Guelph Glacial Kettles
Adopted from valleyone
"Glacial Kettles" are depressions in a glaciated landscape resulting when huge left-over half-buried chunks of ice melted. In an outwash plain, the huge chunks of ice (known as "dead ice") would be buried (or partly buried) by sand and gravel; when the ice chunk melted the sand and gravel around it would slump into the resulting depression, leaving just a hole in the ground.
If these kettle depressions extend below the water table, they become kettle lakes or ponds, of which there are many in southern Ontario. These Guelph Kettles have held water in the past, and may still do so during high spring water levels, but for much of the year they are dry.
As described in other earthcaches for southern Guelph, the Paris Moraine stretches across the most southerly part of the city as a line of hummocky hills. North of this extends a broad outwash plain; this is where the glacial kettles are located.
To find the kettles, start at the trailhead on Summerfield Dr. heading southwest between the houses to the posted coordinates and a sign describing the glacial kettles.
Behind this sign is the North Kettle of three. By walking the trail to the right a short distance you will find you can walk down into the kettle to help answer the questions.
Return and take the trail to the left of the sign, behind some houses, to come out at the tiny parkette on Jenson Blvd. The trail heads straight across the street, and shortly you will come to the second waypoint for this earthcache, a lookout over the Centre Kettle. The trail continues through the floor of this kettle, giving you a chance for a close look - except for when spring water levels flood the trail and the ducks are swimming right across it!
If you continue down the trail, you will encounter the edge of this kettle two more times. There is a third glacial kettle to the east.
To Log this Earthcache:
Send me an email or use the Geocaching.com Message Center to send me a message with your answers to the following questions:
- Describe the depth of both the North and Centre Kettles as accurately as you can. Elevation differences measured by your GPS, or simply your best estimate from being on-site will suffice.
- Describe how wet the floor of each kettle is, in terms such as open water flooding trail, some open water, wet among vegetation, soggy to walk on, dry enough to walk on easily, covered with snow, etc.
- (Optional) Take a photo of yourself at the Lookout waypoint with the kettle in the background and post it with your log.
Do not include any of these answers in your log, except for the optional photo.
You may log a find at any time, but please ensure that your answers are sent to me within 48 hours. Logs without answers after this time may be deleted without notice. If you are submitting answers on behalf of a group, please include a list of account names of those who were with you to complete this earthcache.
Thanks to the City of Guelph Parks Department for their support of this earthcache.