Austin Glen at Catskill Creek EarthCache
Austin Glen at Catskill Creek
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Dr. Robert Titus, professor of geology at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY writes a weekly column for the Hudson-Catskill Newspapers. This Earth Cache was inspired by Dr. Titus’ column titled Grand Canyon on Catskill Creek.
Read this description carefully, there will be a quiz!
Austin Glen is not safe to access by road due to extremely fast traffic on a divided 4-lane highway / bridge over the chasm. There is no safe public access to this area. So instead of givng you coordinates to Austin Glen I have posted three photographs of the area. The coordinates that you DO have are at points upstream from Austin Glen.
Although Austin Glen is only about 100 feet deep, it is impressive because the walls of the canyon are so steep. The rocks of this canyon are Helderberg Limestone, dating back 400 million years.
About 14,000 years ago the Ice Age was ending and the melting glaciers to the north sent water to a sandy-bed lake that was forming above the bedrock dam that existed where Austin Glen is now. As the flow of water and sand pounded the soft limestone, the dam eventually gave way and the rushing water created this “grand canyon”.
Waypoint 1 is at the posted coordinates for this geocache. Observe and record the characteristics of Catskill Creek at this point. You will need the information to answer questions below.
Take a photo of you beside the plaque on the bridge at Waypoint 1. The photo must clearly show the name of the bridge. DO NOT show any characteristics of the creek in this photo. You will be required to post that photo with your online log.
Parking for Waypoint 2 is at N42° 16.609, W073° 57.431. Walk to the bridge at N42° 16.663, W073° 57.463. Observe and record the characteristics of Catskill Creek at this point. You will need the information to answer questions below.
Email the answers to the following two questions to me...I will only respond to your submission if it is incorrect, otherwise, your smiley face is valid.
Question 1: You observed and noted the characteristics of Catskill Creek at Waypoint 1 and at Waypoint 2. Does the creek at Waypoint 2 look more like the creek at Waypoint 1 or more like the creek in my photos?
Question 2: What type of rock make up the walls of Austin Glen?
You must also post the photo of you and the plaque at Waypoint 1 with your online log. That’s it. Enjoy!
Congratulations to Mark.B for FTF
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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