What is an
EarthCache?
EarthCache sites are
educational - they provide earth science lessons. They
take people to sites that can help explain the formation of
landscapes or to sites of interesting phenomena such as folds,
faults, intrusions or reveal how scientists understand our Earth
(such as fossil sites etc.)
EarthCache sites follow
all the waymarking and geocaching principles and adhere to the
principles of Leave No Trace outdoor
ethics. They are
set up to ensure cachers take appropriate pathways and established
trails only. EarthCache sites highlight the principle of
collect photos - not samples. All EarthCaches are
approved by the Geological Society of America. To learn more
about EarthCaches, click here.
About this EarthCache and Chenango Valley
State Park
This EarthCache takes you
to the Chenango Valley State Park "bog", where you will learn about
glacial bogs and fens. Park at N42 12.831 W075
49.809, the park office, or at N42 12.783 W 075
50.039, the fisherman pull-off. Do not park on the
roadside. The trailhead is at N42 12.947
W075 49.907, and the EarthCache site is several hundred feet down
the trail.
Chenango Valley State
Park is an ice age wonder. Its two kettle lakes, Lily and Chenango,
were created when the last glacier retreated and left behind huge
chunks of buried ice which melted to form the lakes and bog (or is
it?), the subject of this EarthCache. Birdwatchers may glimpse
woodpeckers, nut hatches, warblers and thrushes along woodland
trails and herons, ducks and kingfishers lakeside. Fishermen will
find trout, bass, perch and bullhead in Chenango Lake. Campers can
choose from among 216 campsites and 24 cabins and golfers will
appreciate the 18-hole golf course. Ice skating, sledding and
cross-country ski trails attract visitors in
winter.During the
late spring, summer, and early fall there is an admission charge to
the park (unless you walk or ride your bike in !) There are
snacks available at the golf course and swimming area in-season.
For more information about Chenango Valley State Park,
click
here.
...a pond in the bog / fen
Is it a
bog?
Throughout the forests of the northern
USA, bogs are a common feature in
the landscape. Their origin is traced back to the end of the
last glacial period 12,000 years ago. As the continental
glaciers melted and retreated, their burden of transported rock and
debris washed into valleys and lowlands. Lakes backed up in many valleys and shallow
waters spread over low-lying terrain. In time, with the
northward migration of vegetation into the formerly glaciated
territory, aquatic and amphibious plants invaded some of the
shallow pools and ponds, thereby converting them into bogs.
Bogs receive all
or most of their water from precipitation rather than from runoff,
groundwater or streams, and are encircled by higher ground which
blocks the outward flow of water. Thus, whatever materials
are washed into or deposited in a bog remain there permanently;
dead plant materials, especially, build up to great depths.
Because the filling of a bog pond
is a very slow process, taking several thousand years depending
upon the original depth of water, all stages of bog development may
be encountered in New York wild lands. In some bogs, a small pool
may remain in the center of the bog. In others, the
spreading mat has engulfed most of the open water and trees have
invaded the floating mat. And in still other bogs, the forest
may have closed in, hiding all outward traces of the former open
bog. The end product in all cases is a mature forest
generally dominated by trees adapted to water-logged, peaty
soils.
Bog
water is stagnant. Without
oxygen, many bacteria responsible for plant and animal decay cannot
live. In addition, the glacial debris
underlying and surrounding most bogs is predominantly acidic
granite rock deficient in elements essential to plant
growth. Meanwhile, certain organic
compounds, primarily humic acids accumulate in the bog waters,
increasing the acidity of the bog and further inhibiting the usual
saprophytic decay organisms. Without
movement and overturn in the water, temperatures remain under the
70 to 75 degree F. range required for vigorous bacterial
action. Dead animal and plant parts may
undergo partial decay at the surface of the bog, but when such
material sinks into the bog, decay virtually ceases.
Several members of
the heath family such as leatherleaf, labrador tea, bog rosemary,
and swamp laurel are found in bogs, as well as peat moss, which
forms a continuous, sod-like carpet of green. Other bog plants include cranberries, sedges,
cottongrass, goldclub, loosestrife, pitcher plants,
and sundews.
Roots up
further down the trail
Or is it a fen?
A fen is a type of wetland fed by alkaline, mineral-rich
groundwater and characterized by a distinctive flora. Fens are
often confused with bogs, which are fed primarily by rainwater and
often inhabited by sphagnum moss, making them acidic. Fens
differ from bogs because they are less acidic and have higher
nutrient levels. They are therefore able to support a much more
diverse plant and animal community. These systems are often covered
by grasses, sedges, rushes, and wildflowers. Like other wetlands,
fens will ultimately fill in and become a terrestrial community
such as a woodland through the process of ecological
succession.
Like bogs, fens are mostly a northern
hemisphere phenomenon -- occurring in the northeastern United
States, the Great Lakes region, the Rocky Mountains, and much of
Canada -- and are generally associated with low temperatures and
short growing seasons, where ample precipitation and high humidity
cause excessive moisture to accumulate.
Fens, like bogs, provide important benefits
in a watershed, including preventing or reducing the risk of
floods, improving water quality, and providing habitat for unique
plant and animal communities. Like most peatlands, fens
experienced a decline in acreage at a rate of about eight percent
from 1950 to 1970, mostly from mining and draining for cropland,
fuel, and fertilizer. Because of the large historical loss of this
ecosystem type, remaining fens are that much more rare, and it is
crucial to protect them. It is important to recognize that while
mining and draining these ecosystems provide resources for people,
up to 10,000 years are required to form a fen naturally.
To log this cache
To log this cache, post
a picture of yourself on the park trail with the pond in the
background. Stay on the marked trails - do not venture into
the bog/fen or disturb any of the plant life. Then send me a
private e-mail that answers this question:
Is it a
bog or a fen? Why?
A thank
you...
Many thanks
to Broome Community College (BCC) Professors John Gerty and Karen
Goodman for sharing their knowledge and resources on glaciation and
kettle holes, to BCC Biology Professor Dr. Rick Firenze for sharing
his knowledge and resources on bogs and giving me permission to incorporate it
into this EarthCache, and
to John Michalski, Chenango Valley State Park manager, for
approving the placement of this cache.
Other
sources: United States Environmental Protection
agency