Gaging at Burlington EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

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.

More information in the Help Center

More
Hidden : 12/30/2008
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:


This EarthCache will take you to a roadside, automatic stream gaging station, readily viewed from the highway. This is the first of several along the main course of the St. Joseph River to Lake Michigan.
   These stations collect information about the stream and transmit it to the USGS via a satellite or telephone line. The data is then processed and made available to the public via the internet.
   The USGS has gaging stations at thousands of locations across the United States. Gaging stations are facilities used by hydrologists to monitor streams, wells, lakes, canals, and reservoirs. Instruments at these stations collect information such as water height, discharge, water chemistry and water temperature. Measurements from these stations are useful for a wide variety flood prediction, water management, recreation and navigation purposes.
   There are many different types of stream gages, differing in expense, size and technical basis. All of these gages measure the stage of the stream (height of the water above a datum).  Stage values can be converted into discharge values if a rating curve has been established for the stream at that location.
   At this location a "Vertical Pipe Gage" is installed. This type of gage is mounted above a pipe that penetrates the bottom of the stream or sediments along the stream's bank. Water flows into the pipe through perforations or through the sediment and fills it to the same level as the water in the stream. Pressure sensors or a float/wire system is used to determine the height of the water.
   The data most often collected at a gaging station are stage. Stage is the height of the water surface above a reference elevation.  Recording equipment in the gage housing records the water level in the well (the stream stage). Recorded data can then either be accessed by telephone or, if the gaging station is equipped with an automated Data Collection Platform (DCP), it may be transmitted via satellite to agencies such as the National Weather Service and the Army Corps of Engineers.  Data are used to forecast river conditions, to issue flood warnings, and to plan reservoir releases or water withdrawals.

   To better understand the St. Joseph River and why the gaging station is here, we should take a look at the vastness of the St. Joseph River Basin and its formation.


The St. Joseph River Watershed
   The St. Joseph River is a tributary to Lake Michigan, rises near Hillsdale and discharges at St. Joseph, Michigan.  It's watershed drains approximately 12,150 sq km, including portions of counties within Indiana and Michigan, and includes 6,025 total stream km.

TopoGraphy of the St. Joseph River Basin.
    Basin topography has been influenced by glacial till deposited during Wisconsinan glaciation and subsequent erosion changes created by glacier meltwater. The topography is composed of lowlands containing large volumes of outwash sand and gravel, and uplands dominated by morainal till. Local relief may exceed 60 meters in some areas. The Packerton and Mississinewa moraines, predominant along the basin’s southern boundary, are characterized by complex sag and swell topography and by a zone of glacially formed lakes. The lowlands are underlain by glacial till and small areas of lacustrine deposits. Thickness of these glacial deposits range from about 9 meters near Mishawaka to nearly 150 meters in the eastern part of the basin. However, most of the basin is covered with deposits ranging from 60 to 110 meters in thickness.
   Three shale units primarily constitute the basin’s bedrock surface: the Coldwater Shale in the northeast, the Ellsworth Shale in the west, and the Antrim Shale in the south. Bedrock elevations range from about 110 meters m.s.l. near Elkhart, to more than  275 meters m.s.l. in northeastern Steuben County.

Lake Michigan's Effects on St Joseph River Lower Reaches
   The water level of the Lake Michigan basin is currently 177 meters above sea level. Around 9,800 years B.P., the lake level in the Lake Michigan basin had dropped to its lowest level in prehistory, about 70 m above sea level. This low level (Lake Chippewa) had profound effects on the rivers flowing directly into the basin. Studies of the St. Joseph River indicate that the extreme low lake level rejuvenated the river, causing massive incision of up to 43 meters in a valley no more than 1.6 km wide. The incision is seen 25 km upstream of the present shoreline.
   As lake level rose from the Chippewa low, the St. Joseph River lost competence and its estuary migrated back upstream. Sediments partially refilled the recently excavated valley leaving a non-classical morphology of steep sides with a broad, flat bottom. The valley walls of the lower St. Joseph River are 12–18 meters tall and up to 30 meters of infill sediment below the todays floodplain. A huge amount of sediment was removed from the St. Joseph River valley during the Chippewa phase lowstand, which now resides in a lowstand delta approximately 30 km off-shore in Lake Michigan.


Surface-Water Hydrology Within the Basin
   More than 200 natural lakes and an estimated 27,000 wetlands are within the St. Joseph River Basin. The densest zone of wetlands (including lakes) occurs in LaGrange, Steuben, and Noble Counties. Lake, rivers, and wetlands are  primarily areas of ground-water discharge. Hydrographs  from observation wells and lake gages reveal good hydraulic connections between lakes and the surrounding outwash aquifers. Lakes appear to reflect regional ground-water flow, but surface and ground-water interactions are  locally complex. Rivers most commonly utilized for water supply generally have developed on permeable outwash deposits. Stream flows of these rivers are well sustained by ground-water contribution. Based on hydrograph separation techniques, ground water comprises about 70 percent of the stream discharge measured at gaging stations. In contrast, stream flows are moderately to poorly sustained in eastern and southeastern areas of the basin where present drainage systems have developed on till.

Physical Environment
   In general, soils of the St. Joseph River basin fall within one of three categories:
1) sandy or loamy soils developed on outwash and alluvium (materials deposited by streams or meltwater from the glaciers);
2) silty or clayey soils developed on till; and
3) muck soils developed in depressional wetlands areas.



To log this EarthCache: Check the real time data here; then...

Post a photo of you & GPSr, with the station in view;(optional) and in an email to me answer  these questions.
1. At the time nearest your visit, what were the staging level in feet  and discharge rate in cubic feet/second?
2. What is the estimated width of the river at this location?
3. What is the method of communication used here?

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



Advertising with Us