The Salt Marsh at Huntington Beach EarthCache
The Salt Marsh at Huntington Beach
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You will be touring Huntington Beach State Park's Salt Marsh. All waypoints are WC accessible - either paved or boardwalk or ramp. You will need to answer all questions and provide at least one photo from the choices provided.
Huntington Beach State Park is open from 6am until 10pm. Unless you have a State Parks Pass there will be a $5 admission fee per person.
We will start at the Education Center.The listed coordinates will take you to where the Education Center used to be. It was burned after being stuck by lightening in the summer of 16. The first question asked you the name of the boat that was on the porch of the . Amazingly many of the rangers don't know the boat's name was Stewardship.
Question #1: Freebie. No question at this time Photo Op #1: You with the cleared ground or with any construction on the new center so others can see the progress.
A salt marsh forms when incoming tides carry and deposit sediment across low-lying land, resulting in wet mudflats. Saltwater grasses then slowly take hold and spread, stabilizing the land through the growth of root systems. As the plants decay and sediment builds up, peat deposits accumulate, forming a rich habitat that supports the growth of hundreds of diverse organisms.
A salt marsh is thus a place where the land meets the sea, created through tidal action over a span of hundreds of years. This unique habitat is confined to a narrow coastal fringe along shallow, protected bays. A healthy marsh maintains a delicate balance between salt water and fresh water, especially further inland where a salt marsh may merge with a brackish area or a freshwater swamp. Closer to the shoreline, the ebb and flood of daily tides creates zones:
* The Lower Marsh is often submerged under saltwater, and supports the growth of organisms adapted to high salinity and lots of moisture.
* The Upper Marsh is a drier area, where plants tolerate lower salt concentrations.
* The salt pans are small depressions that trap and hold water on a high tide.
* The highest edges of the marsh are only reached by extremely high tides, such as during a storm.
Stop #2 takes us out to the end of the board walk. N33 30.685 W079 03.935
Question #2: Look around and tell me in which zone you are presently standing.
Photo Op #2: You at the end of the board walk.
Salt marshes formation begins with the formation of a spit. Spits form when prevailing winds push sand and sediment ahead of them and deposit the sand and sediment at the mouth of a open, fresh water source, such as a river. They will continue out into the sea until the pressure from the river becomes too great to allow the sand to deposit. Depending on the pressure of the water running into the ocean, the spit will extend across an opening and locking water in - a lagoon, or it will hook back into the fresh water and cause an area that is protected from tides and winds. This area will extend and build, becoming stable and often fertile. A salt marsh is now likely to develop.
We see that salt marshes are found in flat, protected waters usually within the protection of a barrier island, estuary, or along low-energy coastlines. Situated between the land and the sea, salt marshes experience the effects of both salt and fresh water. Over time this area is affected only by the highest of tides or by storms.
Multiple factors interact to determine the formation, structure, and ecological processes of salt marshes including (1) climate, (2) hydrology, and (3) physical factors. Climatic factors include temperature and rainfall; hydrologic factors include tidal inundation and wave energy; and physical factors include elevation and slope, sediment and soil composition, and surface water and soil salinity. The most influential hydrologic factor of a salt marsh is tidal inundation, where the frequency and duration of tidal flooding determines the extent of the intertidal zone.
Last, we will go to the causeway. N33 30.500 W079 04.043 You can walk from the Ed Center. It is about 0.2 miles. You can also drive but the causeway parking lot is really not much closer. Please, DO NOT park, or even stop on the causeway. Following this park rule shows your respect for the park as well as for the other visitors.
Question #3: Depending on the tide during your visit you will be seeing different things. Describe your view, the tide level and what you imagine you would be seeing at a different tide level.
Photo Op #3. At the given coordinates you will find a Rice Trunk. It is used to maintain the water level and quality in the pond on the south side of the causeway. Your photo op is a picture of you with this rice trunk.
To gain credit for this earth cache email me the answers to ALL three questions and post your photo of choice with your log. Hope you enjoy these activities and enjoy the park - one of my favorite places in SC.
Not required for this earthcache but for you own "extra credit" walk north along the beach to the jetty. Walk west along the jetty to the inland beach. You are now standing on the "spit" that formed which then allowed the formation of the marsh.
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