The Quhyt Stane EarthCache
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Simply known locally as 'the white stone' this is an ancient boundary stone of the burgh of Peebles, and in 1462 it was referred to as "The Quhyt Stane on the north half of the gat rekand to the Wenlaw" - no, I've no idea either! but what is it ?
The Stone has been placed in its present position by persons unknown in the past but it would have been brought into the nearby area by glacial flow, the rock would have been frozen in huge glaciers during the ice age, these glaciers shifted over time taking whatever was entombed within them wherever they went, but when the glaciers melted, they dropped whatever they were carrying, including some large boulders like this one. This rock has a different composition from the ground it sits on and clearly comes from elsewhere. Boulders like this are called 'erratics'.
Erratics are useful indicators of patterns of former ice flows
GEOLOGY
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, The rock stands out strikingly from its surroundings due to it being a bright white colour against the drab grey rock of the wall that flanks it, the rock is formed of WHITE QUARTZ
The white colour you see is usually caused by minute fluid inclusions of gas and/or liquid trapped during the crystal formation. The cloudiness or 'mistyness'evident here is caused by the inclusions, for this reason although it is effectively crystal, it's appearance prevents its use as a gemstone unlike pure or 'clear' quartz , if you look closely at the rock you will see some some impurity veins within it.
HISTORY
The White Stone is frequently referred to in the records of the Burgh of Peebles. It became the spot where visitors were welcomed by the magistrates on their entry to the town, also in the past it was actually marked on the maps as a boundary stone for the Borough of Peebles over 550 years ago, whatever purpose the stone served beyond this point is now uncertain, there is a small plaque next to the stone which will also give some further information (one part of which you will need to read to answer a question about)
To claim this Earthcache please complete the following tasks/questions, questions are to be answered by email and not in your log please, any logs without required info and photo's may be deleted.
1. Take a photograph of you or you GPS with the White Stone
2. Try to take a picture of the impurity veins on the stone (not essential if you done have a good enough camera)
3.Please estimate the dimensions of the stone and also describe how it feels to the touch
4. On the plaque nearby what did the people leaving Peebles, at the White boundary stone drink from before leaving ?
I hope you enjoy your visit !
PLEASE NOTE: This Earthcache is fully accessible to wheelchair bound cachers :-)
PLEASE NOTE: I receive a very high number of Earthcache emails, I can’t reply to them all otherwise I’d be doing nothing else all day, as has always been the case there is no need to await a reply from me regarding your answers…. However due to numerous people thinking they can just log these caches without emailing any answers, and/or completing the required tasks these will be picked up, and the logs will be deleted without further communication. To facilitate this Please email your information either before, or AT THE SAME TIME OF LOGGING THE CACHE, Thanks.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Sbyybj gur cnirzrag jnyy gvyy lbh trg gb gur ovt juvgr fgbar !
Treasures
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