Blue River Sand Barrens EarthCache
Hidden : 6/18/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Blue River Sand Barrens State Natural Area

This is an Earthcache. There is NO container.
See http://www.earthcache.org/ for further details.
There are (4) requirements listed below that you must complete in order to log this EarthCache.


The Blue River Sand Barrens are located about four miles west of Muscoda off of State Hwy 133. Turn north at Wightman Rd. (N43°11.215, W090°31.705). Park at the edge of the road, (N43°11.451, W090°31.700). Please do not block private property driveway.

There are no trails. The walk to ground zero will be approximately .35 of a mile. Please walk west along the fence line until you are due south of ground zero, then proceed north to ground zero coordinates given above. This Wisconsin Desert is located along the southern banks of the Wisconsin River backwaters, and is the result of the last ice sheet that covered parts of Wisconsin.

But how did the last ice sheet come to affect this Driftless area? The last great glacier of the Ice Age twenty five thousand years ago flowed from Canada southwesterly across the state. A part of this ice sheet, called the Green Bay Lobe, extended southerly to the east edge of the Baraboo Hills, then southwesterly through Dane County and into northern Illinois. The Baraboo Hills created an ice dam that held back the glacier’s melt waters and formed a huge body of water called Glacial Lake Wisconsin. At its’ greatest point the lake covered an area in the central portion of the state estimated to have been more than eight times larger than Lake Winnebago, with depths of up to 160 feet.

Photobucket


Then, about fourteen thousand years ago, the last ice sheet began permanently withdrawing as the earth’s atmosphere warmed and the ice dam broke. The extraordinary flood drained the lake’s water level in a matter of several days with its’ rampaging waters tearing out a channel and flooding down the lower Wisconsin River valley, swelling the river to over a hundred times its present size. Enormous quantities of sand and gravel filled the river’s bed. Well drilling in the Blue River area shows sand and gravel outwash up to 125 to 150 feet deep.

The unstable, sandy soil of this 130-acre State Natural Area along the Wisconsin River is one of Wisconsin’s largest and best examples of a dry prairie-like landscape and “moving” sand dune communities. Moving sands are shaped by the wind, creating “blowouts”. A blowout forms when a patch of protective vegetation is lost, allowing strong winds to "blow out" sand and form a depression.

Because the sand does not easily hold moisture from rain or snow, plants normally associated with much drier climates, thrive here. The sand barrens and blows combine with more permanent dunes stabilized by a scattered forest of Black and Hill Oak. Prickly Pear Cactus and Fame Flower, along with other plants, grasses and lichens that are strangers to Wisconsin, grow here. Reptiles like the six-lined racerunner live here along with many species of grassland birds and river turtles that nest in the dunes.


Wis Cacti


Logging Requirements of this EarthCache:

1. When logging, please upload a picture of you/and your group (include all Geocaching names) with your GPSr on the rim of the blowout. (Note: Photos are no longer required to log earthcaches, but photos are appreciated by this cache owner! Thank you for taking the time to post your pictures and preserving your own memory of your visit!)





Sandblow


Then, E-mail to me the answers to these three questions: (Please do not include the answers in your log or it will have to be deleted.)

a. At ground zero, (coordinates given above) what is the current elevation of the sand blowout?

b. What is the approximate size, (X' by X') of the blowout area from rim to rim? (Hint: Use your GPSr to mark 4 points, North, South, East and West locations of the rim and project readings across the blowout to give footage.)

c. What do you notice is scattered across the bottom of this blowout that you do not see up the sides or at the top of the blowout? Why do you think this is?


Permission to place this Earthcache has been obtained and the Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to Thomas A. Meyer of the Wisconsin DNR. Earthcaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource State Natural Areas require permission before submitting the notification form. Information for the approval process can be obtained at: http://www.wi-geocaching.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=7080


Sources:

"Geologic History." Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board. 27 May2009.

Crawford, Bob. Walking trails of southern Wisconsin. Madison:University of Wisconsin P, 2000.

Martin, Lawrence. The Physical Geography of Wisconsin. 3rd ed.Madison: The University of Wisconsin
P, 1965.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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