Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

You are not logged in. Log in

Geocaching Home > Seek > View Cache Details

GCZCH7

Earthcache Volcanic Rocks near Project Faultless
A  cache by GeoEdYOUcation       Hidden: 11/15/2006  
Size: Size: Not chosen (Not chosen)      Difficulty: 1.5 out of 5      Terrain: 2.5 out of 5 (1 is easiest, 5 is hardest)

You must be logged in with an account to view the detailed Location Information. It's free!

N/S ? ??.??? W/E ??? ??.???  []
In Nevada, United States

Print:
[5 Logs] [10 Logs] |
Download: [Read About Waypoint Downloads]
| | |


Please note: To use the services of geocaching.com, you must agree to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Visit this site where Cold War era underground nuclear testing caused subsidence of the ground along faults that cut volcanic rocks called ignimbrites or ash-flow tuffs. These rocks were deposited during violent volcanic eruptions about 30 to 33 million years ago, during the Oligocene Epoch of the Tertiary Period. Geologists identify these rocks as rhyolite and rhyodacite by their mineralogy (rich in quartz, sanidine, plagioclase, biotite, and hornblende) and chemistry (rich in silica).

On January 19, 1968, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (the forerunner of the Department of Energy) detonated a nuclear bomb in a borehole at a depth of 975 meters (3,200 feet) below the large metal pipe that protrudes from the ground near this site, part of the Central Nevada Test Area. The device, with an announced yield of between 200 kilotons and one megaton, was detonated (a) to determine the environmental and structural effects that might be expected should subsequent higher yield underground nuclear tests be conducted in this vicinity and (b) to study the behavior and characteristics of seismic signals generated by nuclear detonations and to differentiate them from seismic signals generated by naturally occurring earthquakes. No further tests were conducted near here, but more than 900 bombs were tested on the Nevada Test Site farther to the south. The test caused the ground to break, ironically, given the name of the shot – Project Faultless, creating new faults when the area close to ground zero sank into the underground cavity created by the blast. The collapse created numerous surface fractures up to 2,743 meters (9,000 feet) in length, with vertical fault displacements up to 5 meters (15 feet) and horizontal offsets up to 1 meter (3 feet).

Radioactivity from the blast was kept underground, although the U.S. Department of Energy and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection are studying whether radioactivity could escape through groundwater flow.

The material at the surface is Quaternary (less than 1.8 million years old) alluvium – unconsolidated sediment eroded from older rocks. The rocks in the hills nearby to the west are dominantly ignimbrites (also called ash-flow tuffs), erupted violently from volcanoes about 30 to 33 million years ago, during the Oligocene Epoch of the Tertiary Period. Geologists identify these rocks as rhyolite and rhyodacite by their mineralogy (rich in such minerals as quartz, sanidine, plagioclase, biotite, and hornblende) and chemistry (rich in such elements as silica, potassium, and sodium and poor in such elements as magnesium, calcium, and iron relative to other common igneous rocks).

The nuclear test occurred in tuffaceous sediments (sandstones and siltstones derived from volcanic material) and nonwelded tuff that was altered to zeolite minerals millions of years ago. The alluvium above these rocks is 732 meters (2,400 feet) thick.

The site is monitored by both the U. S. Department of Energy and Nevada Department of Environmental Protection for any traces of radionuclides in air or groundwater. The environmental monitoring program is described in detail in the website links given below.

To log this EarthCache:
At the coordinates given is a prominent fault scarp that formed after the explosion, caused when the ground dropped down along the break in slope. The scarp is recognizable because vegetation has not completely re-established itself along the fault scarp. In order to log this Earthcache site, determine which side of the fault scarp moved down (N, E, S, or W) relative to the other side and e-mail the answer to the site developer along with a photo of your group at the site, if possible. Please tell us how many people were in your group visiting this Earthcache site.

REFERENCES:

Kleinhampl, F.J., and Ziony, J.I., 1985, Geology of northern Nye County, Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 99A, 171 p., with maps at 1:250,000 scale.
(visit link)
(visit link)


SPECIAL NOTES ABOUT ACCESS AT THIS SITE

Hiking is easy in this area.

CAUTION IN USING GPS UNITS AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS

(Note that GPS coordinates are relative to a particular datum used to describe the nearly spherical shape of the Earth’s surface. Most topographic maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey use the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27), but most GPS units are set for either the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) or the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS 84). NAD 83 and WGS 84 give nearly identical locations with hand-held GPS instruments, but NAD 27 can be off considerably. In this part of Nevada, there is little change in latitude between the 1927 and 1983 data, but for longitude the datum of 1983 is shifted relative to the datum of 1927, such that, if you use your GPS unit to measure a location using WGS 84, the point will plot on the U.S. Geological Survey topographic map approximately 100 meters farther east than its true location on the map. If your GPS unit is set to NAD 27, you need to look for the WGS 84 waypoint approximately 100 meters farther east from your location.)


BASIC VISITOR-USE AND PUBLIC SAFETY INFORMATION FOR PUBLIC LANDS IN NEVADA:

All visitors need to plan ahead and prepare for outings in Nevada’s public lands by:
• Knowing the regulations and special concerns for the area you are planning to visit (obeying laws that prohibit collection or destruction of artifacts);
• Carrying a map and a GPS unit and/or compass (Maps are available for purchase at all BLM offices and from the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, www.nbmg.unr.edu.);
• Staying on existing roads and trails;
• Staying away from all mine shafts and adits;
• Planning for extreme weather, hazards, and emergencies;
• Carrying a full-size spare tire, extra food, water, and warm clothing;
• Being aware that cell phones DO NOT usually work in the rural areas away from the major highways;
• Leaving your travel plans with a responsible party, including the date and time of your return;
• Linking to “Tread Lightly and Leave No Trace” websites (www.treadlightly.org and www.lnt.org).

Please see www.nbmg.unr.edu/EarthCache.htm for more information about this and other Nevada EarthCache and GeoCache sites of geologic interest. Thank you.


Additional Hints ( No hints available ) 

(Decrypted Hints)




Find...


Closer view of fault scarp

Closer view of fault scarp caused by underground nuclear detonation at Project Faultless.
Faultless fault

Fault Scarp caused by underground nuclear detonation at Project Faultless.
Ground Zero Plaque

Plaque commemorating Project Faultless detonation.
Project Faultless remains

 Navigation
 log in to log your visit
 log in to watch listing
 view gallery


2 user(s) watching this cache.




 Inventory

What are Trackable Items?

 Bookmark Lists
Earth Caches - 1 - Active USA by txoilgas
Nevada Earthcaches as of 05/15/2008 by Flag_Mtn_Hkrs
mojave_rattler's FTFs by mojave_rattler

View all 3 bookmark lists...


 

Logged Visits ( 18 total. Visit the Gallery (20 images) )

Found it17Publish Listing1

Warning. Spoilers may be included in the descriptions or links.
Cache find counts are based on the last time the page generated.


Cache Logs
 September 10 by find waldo (4250 found)
After we walked about the Project Faultess site we made our way over to the fault scarp to make our observations and find the traditional cache. We used Nuke 'Um for our page 55 DeLorme Challenge find. Thanks for the interesting write up about this Nevada cold war location and your other fine Earthcaches that we have visited.

[view this log]
 August 21 by Me & Bucky (7375 found)

Bucky & I found this one while cruising south on the fifth day of our trip down to Las Vegas from Northeast Oregon. We stayed last night in the parking lot of Lunar Crater, and would visit several volcanic features, Project Faultless, and the oldest cache in Nevada before getting to Las Vegas by the end of the day.

Went out to this one after finding Ground Zero and reading the plaque. The fault scarp here is amazing, and this is truly one of the most thought-provoking EarthCaches I've been to! 1 megaton of TNT is 2 billion pounds of TNT! No wonder a huge area collapsed and a scarp was created! It is surprising that the collapsed area isn't larger.

Thanks for another great EarthCache!!


[view this log]

Bucky at Project Faultless
Plaque at Ground Zero of Project Faultless
Bucky at the Scarp Created by Project Faultless!!
The Depression Caused by Project Faultless

 April 4 by NVGreenGecko (1194 found)
Pretty funny what happened to the road. Took a picture of Gecko next to a cozy little hole in the ground that he found. Here with one cacher, one gecko and one muggle. (Sshhhhh!!) Answer sent. TFTC!

[view this log]
Gecko was easily distracted by his grotto find.
Um Yeah... We drove no farther than this!!

 January 17 by Nitro929 (1556 found)
On-site with nvh2ofowler during our 17-hour mega-cache run through central Nevada. Unbelieveable evidence of the power unleashed near here. E-mail to follow.

[view this log]
Fault scarp at Project FAULTLESS

 January 17 by nvh2ofowler (913 found)
Out with Nitro929 today, very interesting area out here, TFTH.

[view this log]
Nitro929 and nvh2ofowler at the site


There are more logs. View them all on one page

Current time: 11/22/2009 11:50:01 AM
Last Updated: 9/13/2009 8:46:31 PM
Rendered: From Database
Coordinates are in the WGS84 datum

Geocaching, a Groundspeak Project.

Copyright © 2000-2009 Groundspeak Inc. All Rights Reserved.
About Groundspeak | Contact Us
Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.
Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of the Groundspeak Terms of Use.
Read our Geocaching Logo Usage Guidelines.
Hotels | Altrec Store | GPS Devices