Lime Lakes & Peppermint Springs EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

beenhere: not worth the effort

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Hidden : 2/12/2007
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

This is a great area to walk around with easy access. Be sure to do the nearby Falling Water Trail caches.

Lime Lakes & Peppermint Springs In 1834, Michigan Territory's geologist, Douglass Houghton, described this present Lime Lake area as "containing springs of a peculiar character [that] seems to contain minerals. The country from Marshall to Spring Arbor is mostly beautiful oak openings with numerous primary boulders." Early settlers recalled that in 1854 a stone blacksmith's shop was located east of the present south Lime Lake, near "Peppermint Springs." This area has several free flowing springs that contain watercress and wild peppermint plants. In areas where rainfall seeps underground between two layers of impermeable rock or clay, an aquifer is formed. An aquifer is a porous layer of rock filled with water up to the level of the water table (the highest level of water saturation in the ground). Springs occur where the surface of the ground naturally taps into the aquifer below the water table. One of the minerals this area does have is marl. Marl is calcium carbonate, and it is certainly one of our lesser-known mineral resources. The squishy, sticky, off-white clay-like substance is often found in marshy areas. It formed thousands of years ago when an aquatic plant, chara, extracted calcium carbonate from the lake waters of melting glaciers and stored the chemical in its branches. Dead chara sank to the lake bottom, accumulating and decaying over centuries to form a chalky soil. A more familiar substance, peat, also formed from partially decaying vegetation, but that happened much later, geologically speaking. Dig below a peat deposit, and it's likely you'll hit a layer of marl. Marl could be incinerated to form caustic lime, an important component of mortar and Portland cement. Peerless Portland Cement Company began dredging operations for lime in this marshy area in 1901, forming both North and South Lime Lakes. The lime was transported by rail to cement plants in Detroit, Cement City, Petoskey, and Union City. They dug the marl with a bucket called the orange peel that was operated from a barge. The bucket loaded the marl into 35-yard capacity rail cars that were brought across the lake on a scow. The barge was made of wood, but finally got so shaky that it was abandoned for one of reinforced concrete. The employees were told it was the first built in the United States. (The concrete barge eventually sank at the old dock near the railroad tracks. In the 1960s it was pumped out and was towed to the west side of the lake were it is presently used as a diving dock.) The railroad cars were run onto the scow over a wooden dock which had an apron that had to be raised and lowered by a man-powered windlass. The dredging operation was closed because large amounts of coal had to be used to drive the water from the marl. This was costly and the company could not compete with plants using lime rock. During the operations on south Lime Lake, mastodon bones were found at a small and shallow lake east of South Lime Lake near the tile that goes under the former railroad tracks. The fate of the remains is unknown, although it was related that they were sent to the New York Museum of Natural History. Besides providing many summer activities, these lakes offered winter employment –cutting and storage of ice. The large blocks of ice were hauled to Spring Arbor and stacked like giant bricks in ice houses insulated with piles of sawdust. College students did much of the labor for the college ice storage to have ice cream on special occasions. Ice was sold all summer long to local residents for their ice boxes from an ice shed located in town. These deliveries were continued through the middle 1930s. For credit walk soutwest along the lake edge looking at the exposed bank on the shore and send (not post) your discription of what the soil looks like. Did you find any Marl (squishy, sticky, off-white clay-like substance). Hours for Lime Lake County Park are dawn to dusk. No fees.
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