Rials Creek Falls & Chertbed EarthCache
Rials Creek Falls & Chertbed
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Located at the Merit Water Park in Simpson County, 4 miles south of D'Lo on Highway 43. Easy access to site area, but terrain rating of 3 due to possible slippery conditions on rock bed near river.
I suggest parking on the blacktop OUTSIDE the gate to the gravel parking area. That way it will not matter what time you are there, and whether or not the gate might get locked. If the gate is locked when you arrive, simply walk around the gate to access the cache site. It is a short walk.
This Chert Bed shows up as a classic example of the results of water erosion. Rials Creek over many thousands of years has eroded the limestone that the harder chert was embedded in. The chert is now found in sheets and blocks at this location. Chert is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of the mineral chalcedony (cryptocrystalline silica). It can form in parts of the deep sea where the tiny shells of siliceous organisms are concentrated, or elsewhere where underground fluids replace sediments with silica. Chert nodules also occur in altered limestone. This chert was more than likely formed from tiny sea creatures shells or sponges that have Slicia in them. When they died they fell to the bottom of the sea floor and over time were covered by sea shells containing calcium. The pressure from all of the weight pressing down formed rock over an extremely long period of time. The top layer was softer limestone with the harder chert in layers below that. The water has worn the limestone away to leave this formation of chert.
To log this earthcache:
1.) Upload a photo of you at the site with the waterfall and rock bed in the background.
2.) Email me a note letting me know if the chert beds you observed at the site were above or below the actual waterfall line, along with answers to the four True/False questions listed below.
Conduct a search on the internet or other scientific research and email me the answers to the following questions (do not log the answers in your GC post or it will be deleted):
1) It is possible for chert to sometimes contain small fossils. (True or False)
2) While chert can vary greatly in color, it is most often found as bright purple in color. (True or False)
3) Chert can only appear within chalk deposits. (True or False)
4) The formation of the chert here is most likely a result of this area being the floor of an ocean many years ago. (True or False)
Not only will you get to learn about chert at this Earthcache, but you also have the opportunity to enjoy a good ole-fashioned swimming hole formed by the small waterfall! Also, check out the short hike to the nearby geocache -- Till Death Do Us Part.
Congrats to FollowingHim for FTF on this Earthcache!!
Additional Hints
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