WR1-1 Magnetic Sands EarthCache
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This EarthCache is located at the end of one of the walkways leading to Nickerson Beach.
The sands that make up the barrier beaches on the south shore of Long Island today are primarily made up of rocks that are granitic (granite) in origin. The story of these sands begins approximately 30,000 years ago, before Long island existed.
At that time, the area where Long Island was going to form was a shallow coastal sea. The climate grew colder and rain that would normally fall became the snow and ice of glaciers. As a result, sea level fell, exposing this area to the air.
On this land, as the glaciers advanced and receded, they left behind the “backbone” of what was to become Long Island, the rows of hills, called moraines that we see on the north shore to Orient Point and mid island to Montauk Point.
So, all the sand, gravel and fine soils that are naturally found on Long island are the product the glaciers that eroded the mountains and landforms from the north of us. Sand on the south shore of Long Island and our beach sand, especially, are derived from sands and gravel that have been washed out from the moraines along with material that continues to be carried by rivers and streams today.
The most resistant material that was eroded came from granite. If you use a hand lens to look at the grains of sand at the beach, you can see the minerals that made up the granite rocks. These are primarily quartz (white, pink or clear), feldspar (beige), mica (silver and shiny), hornblende (black), garnet (red and pink glass-like grains) and magnetite (black and magnetic).
You must find an area containing magnetite sand and drag a magnet through it to collect some magnetite. To log the cache, you must post a photo on this webpage of the magnet with the magnetite attached to it and your GPS’r, showing the location of the magnetite sand.
The coordinates for this cache will take you to the entrance to the beach. The easiest way to find magnetite sand is to look at the base of the wind and current ripples, where this dense sand accumulates.
This cache is for everyone. If you have a mobility problem and can't make it onto the beach, you can tie a string to the magnet and cast it out onto the sand at the edges of the parking lot. The point of this cache is to have fun and learn something new.
Please visit the beach during normal operation hours only. Please respect the park rules, no dogs on the beach. There is a fee to enter the park during the beach season and no fee Labor Day to Memorial Day.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zntargvgr jvyy ybbx yvxr gval oynpx-pbyberq veba svyyvatf ba gur zntarg