Gooseberry Badlands Overlook EarthCache
Gooseberry Badlands Overlook
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The overlook is about 25 miles west of Worland on state highway 431. At the coordinates the terrain is level, wheelchair accessible, paved parking, and interpretive signs. The elevation is approximately 5000 feet above sea level.
There is a 1.5 mile interpretive trail. If you hike, please stay on the trail to help protect fragile desert plants and soils. And as always - Leave No Trace.
At the overlook is a panoramic view of colorful desert.
The exposed bedrock in this area, which is known as the Willwood Formation by geologists, is a sedimentary rock. It was created as sand and mud were deposited by streams and rivers about 50 million years ago. It is hard to imagine this arid region as a tropical paradise, but fossil evidence suggests that the whole region was much nearer sea level. The basin floor, where the mud and sand were geing deposited, enjoyed a subtropical climate with forests and much more rain than we have now.
The "badlands" in this area are to a large extent a result of the bedrock. Here the bedrock is composed of hard brown to grayish sandstones inter-layered with softer light grey and reddish brown sandy clays and silts known as mudstones. This type of bedrock in dry climates tends to form steep sided cliffs and pedestals often referred to as "mushrooms" or "hoodoos".
TO LOG this Earthcache:
At the listed coordinates there will be an interpretive sign.
1) Log a picture of your GPSr or your group with the badlands (NOT the sign) in the background. (sorry, but logs with the sign will be deleted)
And you must also . . . . . .
2) E-mail us the following answers:
a. What causes the unusual colors?
b. How are the "mushrooms" or "hoodoos" created?
c. What geological process do you think will eventually destroy
the "mushrooms" or "hoodoos"?
Please do not put your answers in your log.
Begin your e-mail with the name of the Earthcache and tell us how many people were in your group.
The following source was used for this cache: Printout by the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming, Worland Field Office.
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Treasures
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