GC15AK1 Willow Spring Earthcache (Earthcache) in Georgia, United States created by BackBrakeBilly

GC15AK1 ▼

A cache by BackBrakeBilly Message this owner

Hidden : 8/21/2007

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Willow Spring is located in a beautiful small city park in Summerville Georgia. It can be accessed by just about anyone including handicapped folks.

What is a Spring?

A spring is a point where groundwater flows out of the ground, and is thus where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface.
Dependent upon the constancy of the water source (rainfall or snowmelt that infiltrates the earth), a spring may be ephemeral (intermittent) or perennial (continuous).
Water issuing from an artesian spring rises to a higher elevation than the top of the confined aquifer from which it issues. When water issues from the ground it may form into a pool or flow downhill, in surface streams. Sometimes a spring is termed a seep.
Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks. This may give the water flavor and even carbon dioxide bubbles, depending upon the nature of the geology through which it passes. This is why spring water is often bottled and sold as mineral water, although the term is often the subject of deceptive advertising. Springs that contain significant amounts of minerals are sometimes called 'mineral springs'. Springs that contain large amounts of dissolved sodium salts, mostly sodium carbonate, are called 'soda springs'. Many resorts have developed around mineral springs known as spa towns.
Water emanating from karst topography is another type of spring, often called a resurgence as much of the water may come from one or more sinkholes at a higher altitude. Karst springs generally are not subjected to as great a degree of ground filtering as spring water which may have continuously passed through soils or a porous aquifer.
Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge. The largest springs are called "first-magnitude," defined as springs that discharge water at a rate of at least 100 cubic feet per second (2800 L/s). The scale for spring flow is as follows:
Magnitude Flow (ft³/s, gal/min, pint/min) Flow (L/s)
1st Magnitude > 100 ft³/s 2800 L/s
2nd Magnitude 10 to 100 ft³/s 280 to 2800 L/s
3rd Magnitude 1 to 10 ft³/s 28 to 280 L/s
4th Magnitude 100 US gal/min to 1 ft³/s (448 US gal/min) 6.3 to 28 L/s
5th Magnitude 10 to 100 gal/min 0.63 to 6.3 L/s
6th Magnitude 1 to 10 gal/min 63 to 630 mL/s
7th Magnitude 1 pint to 1 gal/min 8 to 63 mL/s
8th Magnitude Less than 1 pint/min 8 mL/s
0 Magnitude no flow (sites of past/historic flow)

How are Springs Formed?

Willow Spring is actually the result of Karst topography which is common for the North Georgia mountains. Springs may be formed in any sort of rock. Small springs are found in many places. In North Georgia, the largest springs are formed in limestone and dolomite in the karst topography of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Both dolomite and limestone fracture relatively easily. When weak carbonic acid (formed by rainwater percolating through organic matter in the soil) enters these fractures it dissolves bedrock. When it reaches a horizontal crack or a layer of non-dissolving rock such as sandstone or shale, it begins to cut sideways, forming an underground stream. As the process continues, the water hollows out more rock, eventually admitting an airspace, at which point the spring stream can be considered a cave. This process is supposed to take tens to hundreds of thousands of years to complete.

To log this earthcache you must post a picture of you holding your GPS with the spring in the background, I want to see your face in the picture which means no pictures of just your GPS...and email me the answers to the following questions;
1)What type of Spring is Willow Spring?
2)How wide is the pool where Willow Spring emerges?
3)What is the aproximate flow rate of Willow Spring which makes it what classification?

Please do not post your answers in your log. Any found logs without the required picture posted with your log or the correct emailed answers will be promptly deleted without notice.

Here is a self-portrait to prove it can be done the correct way...

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