Welcome to Cedar Springs!
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.
This location is a very popular one with the locals. It is part of the recreation area and nearby, you may also find some historic geocaches.
Please read the entire cache page for information on your experiment. You may want to prepare some things in advance!
Bring a small clean glass jar to collect a water sample. Without this, you will not be able to complete your experiment.
A simple definition of artesian water is that it is water in the ground that is under pressure. If you have done other “spring” type Earthcaches, we won’t go heavily into the details of how they are formed. However, some background is necessary.
Water underlies the Earth's surface almost everywhere, beneath hills, mountains, plains, and deserts. It is not always accessible, or fresh enough for use without treatment, and it's sometimes difficult to locate or to measure and describe. Ground water is stored in, and moves slowly through, moderately to highly permeable rocks called aquifers.
Aquifers literally store and carry water underground. An aquifer may be a layer of gravel or sand, a layer of sandstone or cavernous limestone, a rubble top or base of lava flows, or even a large body of massive rock, such as fractured granite, that has sizable openings.
An artesian aquifer is an area in which ground water is confined under pressure that is significantly greater than atmospheric pressure. It has an impermeable layer above and below it. This causes the aquifer to be under pressure. If a well is drilled from the land surface through the overlying impervious layer into the aquifer, this pressure will cause the water to rise in the well. In areas where the slope of the aquifer is great enough, pressure will drive the water above ground level in a spectacular, permanent fountain.
The Piedmont area of South Carolina is characterized by rolling hills that range in elevation from 1,000 feet near the mountains to about 400 feet at the Fall Line. Geologists identified and classified sections of the Piedmont mainly by the varying degrees of rock metamorphism, and the named these metamorphic regions, Blue Ridge, Brevard, Inner Piedmont, Kings Mountain, Charlotte, and The Carolina terrane. Its history began with a thick deposition of volcanic and sedimentary strata in an islandarc setting during the late Precambrian and early Paleozoic. During the Paleozoic Era, before 415 million years ago, the strata were folded and metamorphosed to form the patterns seen today. A layer of chemically weathered bedrock called saprolite mantles the Piedmont in varying thickness. Breaks, or faults in the the bedrock reveals some of the sedimentary deposits, allowing for a release in the underground pressures.
Such is the case where this spring is located. It is located at the junction or fault line between two geological subareas known at thrust sheets. This spring is a result of the fault between the "Laurens" thrust sheet and the "Six-Mile" thrust sheet. The Laurens thrust contains various types of schist, amphibolite and small bodies of marble. It is layered above the trailing edge of the Six-Mile thrust which includes gneisse and gondite. Vertical movemnet over time of the Six-Mile thrust creates the pressure over the aquifer, and thus, this spring.
Artesian springs can occur in similar fashion anywhere faults or cracks in the overlying impervious layer allow water to flow upward. Water from an artesian well or spring is usually cold and free of organic contaminants, making it desirable for drinking.
Please note: While it is true that artesian water or even just "plain" well water can sometimes be used directly for drinking water, this statement is environmentally false, because artesian water is not defined as being naturally filtered.
A good tool to help determine both the source and the safety of water is the pH level.
pH is a measure of how acidic/basic water is. The range goes from 0 - 14, with 7 being neutral. Liquids with a pH of less than 7 indicate acidity, whereas a pH of greater than 7 indicates a base. pH is really a measure of the relative amount of free hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in the water. Water that has more free hydrogen ions is acidic, whereas water that has more free hydroxyl ions is basic. Since pH can be affected by chemicals in the water, pH is an important indicator of water that is changing chemically. pH is reported in "logarithmic units," like the Richter scale, which measures earthquakes. Each number represents a 10-fold change in the acidity/baseness of the water. Water with a pH of five is ten times more acidic than water having a pH of six.
The pH of water determines the solubility (amount that can be dissolved in the water) and biological availability (amount that can be utilized by aquatic life) of chemical constituents such as nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon) and heavy metals (lead, copper, cadmium, etc.). In the case of a spring, pH is affected by the aquifer that is holding it. In addition to affecting how much and what form of phosphorus is most abundant in the water, pH also determines whether aquatic life can use it. In the case of heavy metals, the degree to which they are soluble determines their toxicity. Metals tend to be more toxic at lower pH because they are more soluble.
I know...lot's of technical stuff, right? Well, now comes the FUN part!
For educational purposes, we want you to do several things. Please email your results and discoveries for verification.
1. Look around the area of Cedar Springs and describe the type of rocks that you find. Pick up some of them and try to decide if they are igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary. (Some research prior to visiting the site may be necessary.) Based on this research, you should be able to determine the type of “vessel” that contains the water resulting in the spring.
2. By doing a pH test on the water, you can make an educated guess as to the aquifer source as well. To do this, you will need to collect a water sample from the spring. (about 1 cup should be sufficient.)
Test the pH of your sample onsite, or take your sample home and test with your very own pH test kit as follows:
You will need to make your own pH indicator by using items that can be found in a supermarket and your kitchen.
Materials:
One cup of red cabbage, chopped
4 cups water
One sheet of plain printer paper cut into Twenty strips measuring 1.5 inch by .5 inch
One dry dark film canister for storage of your pH test strips. (See? These do serve a better purpose than micro cache containers!)
Preparing your pH solution:
Step 1- Place water in a clean pot and bring to a rapid boil. Let boil for aprox. 3 minutes.
Step 2-Place the chopped red cabbage into the boiling water.
Step 3- Boil it for about 30 minutes.
Step 4- Let it cool.
Step 5- Pour the liquid through a strainer into a bowl or cup.
Step 6- That’s it! Now you have made your own pH indicator.
Making your own testing strips:
Step 1- Pour your cabbage solution into a clean ceramic cup.
Step 2- Place your paper strips in the solution and ensure that all areas are covered.
Step 3- Cover the cup and leave the strips soaking for aprox. 3 hours.
Step 4- Take out the strips and let them air dry completely on a dry clean flat surface.
Testing your water sample:
Dip the tip of one of your test strips in the water sample and remove. It should begin to change color as soon as you dip it.
Using the scale on this page, estimate the pH of your sample.
Is it more acidic or more alkaline? Water that is held in a sedimentary aquifer will tend to be more alkaline, while igneous rock tends to be slightly more acidic in nature, and metamorphic material should along the neutral section of the pH scale.
Does the pH test coincide with your findings in Step 1?
Just for fun, try testing other liquid sources for comparison. Try rain water, lemon juice, tap water, beer, soda and others.
Feel free to post photos! (Especially of your test results!)
For further verification:
You must post in your log a picture showing any part of the spring 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.
Enjoy playing in the water!