Disappearing Mountain EarthCache
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Disappearing Mountain
This EarthCache will carry you to a point across the street from an active Rock Quarry. The Limestone blasted out of this mountain has helped build a large part of our area and is visible from most of the Huntsville area. The rock they are blasting out of here is limestone, a sedimentary rock that is made from the mineral calcite which came from the beds of evaporated seas and lakes and from sea animal shells. This rock is used in concrete and is an excellent building stone for humid regions.
It all begins with the cold, hard fact that mother earth can supply the materials to create a demanded product and sustain an inventory for hundreds of years. This is literally mass production at its most primitive level. These products have no components (properties and characteristics yes, but components no) - size, cleanliness, and mix ratio are the important considerations here. Blow it, load it, crush it, screen it, load it again and move it out; that is the way it goes around the clock, six days a week or more. Proving that man can indeed move Mountains!
With some kind of aggregate product being used in every construction project, it's easy to recognize and quickly understand the concept of volume. In the United States, the demand for crushed stone has reached an overwhelming 1.5 billion tons per year. That translates into approximately seven tons of rock produced and shipped for each person living in the U. S. - that's a lot of rock.
From: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LimeStone:
Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or flint, as well as varying amounts of clay, silt and sand as disseminations, nodules, or layers within the rock. The primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. These organisms secrete shells that settle out of the water column and are deposited on ocean floors as pelagic ooze or alternatively are conglomerated in a coral reef (see lysocline for information on calcite dissolution). Secondary calcite may also be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters (groundwater that precipitates the material in caves). This produces speleothems such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is that of oolites (oolitic limestone) which can be recognized by its granular appearance.
Limestone makes up about 10% of the total volume of all sedimentary rocks.[1][2] Limestones may also form in both lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments[3][4].
1) From where you stand give me a rough elevation difference from the top of the quarry and the elevation you are at now and email that figure to me.
2) Post a picture of Your self with your GPS and the Quarry in the background.
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Treasures
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