** Please Note – The Preserve is open daylight hours from
early May until early fall. Opening and closing dates depend on the
annual flooding cycle. For your safety and protection of the
fragile soils and rare plants, please respect closure periods
indicated on the parking lot sign. ** Welcome to The Nature
Conservancy’s Chaumont Barrens Preserve. The Nature
Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working around
the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for
nature and people. We’re proud of what we’ve
accomplished since our founding in 1951. We protected more than 119
million acres of land and 5,000 miles of river worldwide and we
operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally. We
have more than 1 million members. We work in all 50 states and more
than 30 countries-protecting habitants from grasslands to coral
reefs, from Australia to Zambia. We address threats to conservation
involving climate change, fire, fresh water, forest, invasive
species, and marine ecosystems. To find out more about preserves
you can visit in central and western NY, go to www.nature.org/cwny
or call 315-387-3600.
Calcareous pavement landforms originated from sedimentary deposits
in a vast, shallow inland sea that covered much of New York
approximately 500-450 million years ago. Many of these deposits are
rich in fossils. Cracks in the pavement bedrock are called
“grikes”. They are formed when rain water dissolves the
limestone producing solution fissures that often collect leaves and
debris, so take care when walking in calcareous pavement barrens
and avoid stepping in the grikes. When you walk through calcareous
pavement barrens you will notice the trees have a tough time
growing; too little moisture. Look for them rooted in crevasses, a
source of precious water. If there is so little water, why the
stepping stones along sections of the nature trail? Spring runoff
and summer thunderstorms can result in standing water, especially
where there are low spots on the land, with no fissures to drain it
away. The shallow soils are easily saturated, like a tiny sponge
floating in a huge dish-until the pooled water evaporates with the
help of plants. The soil is very vulnerable to damage when wet.
That’s why this trail is close mid-fall till mid-spring. Use
the stepping stones-protect both your feet and the soil. About
10,000 years ago, melting glaciers washed the nearly level
landscape, dissolving bedrock cracks into deep fissures and washing
away most of the soil, some of it into the fissures. As the
glaciers advanced and retreated over thousands of years, the stress
of compression and rebound cracked the limestone at weak points on
the surface and below the ground. Here the edges have dissolved
under rushing water to leave gaping fissures.
The washing of the soils have resulted in the grassland and sparse
vegetation we see today called alvar communities. Alvar communities
are grassland, savanna and sparsely vegetated rock barrens that
develop on flat limestone or dolostone bedrock where soils are very
shallow. Almost all of North America’s alvars occur within
the Great Lake basin, primarily in an arc from northern Lake
Michigan across northern Lake Huron and along the southern edge of
the Canadian Shield to include eastern Ontario and northwestern New
York State. The coordinates are for the parking lot. Access the
trail from the lot. Along this trail you will pass by and even walk
over, grikes, fissures, and fossils, glacial erratics, unique
limestone landscapes and more. There are small cement number signs
that correspond with information in the preserve brochures that can
be found at the informational kiosk along the trail. We are
concentrating on the geology features. About half way between the
parking lot and kiosk at, N 44’ 06.067 W 076’ 04.491
you will be walking by a fissure on your left and a barren exposed
rock. The rock is limestone and an excellent place to look for
fossils. About 20 feet further you see another fissure on your
right, notice how this fissure is covered with vegetation. Pay
attention as to where you are walking, as there are many fissures
along the trail. As you arrive at site 5, N 44’ 05.796 W
076’ 04.904, notice how the pavement barrens begin to open up
now, with expanses of bare bedrock. Over 20 feet of limestone was
deposited here by the activities and remains of primitive marine
animals. There are fossils that await sharp-eyed observers. Many
types of fossils occur, especially worm holes, predatory
Cephalopods. Just past site 5 at N44’ 05.777 W 076’
04.922 you will find a bench. Have a seat and rest. While resting
look to your southwest and you will see a large boulder, a glacial
erratic. This huge boulder came from afar, trapped in the glacier.
It became stranded here after perhaps rolling in the torrent of
glacial melt water.
At site 11, N 44’ 05.990 W 076’ 05.396 as the glaciers
advanced and retreated over thousands of years, the stress of
compression and rebound cracked the limestone at weak point on the
surface and below the ground. Limestone, which consists largely of
calcite, is also eroded by acidic rain. The water seeps along
joints and cracks, dissolving their sides as it goes, and these
cracks are opened up into crevices called grikes, leaving the
intervening rocks upstanding blocks called clints. Be especially
cautious and hang on to your little ones as you cross the gaps!
Fissures provide moist hiding places and dens for small animals.
To log this Earthcache as a find
email the answers to following question & tasks:
1. What was the name of the shallow inland sea that was mentioned
in the first paragraph?
2. Go to the sites listed and locate a fossil and identify it.
Optional, you may submit a photo of you& your GPSr at this
site.
Continue down the path to the Kiosk, N 44’ 06.36 W 076’
04.514 you will see two paths; take the left path as it leads out
to the next task.
3. At site 11, you have several tasks to accomplish, approximately
how many fissures run in a northeast – southwest direction
(kind of parallel). Measure at least 4 and figure the average width
and depth. And again, optional, submit a photo of you & your
GPS at this site too.
4. What is the average width of the smaller cross fissures that run
northwest to southeast? Alibi: If you find fossils somewhere else
on the trail, and can take a optional photo of your GPS, the fossil
& identify them, this will be acceptable.
Just for fun; A. Record your elevation
at the parking lot, kiosk, and each site. Are you between 365
– 435 feet? B. In what direction do the outcrops of trees go?
(Look at the mosaic on the pamphlet). Is it the same as the
direction of the larger fissures at site 11? C. What are some of
the usual glacial features NOT mentioned in this
earthcache?
>This preserve is open daylight
hours early May until mid-October. Opening and closing dates depend
on the annual flooding cycle Make your visit low impact: stay on
the trail and uses stepping stone where provided, to protect you as
well as the rare alvar landscape. Cracks, fissures, and hidden
holes abound off the trail. The trail is about 2 miles long. Note:
grikes may also be spelled. And all photos are optional, greatly
appreciated as this is an very interesting gelogical site.
grykes.
Congratulations on your FTF and number 3500th find. The site was
open to the public sometime last week.