Amsden Dam EarthCache
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In order to count this Earthcache as a find, you must complete the following tasks and email the answers to me.
1. What is the elevation at the listed coordinates?
2. Look to the north. Estimate the size of the reservoir.
3. Go to N45º 21.158 - W097º 58.509 (bottom of the dam). What is the elevation here?
4. Estimate the height of the dam.
5. Describe the amount of water flowing through the dam on a scale of 1-10, with one being very little and ten being a large amount.
6. Estimate the width of the stream.
This Earthcache will take you to the Amsden Dam, which forms the man-made Amsden Lake--technically a reservoir. This dam was the WPA’s 455th project and was constructed in 1936--in the middle of the drought and depression. It was constructed to provide relief to the settlers in the area--particularly agricultural. Today, the reservoir is mainly used for fishing, although a nice campground borders the southeastern part of the lake. Enjoy!
Amsden Lake lies atop high tableland called the Coteau des Prairies by early explorers, which rises approximately 300 feet above the dam. Translated from French, the name means Hills of the Prairie. The current topography of the Coteau was formed by the stagnation of glacial ice during the late Wisconsin glaciation approximately 12,000 years ago. As this glacier stagnated and began to break up and melt, large blocks of ice were buried in meltwater outwash. The melting of these ice blocks left depressions in the outwash of various size and depth that created thousands of potholes, sloughs, and lakes found throughout the Coteau des Prairies region.
Amsden Dam was built on Pickerel Creek, a small perennial stream whose main tributary flows through the remains of a large melt water channel formed as the stagnant ice of the Late Wisconsin glacier melted. This channel drained snowmelt from atop the Coteau into ancient Lake Dakota to the west, which became the James River Basin.
NOT A LOGGING REQUIREMENT: Feel free to post pictures of your group at the area or the area itself - I love looking at the pictures.
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