Coast and Reef EarthCache

Permission for this cache was given by Parks Victoria.

This maybe difficult to get to at high tide.

Looking After the Park

For the protection of the marine environment, a number of activities are prohibited within the boundaries of Victoria's marine national parks and marine sanctuaries. No fishing, netting, spearing, taking or killing of marine life. All methods of fishing, from the shore or the sea, are prohibited. As users of the marine environment, you can help minimise your impact on these areas by being mindful of the following points:
• enjoy the marine environment without removing the plants and animals
• minimise your impact while diving and snorkelling by:
o being careful to avoid damage to marine life caused by fins
o developing good skills in buoyancy control
o securing all gauges and pressure hoses to avoid snagging them on objects
• take any rubbish home with you - do not dump rubbish into the sea
• avoid stressing marine life by not chasing or grabbing free-swimming animals
• exercise great care if approached by large marine animals (including birds) & avoid blocking their paths if moving
• take care where you anchor your boat (anchor in sand, rubble or mud, avoiding sensitive areas, and use mooring buoys where provided)
• do not pollute the water with sewage - ensure that if your vessel has an onboard toilet that it has an approved sewage holding facility and that sewage is disposed of appropriately on land
• take the time to learn more about Victoria's marine animals and plants and the habitats they depend upon

Remember, Marine National Parks and Marine Sanctuaries are NO TAKE ENVIRONMENTS.All objects (artefacts), animals eg. fish and crustaceans, plants, and the seabed are totally protected.

Tessellated pavement.

At the following coordinates you will find another geological formation.
S38^o 28.997
E145^o 01.270
The term for this formation is called Tessellated Pavement caused usually by slow cooling of lava. But in this situation the cooling was not the only thing to cause this. The ocean also played it part on the formation.
See the above photo.

The Coast

Sea and land interact at the coast to create many different landforms and changing shorelines.
Deposition of sediment or a falling sea level causes some coasts to extend towards the sea.
Others are retreating as the sea level rises or waves erode them.
A falling sea level produces an emergent coast, a rising sea level a submergent one, while wave erosion creates coastal cliffs.

At this location you find that this coast is a submergent one as the waves have created the cliffs and the land is being washed out to sea.

The Reef

Located on the open coast at Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula and covering 80 hectares in area
The reef is formed from ancient basalt that has weathered gracefully, allowing a multitude of creatures to hide under the loose rocks or within the crevices and cracks.
The exposed ocean area of this sanctuary contains numerous subtidal pools and boulders in the intertidal area, and basalt substrates, which provide a rich variety of microhabitats.
Also a line of cobbles stretches out to sea.
Other reefs lie to the left and right and further out to sea, creating a mosaic of sheltered bays and pools.

Information for the optional photo

Go to:
S38^o 28.980
E145^o 01.070
Face the ocean and take a picture to include in you log.
This is optional, please list the date and time as the tide will vary in the picture taken.

(Optional Photo Time Taken 1322 hours Date 09/05/2010)
Photo looking out to the reef.

The Earthcache

To log this cache you need to answer the following questions and Email the answers to me.

a) What is the shape of the platform at low tide?

b)At the following coordinates.
S38^o 28.861
E145^o 00.942
What compass directions are the layers running here?

c) Also at the above coordinates for question b) you will find another type of formation. (Look to the bottom left-hand side.)
What is this formation called?
Is it A, B or C ?
A)Graywacke.
B)Conglomerate.
C)Gneiss

d) Also give a brief description of your answer to question c).
ie: Why it is called that.(your may want to take a photo here so you can remember what it looks like)
(You will need to research this for the answer.)

The Layers on the formation. Just to the bottom left outside of this picture is the formation for questions c) & d).
Sorry I cropped the picture to small. So you'll just have to look at it & find the answers.

The required Photo for the log is to the left the coordinates when looking at the formation.

Coordinates for the formation are.
S38^o 28.861
E145^o 00.942
You must have both markers and your GPSr in the picture, as shown in the picture below.

Logs posted prior to approval will be DELETED.
Also logs without the required photo maybe DELETED.

FTF Honors to: coverthypnosis
STF Honors to: Mr Jibblets
TTF Honors to: Oakydog
Well Done to the first three finders.