The posted coordinates take you to a sidewalk just off of the
road. Permission was given by the Texas Township Offices for this
earth cache. The Charter Township of Texas is located in the
southwest portion of Kalamazoo County encompassing 36 square miles.
There are over 10,000 people who reside within the township. Texas
Township was formed from Brady in 1838, and derives its name,
doubtless, from the Lone Star State, which even then began to
appear as an important factor in the history of the American
Republic. The land is diversified by broad plains and a low range
of hills, which extend from north to south through the central part
of the west half, with the eastern half being comparatively
level.
What is an Erratic?
A glacial erratic, as defined by Wikipedia, is a piece of rock
that deviates from the size and type of rock native to the area in
which it rests; the name "erratic" is based on the errant location
of these boulders. These rocks were carried to their current
locations by glacial ice, often over hundreds of miles. An erratic
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. Geologists
have suggested that landslides or rock falls 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.
This bolder was left here when the last glacier covered
Michigan. The last glacier that covered a good part of North
America was approximately 10,000 – 100,000 years ago. This glacier
is known as the Wisconsin Glacier. The Wisconsin Glacier reached
north from the St. Lawrence watershed, west into the Mississippi
watershed, east to New England, but stopped short of the Ohio River
to the south. The advancing ice was channeled into the lowlands now
occupied by The Great Lakes, Green Bay, and the Fox River.
This erratic is not the largest remnant we have seen of past
glacier evidence – it is still, however, an erratic. If you look at
the landscape in Southwest Michigan you know the soil is mostly
sandy. I spoke with an employee with the township and she mentioned
the erratic has been there as long as she has been there. She isn’t
exactly sure where it exactly originated from or when it was moved
to it’s present location. However, it was moved a tad closer to the
township hall roughly in 2006 when the sidewalk was installed next
to the road.
To Log this Earth Cache:
1. Please post a photo with you and/or your team with faces clearly
showing at this location.
2. What is inscribed on the plaque attached to the erratic?
3. Take some measurements (height and width) of the erratic.
Assuming a value of 150 pounds per cubic foot – how much would this
erratic weigh in pounds?
4. Using my profile – please email the answers to #2 and #3. Do not
post them with your log! Once logged you must complete requirements
1-3 within 48 hours or your log will be deleted unless you have
prior permission.