Cold Springs EarthCache
Hidden : 3/10/2008
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:


”Cold Springs”



Located on the side of Mote Sano Mountain in Huntsville, a short hike down one of The Land Trust’s trail you will find Cold Springs.
A spring is formed when a ground water resource discharges on a side of a hill or a valley bottom intersects a flowing body of ground water, where the subsurface is saturated with ground water. Springs are the result of a aquifer filling up to a point that the water will flow out onto the surface. Springs will vary in size, from a small trickle, to a large pool of water that may have a flow of millions of gallons a day. They may discharge at ground level or directly into a stream bed, lake or sea. Springs can be formed in many types of rocks. Here you are looking at a limestone spring which dominates the karst topography of this region.
A karst spring is often called a resurgence as much of the water a karst spring receives is drainage from all the sinkholes and sinking streams within its groundwater basin, equivalent to a watershed on the surface. Once beneath the surface, the groundwater is unevenly distributed through the karst bedrock, the conduits carved in the surrounding limestone, carry water from each point where water sinks join together underground to form successively larger passages with ever-increasing flow, which eventually discharges at a spring. This "reservoir theory" accounts for the varying levels of spring flow, which are related to rainfall, but not necessarily on an immediate basis. Tom Aley, a well-known hydrologist, divides spring flow into base flow and surge flow. Base flow is that which is more or less constant, and is stored in deep levels, whereas surge flow is that which more immediately related to local rainfall.
The water from a Karst springs generally is not subjected to as great a degree of ground filtering as spring water which may have continuously passed through soils or a porous aquifer. Karst springs are very vulnerable to groundwater pollution, due to ease of water flow. To make matters worse, the use of cave conduits as natural sewer lines, and sinkholes as garbage dumps in small towns and rural areas puts the local drinking water supplies at risk. It is only recently that these problems are being addressed. For this reason the care of the surrounding landscape is of high importance.
(resurgence spring, This type of feature occurs when water travels underground through a complex series of caves and either works its way down to a level of impermeable rock or until it reaches the top of the water table. The water flow may then travel along the surface of the impermeable rock until it reaches the surface as a spring. This type of feature is usually associated with cave features, particularly where the predominant stone is limestone)
(Karst is a unique landscape formed by the underground erosion of rocks such as limestone and marble that dissolve in water.)
This is the link to an article by secondwind about the history of the area : http://www.neatplaces.us/index.php?page=42

To get credit for this cache you must do the following.
1. Take a photo of yourself along with your GPS at the posted coordinates with the Springs in the background.
2. Email me the estimated height of the opening of the springs.

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