Sequiota comes from a Native American word for what? (There is
a waypoint for the sign.)
2) Measure the width of the entrance to the smallest cave
(Crawl-All-The-Way Cave).
Please email me the answers to those questions and upload a
picture of yourself at the site.
Any logs not meeting the requirements will be
deleted.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)