Wind Caves EarthCache
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'Water' caves, not wind caves
Mt. Diablo State Park is famous for its stunning sandstone
formations, also known as 'tafoni." Although commonly referred to
as "wind caves," the element most responsible for creating these
formations is water. Mt Diablo is probably only 2 million years old
at the most, and the caves are only a few hundred or thousand years
old. Geologically speaking, the porous sandstone in which these
caves form can't stand up to our Mediterranean climate of wet
winters and dry summers for long.
On tafoni structures, you can often see a dark mineral crust called
a duracrust. This is what remains of the mineral cement that holds
the sandstone together. Brought out by capillary action as
rainwater evaporates, it's then deposited on the outside of the
rock. When the duracrust falls off, the sandstone underneath erodes
rapidly.
To log this cache, you will need to complete the following:
- Email the cache owner the (a) What is the term for the weathering
process that created the formations? and (b) Describe the texture
of the tafoni.
- Post a picture of You and your GPS along with the Wind
Cave.
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