Scuppernong Marl
Pits
As this
is an EarthCache, there is NO container. To claim this as a find
you will need to complete the tasks outlined below. Failure to
complete the tasks may result in the deletion of your log without
notice.
The
terrain is mostly a flat, well groomed trail and you should expect
to walk 0.60 miles round trip (follow the sign marked, "Nature
Trail"). Be sure to grab a trail map and explore the trail system
as it has much to offer. Please donate .25 or return the trail
guide when you are finished with it. The parking lot and trail-head
are located at N 42° 56.132 W 088° 28.405. There is a fee to enter
this state park. You may buy a daily or yearly pass right across
the street at the ranger station.
A
letter to the Editor of the Farmers' Register:
10
December, 1837.
"I observed your
queries in the last number of the Register, and wish I could answer
them, or some of them, with accuracy to satisfy myself. I commenced
the application of marl in 1824, with but little knowledge
of its action, and have kept no memoranda. About the same time, I
began the use of marsh mud, and found its immediate effects so much
more productive, that the marl was neglected. In the year 1833,
your book on Calcareous Manures was recommended to me by the late
Col. Edward Floyd of Talbot. Your views on the subject have induced
me to turn my attention principally to marl, for improvement of my
lands. From two fields of about 45 acres each, marled for the most
part since that time, and an intervening crop of clover, I gathered
this year six hundred barrels of corn, and it is not in my
recollection that they ever before produced more than four hundred;
a small quantity of putrescent manure being carried out as usual.
My marl is blue, mixed with sand, and our geologist, Dr. Ducatel,
states it at 45 and 50 parts of shell. I applied 500 bushels to the
acre."
-Wm. Carmichael
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Marl Formation-
Marl is a soft, loose, earthy, material made of calcium carbonate
or lime-rich mud which contains variable amounts of clays and
calcite or aragonite. At Scuppernong Springs the marl has a white
to off white appearance and is generally squishy in texture.
Wisconsin is rich in marl deposits as thousands
of years ago an aquatic plant called chara thrived here. Chara
extracted calcium carbonate from the water of melting glaciers and
stored the chemical in its branches. When the chara died and sank
to the lake bottom, it accumulated and decayed over time to form a
chalky layer of soil.
Early surveys suggested the marl deposits at Scuppernong Springs
were 15 to 21 feet deep and covered an area large enough to be
mined for years.
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Calcium
carbonate-
Calcium carbonate is generally the main component in marl and is a
common chemical compound found the world over. It is the main
component of shells of marine organisms, snails, and eggshells.
Calcium carbonate is found naturally as a component of aragonite,
calcite, vaterite, chalk, limestone, marble, and
travertine.
Uses of Calcium
carbonate-
· Medically as a calcium supplement, an antacid or as a base
material for pill tablets.
· As a building material in the form of marble or limestone
aggregate.
· As an ingredient of cement.
· As an extender in paints.
· As a filler in plastics.
· In adhesives, sealants, and decorating fillers.
· In swimming pools as a pH corrector.
· As a major component of blackboard chalk.
· In water and sewage treatment to reduce acidity
· In agriculture to improve acidic soils
· As quicklime, it has been used in the burial of bodies in open
graves, to hide the smell of decomposition.
· When cured, to create firebrick which was used to line furnaces
and build fire-resistant structures.
· In forensic science to reveal fingerprints.
Mining the Marl
Pits of Scuppernong-
In 1905 the Eagle Lime Products Company mined marl here. The
company built a 34-foot by 200-foot building to house a kiln, and a
30-foot by 50-foot building to hydrate and package the lime. Along
with the buildings a 6 mile railway was built. Among the products
manufactured here were caustic lime for cement, mortar and
firebrick, and hydrated lime for fertilizer.
After six years of
mining, the company that at one time employed as many as 60 workers
ceased operations. The cost of processing and shipping the heavy
marl along with a shortage of hardwoods to fire the kiln eventually
made the enterprise unprofitable.
Today-
You can still see a single section of rail and 11 ties midway along
the trail to the factory ruins. Of the factory all that remains are
the crumbling walls. See if you can find the large pile of marl
located near the tree which appears to be eating a section of
concrete. Go ahead and touch it.
EarthCache Logging
Requirements:
1. You
must estimate the square footage of the largest marl pit. It is
1,000 feet long. Multiply 1,000 x the width at the given
coordinates and e-mail me the answer.
2. If
there is no ice cover you must also describe the soil bed of the
marl pit and e-mail me your description.
Uploading pictures is
the best way to thank an EarthCache developer and to encourage
others to visit.
The Geocache Notification Form has
been submitted to Paul Sandgren of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches
placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources managed lands
require permission by means of a notification form. Please print
out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required
information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR
Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at:
http://www.wi-geocaching.com/modules.php?name=Wiki&pagename=Hiding%20A%20Cache
References:
http://books.google.com/books?id=PZdimEXQ7UgC&pg=PA144&lpg=PA144&dq=marl+farming+farmers+register+1837+wm+carmichael&source
=web&ots=6mPbNhng4O&sig=r3i6IJbbmP9sMffzSsar8JJ8xPc&hl=en
http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2001/aug01/marl.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marl
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99125.htm