Tank Springs EarthCache

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Geocaching HQ Admin: It has now been over 30 days since Geocaching HQ submitted the disabled log below and, unfortunately, the cache owner has not posted an Owner maintenance log and re-enabled this geocache. As a result, we are now archiving this cache page.

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Hidden : 9/8/2008
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Tank Springs is located in downtown Lafollette, turn left at traffic light #7 onto N. Tennessee Avenue. Alot of the locals still get there drinking water from this spring. Earthcache will be .5 miles on the left before crossing the Big Creek bridge. Parking area right next to Cache.

Tank Springs is a perfect example of karst springs that are all over East Tennessee. A limestone rock with many springs seeping out. 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. A spring is a location where groundwater naturally emerges from the Earth's subsurface in a defined flow and in an amount large enough to form a pool or stream-like flow. Springs can discharge fresh groundwater either onto the ground surface, directly into the beds of rivers or streams, or directly into the ocean below sea level.* Springs form the headwaters of some streams.

Flow from a spring can range from barely detectable (in which case the spring is usually called a seep) to more than 30 cubic meters per second, which is about 30,000 liters (7,900 gallons) each second. Temperatures of spring water range from near water's freezing point to its boiling point.

Springs have captured the imagination of scientists and philosophers for thousands of years. In fact, many of the earliest ideas about the hydrologic cycle were inspired as people tried to understand the source of spring water. For many people, springs are the most obvious and interesting evidence of groundwater. Spring water also has practical uses. For example, in arid regions, springs have played a role in determining where humans have chosen to settle.



How Springs Form
Most of the water that emerges at springs is meteoric in nature: that is, it originally fell as rain or snow on the surface of the Earth.

Conceptually, the groundwater system associated with springs is simple. It consists of:
A recharge area where water enters the subsurface;
An aquifer or set of aquifers through which the water flows; and
A discharge point where water emerges as a spring. The existence of a spring requires that below the surface (the area commonly called the subsurface), the infiltrating water encounters a low permeability zone and is unable to continue to move downward as fast as it is supplied at the surface; as a result, the water spreads laterally until it intersects the land surface where erosion has lowered the topography to the water's level (e.g., on the side of a canyon).

A range of geological structures and topographic features can direct water to the surface and form a spring. Many seeps and small springs are associated with topographic depressions where the water table intersects the Earth's surface. Larger springs usually are formed where geological structures, such as a faults and fractures, or layers of low-permeability material, force large amounts of water to the surface.

Springs may be considered curious features because water appears to flow directly out of rocks. Yet springs are less mysterious when one understands where the water came from and how long it has been in the subsurface.

The question of where the water came from is specifically asking from what region the water originates—commonly termed the recharge area. The recharge area is usually, but not always, surrounded or outlined by topographic highs such as ridges and mountaintops. It is within the recharge area where the water, generally from precipitation, sinks below the surface and travels to the spring.

As groundwater flows to a spring, its composition and temperature may change depending on the materials through which the water flows, the length of time the water is below the surface, and the geological setting. Springs provide access to water that has reacted with rocks in the subsurface at distant regions, and in some cases, in distant periods of time. Spring water can thus provide an opportunity to obtain information about subsurface geological and hydrological processes. In regions with no wells or boreholes, spring water may be one of the only sources of information about the subsurface.

To get credit for this cache you need to do these:
1.-Take a picture of you holding your GPS infront of spring and post it in your log.
Email me the answers to these questions:
2.-Whats the sign say at the right of the spring site?
3.-How many pipes are sticking out of block wall around the spring?
4.-How many pipes have springs running out of them?
5.-Give me an estimate of how much water per minute comes from this spring. Amount may vary at different times of year. Good Luck!!

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