A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss EarthCache
A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss
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This is a very easy EarthCache because everything is accessable from the paved parking lots.
This EarthCache provides an opportunity for people to see a very recent landslide event and the damage it can cause up close.
This area is located in the Aguirre Spring National Recreation Site located off of Highway 70 between Las Cruces and Alamogordo, New Mexico. The road from the highway to the park is about five miles long and is paved the entire length. Most vehicles (excluding the largest RVs) should have little trouble with the roads. The park is open between 8am and 7pm. There is a $3 per vehicle fee for the use of this area.
The Chihuahua Desert covers about 140,000 square miles of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. About half the area covers the northern part of Mexico. Many people consider this high altitude desert one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world. The terrain consists of basins broken up by numerous small mountain ranges. These create "sky islands" of cooler, wetter, microclimates within the desert and have both coniferous and broadleaf woodlands and even forests. Aguirre Spring National Recreation Site was set aside as one of these mountainous areas.
The Organ Mountains (given the name by explorers who thought the spires resembled some of the famous pipe-organs of Europe. The pipes (also called needles) are the remnants of volcanic vents exposed by erosion. These features, along with virtually all features of the Organ Mountains, are made up of granite.
On the night of August 13, 1991, Aguirre Springs experienced almost four inches of rain is less than six hours. While this is not much of a rain in most of the world, this rain caused a large landslide at Aguirre Springs. This is a small event in geological terms, but this event covered the road and moved several large boulders a long distance. The soil at Aguirre Springs is primarily made up of gruss. Granite rocks under a warm, moist climate and aided by the wind will weather granite into angular coarse, sandy materials (gruss) with little or no cohesion. When gruss becomes saturated with water for a long period of time, it becomes very slippery. Given a little bit of a slope (or a big slope in the Organs), ground covered by gruss can create a large erosion event. The gruss starts flowing downhill leaving nothing but bedrock. In the case of the this landslide, the channel created was over 1.5 miles long with an elevation change of 2000 feet.
To get credit for this cache, you must answer three questions. The coordinates will lead you to a historical marker describing the landslide. [As of now, the historical marker has been destroyed. I have been told that it will soon be replaced. If you happen to see it, please send me a photo so I will know it is still there.] After answer the first two questions below, walk down the road, past the bridge (about 100 yards) located at 32 degrees 22.232 north and 106 degrees 33.497 west and look at the boulder on the right side of the road and answer the third question. (Note: since the boulder was stabilized after the landslide it will no longer be subject to next next big rain event.)
1. What were the two main arroyos affected by the landslide? [Do not answer if the historical marker is missing]
2. How long was the longest boulder that you see?
3. Given that granite weighs about 165 pounds per cubic foot, estimate the height of the largest boulder you see and determine the weight of the boulder in tons. Assume the boulder shape approximates a sphere.
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Treasures
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