This cache is winter (snow) friendly.
A moraine is a landform made up of the debris left over from glaciers that once covered the area. In the case of Michigan, the glacier that once covered the state melted and made the Great Lakes. The main moraines formed from this glacier are the Valparaiso Moraine (14,500 years ago), the Lake Border Moraine (14,000 years ago), and the Port Huron Moraine (13,000 years ago).
There are many types of moraines. Lateral moraines are formed from debris being pushed along the sides of glaciers and forming steep, high, well-defined ridges. Ground moraines are smaller, rolling hills formed from debris deposited while a glacier retreats. End moraines are made of the debris pushed to the end of the glacier, sometimes forming a convex ridge-line to a valley. There are two types of end moraines: terminal and recessional. Terminal moraines mark the very end of the glacier while recessional moraines mark an area where a glacier paused and then retreated.
Rivers often form between moraines because of their height and the water that then accumulates in the valley. Here, you will be driving on a bridge over the major watershed in this area, which happens to be a river formed at the edge of the Port Huron moraine.
Go to the posted coordinates and look at the area surrounding you. Take an elevation reading.
Now go to N 42 59.800 W 082 31.790. (You have permission to park in this lot, however, it can get busy on Sundays and Wednesdays so take care not to take up the good parking spots!) Take an elevation reading. You may post a photo of you and your team or GPS by moraine.
Email me the following answers, please do not post them in your log!
1. What kind of moraine do you think this is, based on its appearance and elevation difference?
2. What is the difference in elevation?
3. What is the name of the river that formed in this area?
References and for additional reading: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/GIMDL-BU04pixs_216120_7.pdf,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moraine
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/391696/moraine
"Geology of Michigan" By John Adam Dorr and Donald F. Eschma