Lord & Lady Gulch Erratic EarthCache
Lord & Lady Gulch Erratic
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size:  (not chosen)
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Change Islands is located on the Northeast coast of Newfoundland.
To get to Change Islands you must take a
vehicle/passenger ferry service that
operates from Farewell (Route 335 via Stoneville). Change Islands
has lots for visitors to experience: rich culture, picturesque
hiking trails, and wonderful hospitality. This erratic is located
near the northern end of the Squid Jiggers Trail.
For the last 2 million years, during the Ice Age, great ice sheets
advanced and retreated across Newfoundland and Labrador many times.
At the last glacial maximum, 18,000 years ago, the Laurentide Ice
Sheet covered most of Canada including Labrador. The tip of the
Northern Peninsula was the only part of Newfoundland overrun by the
Laurentide Ice Sheet; the rest of the island was covered by its own
independent ice cap which originated on uplands and spread out
towards the coast.
Source: Landscape Newfoundland & Labrador
Glaciers had an enormous effect on the landscape, smoothing and
polishing wide areas, eroding lake basins, and carving deep valleys
through mountains. Along the coast, these valleys were later
flooded by the sea, creating deep fjords.
Though there are few fjords in Notre Dame Bay, glaciers etched the
coastline, cutting deep ocean pathways, and depositing erratics in
their wake.
Proof of the glacial presence in this area of the province can also
be linked to the various deep bays, and small tickles throughout
the coastline. The
Main Tickle of Change Islands is an excellent example of such
evidennce.
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that deviates from the size
and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. These rocks
were carried to their current locations by glacial ice, often over
hundreds of kilometres. Erratics can range in size from pebbles to
large boulders.
Geologists identify erratics by studying the rocks surrounding the
position of the erratic and the composition of the erratic itself.
Erratics can often tell what direction the glacier travelled.
Erratics were considered evidence of a massive flood approximately
10,000 years ago. But in the 19th century, many scientists came to
favor erratics as evidence for the end of the last glacial maximum
(ice age) 10,000 years ago, rather than a flood. Geologists have
suggested that landslides or rockfalls initially dropped the rocks
on top of glacial ice. The glaciers continued to move, carrying the
rocks with them. When the ice melted, the erratics were left in
their present locations.
TO LOG THIS FIND YOU MUST:
1. Post a photo of your group (or GPS) at the cache site
2. Email us the dimensions of this erratic
3. Email us the direction of Brimstone Head and the United Church
in relation to the erratic. See attached pics.
4. Email us an explanation on how the word erratic best describes
these geological phenomenon.
ANY LOGS NOT MEETING THESE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE DELETED
WITHOUT NOTICE
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qba'g sbetrg lbhe pnzren!