Cathedral Cove (Coromandel) EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

tomsqrd: Due to the danger caused by the falling arch, I have decided to close up this Earthcache. Thanks to all who visited this beautiful part of our earth. If you have visited, but not had a chance to log, just do so and post today's date as your find.

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Hidden : 4/9/2007
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

To get to this cache start from the carpark near Hahei at S 36 50.029 E 175 47.948. There is a well-marked board-walk that leads all the way to the beach. The walk down to Cathedral Cove should take about 30-40 minutes and about 60 minutes to get back.



The area in which Cathedral Cove is located is both extremely scenic and has very interesting coastal volcanic features. The cove itself is a gigantic arched cavern that passes through a white rock headland to join two secluded coves. The cathedral-like arch gives the whole area an air of grandeur. There is speculation as to how the arch was created, with the most popular being that the cavern contained a soft rock that had been eroded away by the ocean's tide. Cathedral Cove is a wet beach at the base of steep cliffs. Its clean sand consists of coarse quartz and other hard components like feldspars, with few shell fragments. There are no dunes on this beach due to its small size.

A little way off the beach is a large pinnacle of pumice breccia rock known as Te Hoho. Over centuries this has been sculpted by wind and water and it now looks like the prow of a large ship steaming into the beach.

The cliffs surrounding Cathedral Cove are made of white massive ignimbrite, a rock produced by explosive volcanic eruptions about eight million years ago. The ignimbrite at Cathedral Cove shows that it is made of angular blocks of pumice in a fine-grained matrix of rhyolitic volcanic ash. There is a picture of ignimbrite in the gallery.


To claim this Earthcache, please complete the following requirements:
1. Take a picture of your group standing in the arch of Cathedral Cove with the Te Horo rock in the background. Post this picture with your log.
2. Find a piece of ignimbrite and take a picture of it and your GPS. Post this picture with your log. Try to get the coordinates of the location visible on the GPS screen.
3. Using your GPS, calculate the area of the large natural cave at Cathedral Cove and email your answer along with the number of people in your group.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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