West Alton Floodplain EarthCache
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*** Recognized as one of Geowoodstock XII's top "12 Crazy Sites to Visit While Attending Geowoodstock". Source: http://www.geowoodstock.com/gws12/news.php?id=13 ***
This unique Earthcache is located at the Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones Confluence Point State Park. This park opens at 8am and closes 1/2 hour after sunset.
NOTE: Please check the status of the park at the following link:
(visit link)
Due to weather conditions and flooding from the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers this park can be closed without notice. This link will help you before you head out.
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To assist paperless cachers I am moving the cache logging requirements to the top of the description.
CACHE LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:
At N 38 49.146 , W 090 07.199 you will be able to find the answers to the following questions:
1. What was the largest tribe of the Illiniwek Confederacy referenced at the site?
2. How many Peoria Indians lived on the Des Moines River in North East Missouri when they first met the Europeans?
3. What was the name of the Peoria Indian on the display?
4. When did Louis Joilet & Jacques Marquette first view the confluence?
5. What day and year did Clark explore the Tavern Cave?
6. From the coordinates provided for this cache, how many levee's do you see surrounding
the vast floodplain?
7. From the coordinates and during your drive to the cache through this massive floodplain, do you see vegetation on the floodplain suffering or thriving in their conditions along the river?
8. From the coordinates of the requested photo do see standing water in sections of the floodplain?
NOTE: We request that you post a photo of yourself &/or your GPSr at the following
coordinates and capture the levee and floodplain behind you: N 38 49.155 W 090 07.250
Email all answers to us without posting any spoilers in the log. Any answers that are incorrect or not logged properly will be deleted without notice.
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The goal of this Earthcache is to educate cachers on the vital role of the floodplains and the unique nature of one of the most magnificent river confluences in our country.
Floodplains:
Flooding happens when water bodies receive a greater volume of water than they can handle at one time. Floods are a natural part of the water cycle and can even be beneficial, however humans have affected the landscape drastically. By building on floodplains, draining wetlands,
and controlling storm water, we have increased the likelihood of flooding and the extent of damage done by floodwaters such as erosion, loss of property, loss of frontage, loss of habitat, and loss of life.
What is a Floodplain?
A floodplain is an area next to a river, stream, or creek that may be covered with water following heavy rainstorms. This plain holds the excess water allowing it to be slowly released into the river system and seep into groundwater aquifers. Floodplains also give time for sediment to settle out of floodwaters, thereby keeping it out of water bodies. Floodplains often support important wildlife habitat and are frequently used by humans as recreation areas.
The 100-year floodplain is the land that will be covered with water during a 100-year storm, and is the accepted limit for protection. Replacing highly developed land with a landuse that is functionally connected to the river, a "hydrologically-active area", would be an improvement. The 100-year storm is an amount of rain so heavy that the chances of experiencing such a storm are one in 100. (Note that those are the chances every year. It is possible to have this unusual storm two years in a row or even more frequently.)
Physical Geography of a Floodplain:
Flood plains are made by a meander eroding sideways as it goes downstream. Also when a river breaks its banks and floods it leaves behind layers of rock and mud. These gradually build up to create the floor of the flood plain. Floodplains generally contain unconsolidated
sediments, often extending below the bed of the stream. These are accumulations of sand, gravel, loam, silt, and/or clay, and are often important aquifers, the water being drawn from them being pre-filtered compared to the water in the stream.
Geologically ancient floodplains are often represented in the landscape by fluvial terraces. These are old floodplains that remain relatively high above the present floodplain and indicate former courses of a stream.
Sections of the Missouri River floodplain taken by the United States Geological Survey show a great variety of material of varying coarseness, the stream bed being scoured at one place, and filled at another by currents and floods of varying swiftness, so that sometimes
the deposits are of coarse gravel, sometimes of fine sand or of fine silt, and it is probable that any section of such an alluvial plain would show deposits of a similar character.
The floodplain during its formation is marked by meandering or anastomotic streams, ox-bow lakes and bayous, marshes or stagnant pools, and is occasionally completely covered with water. When the drainage system has ceased to act or is entirely diverted for any reason, the
floodplain may become a level area of great fertility, similar in appearance to the floor of an old lake. The floodplain differs, however, because it is not altogether flat. It has a gentle slope down-stream, and often, for a distance, from the side towards the center.
Ecology of a Floodplain:
Floodplains can support particularly rich ecosystems, both in quantity
and diversity. They are a category of riparian zones or systems. A
floodplain can contain 100 or even 1000 times as many species as a
river. Wetting of the floodplain soil releases an immediate surge of
nutrients: those left over from the last flood, and those that result
from the rapid decomposition of organic matter that has accumulated
since then. Microscopic organisms thrive and larger species enter a
rapid breeding cycle. Opportunistic feeders (particularly birds) move in
to take advantage. The production of nutrients peaks and falls away
quickly; however the surge of new growth endures for some time. This
makes floodplains particularly valuable for agriculture.
Markedly different species grow in floodplains than grow outside of
floodplains. For instance, riparian trees (that grow in floodplains)
tend to be very tolerant of root disturbance and tend to be very
quick-growing, compared to non-riparian trees.
Floodplain Interaction with Society:
Historically, many towns, homes and other buildings have been built on
floodplains where they are highly susceptible to flooding, for several
reasons:
* This is where water is most available;
* Floodplain land is usually very fertile for farming;
* River transportation was a key economic factor in the founding of many communities;
* Rivers represent cheap sources of transportation, and are often where railroads are located and
* Flat land is easier to develop than hilly land
The extent of floodplain inundation depends in part on the flood magnitude, defined by the return period.
In the United States the National Flood Insurance Program regulates development in mapped floodplains based on the 100-year flood (1% annual chance of a flood of this magnitude). The Flood Insurance Rate Maps, typically depict both the 100-year floodplain and the 500-year floodplains. Where a detailed study of a waterway has been done, the 100-year floodplain will also include the floodway, the critical portion of the floodplain which includes the stream's channel and any adjacent areas that must be kept free of encroachments that might block flood flows or restrict storage of flood waters. When a floodway is shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps, the portion of the 100-year floodplain outside of the floodway is known as the flood fringe. Another commonly-encountered term is the Special Flood Hazard Area, which is any area subject to inundation by the 100-year flood.[1] A problem is that any alteration of the watershed upstream of the point in question can potentially affect the ability of the watershed to handle water, and thus potentially affects the levels of the periodic floods. A large shopping center and parking lot, for example, may raise the levels of the 5-year, 100-year, and other floods, but the maps are rarely adjusted, and are frequently rendered obsolete by subsequent
development.
In order for flood-prone property to qualify for government-subsidized insurance, a local community must adopt an ordinance that protects the floodway and requires that new residential structures built in Special Flood Hazard Areas be elevated to at least the level of the 100-year flood. Commercial structures can be elevated or flood proofed to or above this level. In some areas without detailed study information, structures may be required to be elevated to at least two feet above the surrounding grade. Many State and local governments have, in addition, adopted floodplain construction regulations which are more restrictive than those mandated by the NFIP. The U.S. government also sponsors flood hazard mitigation efforts to reduce flood impacts. The Hazard Mitigation Program is one funding source for mitigation projects. A number of whole towns such as English, Indiana, have been completely relocated to remove them from the floodplain. Other smaller-scale mitigation efforts include acquiring and demolishing flood-prone buildings or flood-proofing them.
In some tropical floodplain areas such as the Inner Niger Delta of Mali, annual flooding events are a natural part of the local ecology and rural economy. But in Bangladesh, which occupies the Ganges Delta, the advantages provided by the richness of the alluvial soil of floodplains are severely offset by frequent floods brought on by cyclones and annual monsoon rains, which cause severe economic disruption and loss of human life in this densely-populated region.
History of the Rivers and the Confluence:
River Confluences:
In 1721, French explorer Father Pierre Francois de Charlevoix wrote of the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, "I believe this is the finest confluence in the world. The two rivers are much the same breadth, each about half a league; but the Missouri is by far the most rapid, and seems to enter the Mississippi like a conqueror, through which it carries its white waters to the opposite shore without missing them..."
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water. The opposite of a watershed, it usually refers to the point where a tributary joins a more major river, called the mainstem, when that major river is also the highest order stream in the drainage basin. The Mississippi and Missouri rivers when combined become the two longest rivers in North America, and they form the fourth longest river in the world. The mainstream of these two rivers is located at Lincoln and St. Charles counties in Missouri and the city of Hartford in Madison County, Illinois.
The Missouri enters the Upper Mississippi River near its mile 195. The elevation is approximately 400 feet (120 m). The confluence is ringed by Camp Dubois which is now part of Lewis and Clark State Memorial Park in Illinois; Columbia Bottom Conservation Area on the south bank of the Missouri in St. Louis and on the north bank of the Missouri by the Edward "Ted" and Pat Jones-Confluence Point State Park in West Alton, Missouri. At its confluence, the Missouri nearly doubles the volume of the Mississippi, accounting for 45% of the flow at St. Louis in normal times and as much as 70% of the flow during some droughts. It is the second-largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi, trailing the
Ohio.
Two Rivers -- The Missouri and Mississippi:
These two rivers share many similarities; both have a lot of silt in them that is supported by the swirling currents, both constantly change or modify their crooked paths and sand and gravel bars appear and disappear, and although this makes it dangerous for navigation both rivers are navigable and they serve the entire Midwest with a water route for shipping large quantities of raw materials and products.
Mississippi River:
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in the United States and the largest of North America. About 2,320 miles (3,730 km) long, the river originates at Lake Itasca, Minnesota and flows slowly southwards in sweeping meanders, terminating 95 river miles below New Orleans, Louisiana where it begins to flow to the Gulf of Mexico. Along with its major tributary, the Missouri River, the river drains all or parts of 31 U.S. states stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Canada-U.S. border on the north, including most of the Great Plains, and is the fourth longest river in the world and the tenth most powerful river in the world.
The current form of the Mississippi River basin was largely shaped by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet of the most recent Ice Age. The southernmost extent of this enormous glaciation extended well into the present-day United States and Mississippi basin. When the ice sheet began to recede, hundreds of feet of rich sediment were deposited, creating the flat and fertile landscape of the Mississippi Valley. During the melt, giant glacial rivers found drainage paths into the Mississippi watershed, creating such features as the Minnesota River, James River, and Milk River valleys. When the ice sheet completely retreated, many of these "temporary" rivers found paths to Hudson Bay or the Arctic Ocean, leaving the Mississippi Basin with many features "oversized" for the existing rivers to have carved in the same time period. The Mississippi River Delta has shifted and changed constantly since the formation of the river, but the construction of dams on the river has greatly reduced the flow of sediment to the delta. In recent years, the Mississippi's mouth has shown a steady shift towards the Atchafalaya River channel, but because of floodworks at the river's mouth, this change of course-which would be catastrophic for seaports at the river mouth-has been held at bay.
Hundreds of Native American tribes have depended on the Mississippi River and its tributaries for thousands of years. Although they knew the river by many different names, it was the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi, meaning Great River, or gichi-ziibi, meaning Big River, that ultimately gave the river its present-day name. European explorers reached the mouth of the river as early as the 1500s and 1600s. The river throughout history has served as the border for New France, New Spain, and the early United States-its size and importance made it a formidable boundary as well as a strategic military location, and later, an important artery for steamboats to travel on. Writer Mark Twain was one of the most well-known figures on the river in this period. Even today, the river serves as partial boundaries for ten states, and most of its course can easily be seen on a political map. The Mississippi has also been known for great flooding events, especially in the twentieth century which experienced up to four 100-year floods. This has led to the construction of hundreds of miles of levees along nearly the entire course of the river, although they have not always succeeded to prevent the greatest floods.
Throughout its history, whether for Native Americans, explorers, or modern commerce, the Mississippi has always been a major navigation route through the center of North America. In the 19th and 20th centuries, despite its slow current and relative depth, a series of dams were constructed on the river, one of the most notable of which is at St. Anthony Falls on the border between Minneapolis and St. Paul. These dams facilitate navigation for a steady stream of barge traffic carrying agricultural products from the fertile Mississippi Basin to the Gulf Coast, and like the Columbia River, most of the Mississippi also is a cascade of reservoirs. Most of its big tributaries-the Missouri and Ohio Rivers-have also been developed for navigation. However, the development of the 20th and 21st centuries has also come with environmental problems, the most infamous of which is the enormous Gulf of Mexico dead zone that extends hundreds of miles out to sea from the river's mouth. Because of dredging activity to deepen the Mississippi River channel, many natural features such as sandbars and meanders no longer exist. Efforts are being made to clean up the river and its tributaries, including the establishment of National Park Service sites on the river and the prevention of agricultural waste from flowing into the river.
Missouri River:
The Missouri River is the longest river in the United States of America and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. The Missouri likely originates at Brower's Spring at the upper reaches of the Jefferson River, before joining the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana. From this point, it flows through its valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St. Louis, Missouri. At 2,540 miles (4,090 km) long, it drains about one-sixth of the continental United States. The Missouri in its original natural meandering state was the longest river in North America. Nearly 72 miles (116 km) of the river have been cut off in channeling,[4] and so it is now comparable in length to the Mississippi River. The combination of the two longest rivers in North America forms the fourth longest river in the world.
The river is nicknamed "Big Muddy" and also "Dark River" because of the high silt content. The river meanders from bluff to bluff in the flat Midwestern states, leading to the nickname the "Wide Missouri".
At its confluence, the Missouri nearly doubles the volume of the Mississippi, accounting for 45% of the flow at St. Louis in normal times and as much as 70% of the flow during some droughts. It is the second-largest tributary by volume of the Mississippi, trailing the Ohio.
The popular but erroneous conception that the name means "muddy water" arose from the fact that Jacques Marquette gave it the indigenous name "Pekitanoui" meaning "muddy".
The state of Missouri is named after the Missouri River which in turn is named after the Siouan Indian tribe whose Illinois name, ouemessourita (wimihsoorita[13]), means "those who have dugout canoes". The etymology lies behind Bob Dyer's tribute song, "River of the Big Canoes".
The river has also been known as: Big River, Big Muddy, Emasulia sipiwi, Eomitai, Katapan Mene Shoska, Le Riviere des Missouri, Mini Sose, Missoury River, Ni-sho-dse, Nudarcha, Rio Misuri, Riviere de Pekitanoni, Riviere de Saint Philippe, Le Missouri, Le Riviere des Osages, Missures Flu, Miz-zou-rye River, Niutaci, Pekitanoui, River of the West, Yellow River.
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Abar arrqrq! Rawbl gur Rnegupnpur!
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