Soils of RI #43: Freetown
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is the 43rd in a series of caches honoring the 57 different types of soils found within the State of Rhode Island. Soils were a major factor in the settling and early farming of RI, and soils continue to influence our industry, recreation, wildlife, and homes. As you complete this series, please take note of how the soil is determined in-part by the landscape position (summit, sideslope, drainageway), which in turn affects the vegetation.
This cache is located within an area of Freetown (formerly mapped as Carlisle) soil. Freetown soil is one of the two freshwater organic soils mapped in RI. You may be more familiar with the term MUCK! Freetown soils are very poorly drained soils formed in highly decomposed organic material (from plants).
Approximately 15,000 years ago, the Laurentide ice sheet was retreating from its maximum advance a few miles south of Block Island and was sitting across southern RI. This period of stagnation deposited the sandy soils that make up the Charlestown Moraine, a large, broad hill extending from Narragansett to Westerly and beyond.
Eventually, the ice began retreating north again before again stagnating at what became the Wolf Rock moraine in Exeter. Dammed by the newly formed Charlestown Moraine, the massive outflows of meltwater from the melting glacier created an enormous glacial lake, known as Glacial Lake Worden. Over thousands of years, much of the glacial lake filled with sediment, forming Great Swamp. Worden Pond is all that remains of the glacial lake.
Freetown soils are similar to the nearby Swansea soils. Both soils have 40cm or more of organic material at the soil surface. Freetown soils, however, have greater than 130cm of total organic soil. It is not uncommon to find areas within Great Swamp with over 3 meters of organic materials before mineral soil is encountered. To put it another way, Swansea are the shallow organic soils, Freetown are the deep organic soils.
Most areas of Freetown soil are forested with native vegetation. Native vegetation includes red maple (the "beating heart of RI swamps"), American elm, green ash, hemlock, Atlantic white cedar, buttonbush, winterberry, and leatherleaf. Many areas are bogs that have a carpet of Sphagnum moss. Some areas are cleared and used for cranberry farming.
Please use the included waypoints to assist you in your journey into the "heart of darkness." Once you reach the end of the north-south trail, you will see something that was probably once a path into the swamp, but now is mostly standing water. You'll have to bushwhack you're way through the swamp from this access point to reach the cache. The terrain is a little easier than Scarboro, but can still be a challenge, especially if there is considerable standing water. Please go slow, be careful, and wear your orange.
CC is a regular ammo box containing a logbook, official series description, and a ton of swag. I also included my Swamp Thing action figure TB to begin his journey. Enjoy... only one more soil cache to go!
And the swamp award goes to BBWolf+3Pigs and amazingted for Co-FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ba n zbhaq pbirerq jvgu onex naq ybtf... arne n uhtr juvgr prqne.