Spring at Coon Hollow Preserve EarthCache
Hidden : 9/18/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Today let's study on the spring, and how a wetland gets wet.

Located in Coon Hollow Preserve Three Rivers, Michigan. Permission was granted for this Earthcache by the Southwestern Michigan Land Conservancy. Thank You!


The area that we are visiting for this earthcache is a wetland, generally falling into the category of a marsh. Inland freshwater marshes occur along the fringes of lakes and rivers where the watertable, or level of the groundwater, is high.

A spring, in geology, is a place where water in the earth flows out. Rain and melted snow soak into the ground until it either reaches the main water table, or aquifer, or it reaches a layer of rock through which it cannot pass (a low-permiablilty later) above the main water table and collects. This is refered to as a perched water table. The water in this perched water table moves along the impermeable layer until it finds an exit, where it flows out as a spring. Often springs are found where the surface of the land is uneven - on mountains, on hills and in valleys.






The entire area west of Three Rivers, sits on top of a large underground clay bowl covered with a layer of sandstone. This clay bowl was carved out by the last ice age some 10,000 years ago by the Wisconsin Glacier. After the glacier melted it deposited a quarter mile of sand in and around the Three Rivers area, which compressed over time creating sandstone.
Over time the underground clay bowl has filled with rain run-off, and the water is peculating up through the sandstone, reaching the surface in different locations as a spring. This is one of those locations.

The occurrence of springs is closely related to the geology of an area. If an impervious layer of rock, such as a clay deposit, underlies a layer of saturated soil or rock, then a line of springs will tend to appear on a slope where the clay layer outcrops. Igneous rocks are also impervious to water, yet they are often extensively fractured, and springs commonly appear where these fractures come to the surface. Fractures in limestone are often enlarged by the dissolving action of groundwater, forming small underground channels and caves. Where these channels outcrop, springs are likely to be found. Springs are common along major faults because groundwater reaches the surface along the fault plane. Lines of springs help locate the position of faults such as the San Andreas of California. Springs can be a valuable water resource, and improvement in flow can often be accomplished simply by driving a pipe into the ground a the point where water seeps from the ground. Sometimes it is advisable to divert the spring water into a cistern or other storage reservoir from which the water can be pumped at will.

Dependent upon the constancy of the water source (rainfall or snowmelt that infiltrates the earth), a spring may be ephemeral (intermittent) or perennial (continuous). The water temperature of a spring is usually at mean annual air temperatures. The less the discharge, the more the temperature reflects seasonal temperatures.

Other interesting spring information: When the water, because of the geological structure of the strata, issues under pressure, the spring is called artesian. Another type of spring is the geyser. Hot springs occur when the water issues from great depths or is heated by near-surface hot volcanic rock, as in Yellowstone National Park, Iceland, and New Zealand. Mineral springs are those with a high mineral content, usually silica or lime, dissolved from the rocks through which the water has passed. Groundwaters whose recharge is through grasslands may contain a thousand times as much CO2 as would be in equilibrium with air, and those whose recharge is through forests may contain a hundred times as much as would be in equilibrium with air. Sulfate in groundwater may be reduced in the presence of organic matter to H2S, giving some springs the odor of rotten eggs.




To log this Earthcache: Go to the posted coordinates.
Please park in the parking area just north of there at
N41*56.511 W 085*40.949, and walk to the posted coordinates.

Do not park along the road. Logs with pictures showing a Geomobile in the background at the posted coordinates will be deleted. .




1) At the posted coordinates, you will need to carefully go down the embankment and take a temperature reading of the water.

2) Observe the water - is it clear, cloudy, dirty?

3) Does the water seem to be moving quickly or sluggishly at this point?

4) Email me the temperature and your observations.

5) Take a picture of your self, with your GPS, and the wetland in the background. If your GPS unit is also your camera, you will need to bring an additional camera (or gps). Your GPS and Your Face must be in the picture.

PLEASE NOTEYour face needs to be recognizable in the picture. Post this with your log. Logs which do not contain a picture or do have your answers, or logs without the accompanying email will be deleted without any further warning.



edited by Lost Scouts

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