Kettles, Kames and Varves EarthCache
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Kettles, Kames and Varves
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Reflection Lakes Earthcache
Mount Rainier National Park is open all year. There is a $15 daily entrance fee for each vehicle entering the park unless you have a special pass such as an annual pass or a Golden Eagle Pass. Information about these passes can be obtained at the entry points to the park. Please park only in designated parking spots and do not leave the trails/sidewalks during your explorations.
This earthcache will take you to Reflection Lakes near an information panel about restoration efforts. On a clear day, you will see the mountain in the background, and if the wind is quiet, you will see the reflection of the mountain in the lakes. If you are there in the early afternoon, you can sometimes see climbers ascending the distant slopes.
To log this earth cache, please do things in this order:
1. Stand near the given coordinates and observe the lake from this vantage point and later read the information included here to get answers to these questions. 2. Send your answers to these questions directly to me: - What evidence do you see of kettles, kames and varves? - How do you think Reflection Lakes were formed? 3. As soon as your answers are sent to me, write your found log. 4. Optional but please include with your log a full-face photo with GPS shown taken at the posted coordinates with the mountain in the background.
I may not respond to your e-mail answers unless something is incorrect. If you skip anything, I will have to regretfully delete your found log.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In 1927 a boat concession was established at Reflection Lakes. Non-native fish were introduced for eager fishermen. The lakeshore and surrounding meadows were damaged by the increased recreational activity. Eventually the area was closed to fishing, boating and swimming due to the negative impact on the area. Fish stocking ended in 1973 and restoration efforts are underway.
The Reflection Lakes basin is a feature of the park formed by the carving action of ancient glaciers. The deep green, heavily forested banks of the lake set off the white of the mountain in the reflection.
KAMES, KAME TERRACES
Kames are mounds of sediment which are deposited along the front of a slowly melting or stationary glacier / ice sheet. The sediment consists of sands and gravels, and builds up into mounds as the ice melts and more sediment is deposited on top of old debris. Often, a kame will collapse when the ice melts back and leaves the mound unsupported.
Kame Terraces are also composed of sands and gravels, but form along the sides of the glacier rather than at its snout. They are formed by the actions of melt water streams that flow along the sides of the ice, trapped against it by the valley walls. As the valley walls warm up in summer the warm rock helps to melt the ice nearest to it, forming a long depression or trough along which melt water flows. Because the deposits in a Kame Terrace have been transported by water, they become sorted, enabling them to be distinguished from lateral moraine deposits which exhibit no sorting.
KETTLE HOLES
Kettle Holes are formed by blocks of ice that are separated from the main glacier by either the glacial ice retreating or by blocks calving off the glacier snout and falling forwards. If conditions are right, the isolated blocks of ice then become partially buried in melt water sediments. When the ice blocks eventually melt they leave behind holes or depressions that fill with water to become Kettle Hole Lakes. In freshly glaciated areas, Kettles form obvious small lakes in the outwash plains. In areas glaciated in historic times they may be preserved as isolated small lakes, or deep water filled depressions in boggy areas that were once the low lying outwash plains.
VARVES
Varves are found in the deposits of glacial lakes. Each varve consists of two distinct layers of sediment, a lower layer of light colored sandy material and an upper layer of darker silt.
Most melting of the glacier occurs in spring and early summer, so at these times the melt water streams flow fastest and carry their greatest loads. Fine material is held in suspension in the lake whilst heavier material is deposited.
As autumn and winter approach, the capacity and competence of the melt water streams is reduced because there is less melting and less melt water. This allows the finer material that has been kept in suspension to settle out and be deposited. Each year a new set of coarse and fine beds are formed. By counting the number of varves in the lake sediments it is possible to establish the age of the lake.
The varying thickness of the varves provides information about climatic conditions. Thick varves are the result of increased deposition, caused by warmer temperatures and increased melting. Thin varves suggest little deposition because of reduced melting and outwash.
Analysis of organic debris extracted from the varves can also provide information about plant types existing at the time of deposition, giving more information about the climatic conditions.
Additional Hints
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