Cold Creek Conservation Area Kettle Lake EarthCache
Cold Creek Conservation Area Kettle Lake
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You will need to visit two locations and take some measurements to be able to complete this earth cache.
This earth cache will take you to the Cold Creek Conservation Area which is located in King Township of York County. It is 190 hectares / 470 acres in size and was opened in June of 1962 by the Toronto and Region Conversation Authority. The Conservation Area is significant due to its unique natural features. Existing mixed conifer swamp forest contains black spruce which is rare in Southern Ontario and is home to a wide array of plant and animal species. It has over 6.5km marked interpretive trail which includes walking through meadows, conifer / hardwood forest, wetlands and a unique conifer swamp which has a beautiful boardwalk (and recently updated) through the bog / swamp. You will also find bird and waterfowl nesting boxes throughout the area. Historically, the property was used for outdoor education and recreation programs and included many facilities dedicated to the outdoor sports enthusiast. There are four management zones for the Cold Creek Conservation Area are Nature Reserve, Natural Environment, Restoration, and Public Use. On any given day you may see hikers, youth day camps , and even the local police use the conservation area for search and rescue training.
What are Kettle Lakes?
Kettle lakes were formed during the most recent North American Glaciation, the Wisconsin glacier (10,000 to 100,000 years ago). They are formed when a large piece of ice breaks away from the edge of a retreating glacier, and becomes partially buried under sediment deposited by the glacier. Over time these huge lumps of underground ice would melt and the top-soil caved in to form isolated kettle lakes. If the level of this hole is below the water table, it fills with water and becomes what is known as a kettle lake or hole. Kettle holes can also occur in ridge shaped deposits of loose rock fragments called till. Not part of any river system, they fill with local snow run-off & rain, and then may dry out in the summer heat.
This particular kettle lake was formed when the Wisconsin Glacier retreated during the last ice age. You will notice a very quick and sharp decline from the top of the kettle lake to the bottom. You will not notice any water is in the kettle lake as it is below the water table. This will make an interesting earth cache – an empty kettle lake. Here you have the opportunity to see the differences in the soil at the top of the kettle lake, the soil at the bottom of the lake, and see unlike other lakes how large they are by measuring its volume by being “part” of the lake.
To Log this Earth Cache:
1) Take an altitude reading at the listed coordinates. You will need this measure and the next altitude reading to measure volume.
2) Visit the bottom of the kettle lake and take another altitude reading.
3) Use a topographic map and calculate the length and width of the kettle lake.
4) Please post a photo with you and/or your team with faces clearly showing at either the top of the kettle lake, the bottom, or some other cool location in between.
5) Calculate the volume using the length, width, and the depth (you measured this with two sets of altitude readings).
6) Using my profile – please email the answers to the volume of the kettle lake (requirement #5). Do not post them with your log! Your photo must be posted at the time of your log. You must complete these requirements within 48 hours of logging the cache.
Additional Hints
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Treasures
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