Welcome to *N-O-A*!
This is not your typical geocache! In order to claim a find on this cache, you MUST email the correct answers to the specific tasks below. Failure to do so will result in the deletion of your log, per Earthcache guidelines!
You will not find a "cache container," but rather, an Earthcache, which is designed to bring you to a special geological feature.
Please read the entire cache page for information on your experiment. You may want to prepare some things in advance!
Bring a medium to large mirror and a tape measure.
Without this, you will not be able to complete your experiment!
This is an uncommonly seen site. It is an above ground geologic deposit known as "Naturally Occurring Asbestos" (NOA).
The large boulder before you is largely composed of a metamorphic mineral group called Serpentine. Serpentine minerals have a sheet or layered structure.
Of particular note, and as it applies to The Earth-Mars Anolog (a geological feature found on both planets), Serpentine was also recently discovered on Mars in 2009. A spectrometer on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was used to identify two small outcrops of a Serpentine. Serpentine arises from another mineral, olivine, in a hydrothermal process in which hydrogen gas is produced — a potential energy source for microbes that could in turn produce methane.
Serpentine is uncommon but was found in three seperate geologic settings on the surface of Mars:
1. at the Claritas Rise and the Nili Fossae.
2. a few southern highlands impact craters.
3. a stratigraphic unit near the Isidis basin.
Any presently active serpentinization processes would be occurring beneath the surface and mineral products would not be apparent with surface and orbital data; however, finding serpentine in several Noachian terrains indicates active serpentinization processes in Mars' past. Serpentines are a marker for distinctive aqueous conditions. The existence of serpentine on Mars is of significance for geophysics and habitability. Depending on fluid chemistry, a common product of serpentinization is magnetite which is highly susceptible to magnetism and has been hypothesized to contribute to the generation of Martian magnetic anomalies. Serpentinzation reactions also produce H2, which can serve as an important energy source for chemosynthetic microbial life, or react abiotically with CO2 to produce methane. If serpentinization were presently occurring and generating methane either abiotically or biologically mediated, production would be occurring in the subsurface and out of view. However, it is clear that the serpentinization process operated on Mars in the past.
The process for identification comes from parameter maps, which were colorized to show the morphology of materials bearing serpentine and other minerals. Colors of spectra correspond to colored areas on the images with those minerals. Spectra locations are indicated by arrows and circles. In these examples, Serpentine is colored Green.
However, on this planet, and in our example, we don't have fancy color charts!
This Serpentine mass before you also contains small pockets of vermiculite and more so contains large streaks and veins of a mineral known as Chrysotile. A little more research and you’ll find that this mineral is more commonly known as “White Asbestos.”
This would be a good time to caution you to not climb on the boulder, because while holding and rubbing the mineral has not proven to be dangerous, the inhalation of wind-born fibers has been determined to cause Mesothelioma, a very debilitating form of lung cancer.
The Serpentine here contains several veins of Chrysotile, the most commonly encountered form of asbestos. Chrysotile accounts for approximately 95% of the asbestos in place in the United States. This is the only asbestos mineral that occurs strictly as fibers.
Bulk chrysotile, whose hardness is about the same as that of a human fingernail, is easily crumbled to fibers. Naturally-occurring fiber bundles range in length from several millimeters to more than ten centimeters.
The term, “Asbestos” has no mineralogical meaning, but is a label for any of the fibrous (asbestiform) varieties of several different minerals. Asbestos can be found naturally in the air outdoors and in some drinkable water, including water from natural sources.
This area has seen a substantial growth in home building due to the relocation of the Dorman High School campus nearby. However, once construction workers revealed this boulder, geologists were consulted to determine the unseen size of this specimen. This boulder is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, in that it has been estimated to extend nearly 400 ft. deeper into the ground. Due to the large underground mass, it was decided to halt development in this tract of land. Instead, it has been incorporated into the roadside landscaping near the entrance to the accompanying home community.
Although most of the asbestos used in the United State was shipped in from other countries, some was mined within this country as well. South Carolina is one of the states that had asbestos mines. These deposits of asbestos are of the chrysotile variety. Also known as white asbestos, this is the asbestos most commonly used in manufacturing. It is the safest type of asbestos, but it is still by no means safe to be around. Chrysotile, along with other types of asbestos, has been banned in dozens of countries and is only allowed in the United States and Europe in very limited circumstances. Deposits of chrysotile in South Carolina are found in the Foothills, along the eastern slope of the Appalachian Mountains, and in the south, along the Georgia border. Both Spartanburg and Laurens counties have had mines in the past, due to the location of another popular mineral, vermiculite.
Chrysotile is often present in a wide variety of products and materials, including:
• drywall and joint compound
• plaster
• mud and texture coats
• vinyl floor tiles, sheeting, adhesives
• roofing tars, felts, siding, and shingles
• roof panels, siding, counter tops, and pipes
• popcorn ceilings, also known as acoustic ceilings
• fireproofing
• caulk
• gaskets
• packing, a system for sealing a rotating shaft
• brake pads and shoes
• clutch plates
• stage curtains
• fire blankets
• interior fire doors
• fireproof clothing for firefighters
• cloth behind fuses (for fire protection)
• thermal pipe insulation
• filters for removing fine particulates from chemicals, liquids, and wine
• dental cast linings
• HVAC flexible duct connectors
• drilling fluid additives
We can’t safely ask you to collect any samples here, and if you chose to touch or climb on this mineral, you do so at your own risk.
However, there are two things that you can safely do that will help you learn about this mineral.
There are several ways to determine what type a mineral is. One of these factors is “Fracture.”
Fracture is a description of the way a mineral tends to break. Different minerals will break in different ways and leave a surface that can be described in a recognizable way. Is the broken area smooth? Irregular? Jagged? Splintery? These are some of the ways of describing fracture.
Although many minerals break in similar ways, some have a unique fracture and this can be helpful in determining the type.
• Conchoidal. The most common fracture type, this is a smoothly curved fracture that is familiar to people who have examined broken glass.
• Subconchoidal. Similar to conchoidal, just not as curved, but still smooth.
• Uneven is a type that is basically self explanatory. There is no specific form that results from breakage.
• Jagged has sharp points or edges that catch on a finger that's rubbed across the surface. Usually this indicates a metal a metal alloy or some sulfides or oxides.
• Splintery is a fracture type that occurs in fibrous or finely acicular minerals and in minerals that have a relatively stronger structure in one direction than the other two.
• Earthy is a fracture that produces a texture similar to broken children's clay. It is found in minerals that are generally massive and loosely consolidated.
After reading this, walk around the boulder and locate locate one of the veins of Chrysotile and describe your thoughts on what type of fracture it contains.
After having done this, we are going to try to determine the height of this boulder using Geometry to help us learn about Geology! Long before the electronic age, geometry was used to determine many factors surrounding geology, as well as land surveying.
You are going to be using a mirror to measure the height of a the boulder. When you see an image in a level mirror, two equal angles are formed. (< 1 = < 2) These angles are called the angles of incidence and reflection.
For this part of your project, you will need:
Your GPSr
Tape measure
Pencil and paper, (a calculator might also help!)
One large mirror (at least 1 ft. X 1 ft. should do, but the larger, the better.)
Knowledge of basic geometry, and in particular, “Similar Triangles.”
Your cheat-sheet can be found --> HERE <---
and --> HERE <---
Locate the small tree growing out of the West side of the boulder about 6 feet up.
Stand at the edge of the boulder beneath this tree and with your GPSr and walk 30 feet to the West, in parallel with the road that you drove in on.
At this spot, lay your large mirror down flat on the ground as level as you can, (shiny-side up!)
Continue walking backwards in the same direction away from the mirror until you can see just the the top of the boulder in the mirror.
Using your GPSr, record the distance from your feet to the mirror.
Using a tape measure, record your own eye-level height.
Using these numbers, (Distance from the mirror to the boulder, distance from you to the mirror, and your height) the Pythagorean Theorem, the Rule of Similar Triangles, fingers, toes, a slide rule, abacus, calculator or whatever else you can think of, to estimate of the height of the boulder.
Please email your results, and feel free to post photos of your experiment.
For further verification:
You must post in your log a picture showing any part of the N-O-A in the background
WITH YOUR USERNAME VISIBLE, CLEAR AND READABLE
written on the medium of your choice (paper, hand, phone, t-shirt, etc...)
Pictures taken with only yourself, your GPS or your Logo/Avatar are not accepted nor are photoshopped/edited pictures with your username inserted afterward.
Failure to follow these instructions will lead to your log deleted.