The Fort Wayne Moraine in Ann Arbor
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What is the Fort Wayne Moraine doing in Ann Arbor, when Fort Wayne,
Indiana, is some 110 miles away? Good question, but first things
first.
This cache is located in Bird Hills Nature Area. Trail maps can be
found at
http://www.a2gov.org/government/communityservices/ParksandRecreation/parks/Documents/parks_map-bird-hills_2007-08-01.pdf
If you use the recommended parking, round trip is about 1.25 miles
over hilly terrain. Other parking areas will be a longer round
trip. The trails can be icy in the winter, so please use caution.
Placed with permission of Ann Arbor Parks.
Thousands of years ago, Ann Arbor and all of SE Michigan was
covered with huge glaciers. As these glaciers advanced and
retreated they left behind many of the geographical features that
we see today. When the glaciers advanced, they picked up glacier
till, a mixture of gravel, sand, silt, clay, and erratics.
(Erratics are rocks and boulders, not native to their current
location, that have been moved by ice.) When the glaciers
retreated, they would leave behind the glacier till.
The glacier acted somewhat like a conveyer belt. If the melting ice
retreated at a constant rate, the glacier till was deposited at a
uniform rate. But if the glacier stalled at one point for a period
of time, glacier till is piled higher there, forming an end
moraine.
The Erie Lobe of the Wisconsin Glacier traveled in the general
direction of Northeast to Southwest. Since Ann Arbor lies at what
was once the edge of the glacier, the moraines are oriented
Northeast to Southwest. Two end moraines from the Wisconsin Glacier
are located in the Huron River corridor in Ann Arbor: the Defiance
Moraine (named for Defiance, Ohio, which marks its furthest
extension) and the Fort Wayne Moraine (named for its reach to Fort
Wayne, Indiana). Remember, these glaciers were huge and end
moraines can be hundreds of miles long.
The posted coordinates will take you to the top of the Fort Wayne
Moraine.
To get credit for this earthcache, please email me the following
(do not include in the log):
1. At the posted coordinates, please closely examine the soil of
the moraine. If there is snow, you will need to dig through it.
What is the soil comprised of (i.e. clay, silt, sand, gravel,
rocks, etc.)? How steep are the slopes of the ridge? Is this a
short ridge or a long ridge?
2. Take a picture at the posted coordinates and post with your
log.
3. At Stage 2, take an altimeter reading.
4. On your trip from Stage 2 to Stage 3, count every erratic
boulder (boulders are defined as rocks that are larger than 10
inches in diameter). There is a path that runs pretty much directly
from Stage 2 to Stage 3 that goes past Stage 1. Please take this
path. This area was once used as farm land, so some of the rocks
have been moved to what was once the edge of the field, but all of
the rocks on the moraine are from the moraine.
5. On your trip from Stage 2 to Stage 3, note the terrain. Is it
hilly? Is the terrain mostly up? mostly down? or up and down? Is
there one predominate ridge? Or are there multiple ridges?
6. At Stage 3, take another altimeter reading and email me the
difference in elevation between Stage 2 and Stage 3. If your GPS
does not have an altimeter, you may use another method as long as
you make a note of it.
7. Optional. Take Huron River Drive from Bird Drive, south toward
the highway and observe how the Fort Wayne Moraine acts as a
natural boundary to the Huron River.
Thanks for visiting.
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