Cold Creek Conservation Area – Oak Ridges Moraine EarthCache
Cold Creek Conservation Area – Oak Ridges Moraine
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The posted coordinates to this earth cache are one of several spots you will need to be visiting as you hike across the Oak Ridges Moraine through the Cold Creek Conservation Area. By no means is this an easy earth cache. Parking is available at the gates which closed. There is a significant hike from parking to the posted coordinates. Adequate time and proper gear are required to be able to see all of the spots this earth cache will take you to and have you look at. Please plan well and always be safe.
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 in 2007 as a result of the Ontario Trillium Grant Award) through the bog. 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. The zones are broken down into: 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 is a Moraine?
A glacier moraine is formed by rock debris of all sizes being picked up by the glacier and is deposited as the glacier grows and retreats. A moraine may be comprised of sand and silt, known as glacial flour, and up to large boulders. The debris left by a glacier is typically angular. Moraines may be on the glacier’s surface or deposited as piles or sheets of debris where ever the glacier has melted. Moraines may also occur when a glacier (or an iceberg) transported debris fall into the sea as the glacier ice melts.
There are different types of moraines and thus fall into different categories. The moraine you are looking at here is a Interlobate Moraine. When two or more lobes of a continental ice sheet unite, the debris carried by each lobe intermingles, forming an interlobate moraine Interlobate moraines are formed along the common margin of two adjacent lobes.
Cold Creek Conservation Area is part of the Southern Slope of the Oak Ridge Moraine. Here you will notice flat grassy areas, round gentle hills, and even a few sharp hills as well. The Oak Ridges Moraine is one of the most significant landforms in southern Ontario. The moraine gets its name from its rolling hills and river valleys extending 160 kms from the Niagara Escarpment to Rice Lake and was formed over 12,000 years ago by advancing and retreating glaciers. The last great glacier that covered the area was the Wisconsin Glacier. The Wisconsin Glacier reached north from the St. Lawrence watershed, west into the Mississippi watershed, east to New England, but stopped short of the Ohio River to the south.
The Oak Ridges Moraine contains the headwaters of 65 river systems (35 in the Greater Toronto Area alone) and has a wide diversity of streams, woodlands, wetlands, kettle lakes, kettle bogs and significant flora and fauna. It covers over 190,000 hectares. It is one of the last remaining continuous green corridors in southern Ontario: it is still 30 per cent forested. It is up to 200 metres thick and rising to over 300 metres above Lake Ontario. The moraine varies from 3 to 24 km wide and extends 160 km in length.
The moraine's sands and gravel deposits act like a giant sponge absorbing rain and snow melt. This underground water is then stored through layers of sand and gravel (aquifers), filtered and slowly released as cool fresh water to the 65 rivers and streams flowing north into Lakes Simcoe and Scugog and south into Lake Ontario. The moraine is very important to over 250,000 people as they depend on the water that is filtered by the moraine for drinking. The greatest threat to the function of the moraine is inappropriate land uses on and below the surface of the moraine, particularly in headwater areas.
Facts about the Oak Ridges Moraine
• The Oak Ridges Moraine is an irregular ridge of sandy hills stretching 160 kilometres from the Trent River in the east to the Niagara Escarpment in the west.
• It crosses 32 municipalities in three regions (Peel, York and Durham) and four counties (Dufferin, Simcoe, Peterborough, and Northumberland) and the City of Kawartha Lakes.
• Sixty-five per cent of the area of the Oak Ridges Moraine lies within the Greater Toronto Area.
• The Oak Ridges Moraine contains the largest concentration of headwater streams in the Greater Toronto Area. The Moraine acts as a recharge area for groundwater.
• The Moraine provides a natural habitat for sensitive and threatened plant and animal species not found elsewhere in the Greater Toronto Area.
• The Greenbelt includes the protected lands of the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Niagara Escarpment, and the headwaters of all major watersheds in the western Greater Toronto Area.
• Because the moraine is a rich resource of sand and gravel, it has become one of the main sources for the aggregate industry serving the Greater Toronto Area.
To Log this Earth Cache:
1) Please post a photo with you and/or your team with faces clearly showing at the posted coordinates or elsewhere throughout the conservation area on the moraine.
2) As you walk along the trail you will want to be taking some notes.
a. You will need to be visiting several points to be able to log this earth cache.
i. The posted coordinates
ii. N43 54.717 W79 41.933
iii. N43 54.481 W79 41.529
iv. N43 54.734 W79 41.617
b. Use the waypoints here and describe what you see as you walk on the moraine. Describe the topography of the conservation area as it sits on the moraine. Describe the makeup of the soil. The moraine varies in height. Measure the lowest and highest points as you hike through the conservation area.
3) Using my profile – please email the answer to #2. 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.
Each Cacher that logs a find is required to submit answers to the questions above (failure to comply will result in a deletion of your log). The only exception are young kids that are caching with their parents (who have their own account, but not computer privileges). Per Earthcache guidelines, each cacher is to learn from their visit/experience. That means each cacher must perform the necessary task(s) or requirements to log the cache and earn your smiley.
Additional Hints
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Treasures
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