A spring is any natural occurrence where water flows on to the
surface of the earth from below the surface, and is thus where the
aquifer surface meets the ground surface.
A spring may be the result of karst topography where surface
water has infiltrated the Earth's surface (recharge area), becoming
part of the area groundwater. The groundwater then travels though a
network of cracks and fissures - openings ranging from
intergranular spaces to large caves. The water eventually emerges
from below the surface, in the form of a spring.
The forcing of the spring to the surface can be the result of a
confined aquifer in which the recharge area of the spring water
table rests at a higher elevation than that of the outlet. Spring
water forced to the surface by elevated sources are artesian wells.
This is possible even if the outlet is in the form of a 300-foot
deep cave. In this case the cave is used like a hose by the higher
elevated recharge area of groundwater to exit through the lower
elevation opening.
Nonartesian springs may simply flow from a higher elevation
through the earth to a lower elevation and exit in the form of a
spring, using the ground like a drainage pipe.
Still other springs are the result of pressure from an
underground source in the earth, in the form of volcanic activity.
The result can be water at elevated temperature as a hot
spring.
The action of the groundwater continually dissolves permeable
bedrock such as limestone and dolmite creating vast cave
systems.
Types of spring outlets:
Seepage or filtration spring. The term seep refers to springs
with small flow rates in which the source water has filtered into
permeable earth.
Fracture springs, discharge from faults, joints, or fissures in
the earth, in which springs have followed a natural course of voids
or weaknesses in the bedrock.
Tubular springs are essentially water dissolved and create
underground channels, basically cave systems.
Springs mark the intersection between human and natural history.
There is probably no better example in Kansas than Alcove Spring in
southern Marshall County. Water flows from Permian limestone into a
shallow pool covered with watercress, before making its way to the
nearby Big Blue River.
Just above the spring is an intermittent waterfall. This is a
noted stop along the Oregon Trail; in 1846, traveler George L.
Curry wrote that "the water is of the most excellent kind.…"
In 1951, Survey geologist Walter Schoewe wrote, "Water, pure and
cold, issuing from the springs gives rise to a streamlet 3 to 4
feet wide."
It's hard to comprehend what it must have been like for the
pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail in the mid 1800's. Traveling
at the pace that a person could walk, it took all summer to make
the cross country trek . Imagine their relief and delight then to
be greeted after a few weeks in their journey by the beauty of
Alcove Spring. The spring itself gurgles up from the base of the
alcove. A wet-weather creek flows over the ledge of rocks and into
the pool below to form a beautiful ten foot waterfall.
The ill-fated Donner Party camped at Alcove Spring from May 26
to May 31 1846, waiting for the Blue River to go down so that they
could safely cross at nearby Independence Crossing. In fact, it was
one of their party, Edwin Bryant, who named the spring Alcove
Spring. The first member of the Donner Party to die was Sarah
Keyes, and she did so while they were camped at Alcove Springs. The
70 year-old Keyes, who was in poor health before she started the
journey, was in route to Idaho to see her son there one last time.
Though the exact location of her grave site has been lost to
history, the Daughters of the American Revolution placed and
dedicated a marker for her at Alcove Spring in 1950. It is at the
edge of the parking lot and about 1/4 mile from the spring.
Logging requirements:Email the answers to these questions:
1. What type of spring and outlets do you think Alcove Spring
is?
2. On the plaque at the coordinates whose journal was quoted
from?
3. On the plaque, Who provided the photo of the carving on the
rock?
4. Take a picture of yourself with the falls in the
background.
Hope you enjoy the site.
Congratulations to Phil & Verla from OZ on the FTF.