Hillside Natural Spring (The EarthCache) EarthCache
Hidden : 1/6/2009
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

You will visit a natural spring just off of the side of the road!


A spring is a point where groundwater flows out of the ground, and is thus where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface.

Dependent upon the constancy of the water source (rainfall or snowmelt that infiltrates the earth), a spring may be ephemeral (intermittent) or perennial (continuous).

Water issuing from an artesian spring rises to a higher elevation than the top of the confined aquifer from which it issues. When water issues from the ground it may form into a pool or flow downhill, in surface streams. Sometimes a spring is termed a seep.

Minerals become dissolved in the water as it moves through the underground rocks. This may give the water flavour and even carbon dioxide bubbles, depending upon the nature of the geology through which it passes. This is why spring water is often bottled and sold as mineral water, although the term is often the subject of deceptive advertising. Springs that contain significant amounts of minerals are sometimes called 'mineral springs'. Springs that contain large amounts of dissolved sodium salts, mostly sodium carbonate, are called 'soda springs'. Many resorts have developed around mineral springs known as spa towns.

Water emanating from karst topography is another type of spring, often called a resurgence as much of the water may come from one or more sinkholes at a higher altitude. Karst springs generally are not subjected to as great a degree of ground filtering as spring water which may have continuously passed through soils or a porous aquifer.

Springs are often classified by the volume of the water they discharge. The largest springs are called "first-magnitude," defined as springs that discharge water at a rate of at least 2800 L/s. The scale for spring flow is as follows:

Magnitude Flow (ft³/s, gal/min, pint/min) Flow (L/s)

1st Magnitude > 100 ft³/s 2800 L/s

2nd Magnitude 10 to 100 ft³/s 280 to 2800 L/s

3rd Magnitude 1 to 10 ft³/s 28 to 280 L/s

4th Magnitude 100 US gal/min to 1 ft³/s (448 US gal/min) 6.3 to 28 L/s

5th Magnitude 10 to 100 gal/min 0.63 to 6.3 L/s

6th Magnitude 1 to 10 gal/min 63 to 630 mL/s

7th Magnitude 1 pint to 1 gal/min 8 to 63 mL/s

8th Magnitude Less than 1 pint/min 8 mL/s

0 Magnitude no flow (sites of past/historic flow)

So how about this spring? Take a taste of the water and look at the creek going away from the spring! Both should tell you that there is iron in the spring water. The aquifer that supplies this spring, the Missouri Valley aquifer, tends to have large concentrations of iron. Another important thing to note is that the water coming out is nice and clear yet the bottom of the creek is rusty. The reason for this is that the water is low in dissolved oxygen. The lack of dissolved oxygen in the water keeps the iron from rusting. The iron precipitate on the bottom of the creek results from ferrous iron rich water becoming oxygenated through contact with air and precipitating to the bottom of the creek to form the common ferric (rusty) iron.

To receive credit for this EarthCache post a picture, onto the cache page, of yourself/group with GPSr with the spring in the background and email me the answers to the following questions. DO NOT POST THE ANSWERS IN YOUR LOG!

1) What is the magnitude of this spring.

2) Is this spring ephemeral (intermittent) or perennial

(continuous)? 3) How would you describe the bottom of the creek that flows from the spring?

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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