CEWC Rock Outcrop EarthCache
Hidden : 6/16/2010
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:


Rock Outcrops
A particularly harsh habitat type found mostly on the Piedmont is the rock outcrop. Georgia boasts a large number of rock outcrops including the largest in the world, Stone Mountain. Rock outcrops can be either Manadnocks, which rise above the surrounding piedmont like Stone Mountain, Arabia Mountain and Panola Mountain, or they can be simple flat-rock or pavement rock outcrops, like Heggies Rock. Most outcrops are composed of granite, an igneous rock that crystallized from slow cooling magma underground (intrusive igneous rock). The molten domes of magma that cooled to form our outcrops were generated from the heat and friction at the edges to colliding continental plates about 500 million years ago. The softer rock surrounding these granite domes gradually eroded away, leaving the granite exposed at ground level. In some cases, such as Arabia Mountain, the granite was changed into gneiss (a metamorphic rock) due to high heat and pressure long before the surrounding rock eroded and exposed it.

Rainwater falling on rock outcrops fill pools of standing water. These pools are called solution pits and provide habitat for rare plants and animals. If rainfall is consistent these wet depressions support dish gardens, a unique rock outcrop community that exhibits distinctive rings of progressively drier habitat further from the wet center. Standing water in the center of a dish garden may contain Fairy Shrimp (Branchinella sp.) and Mat-forming Quillwort (Isoetes tegetiformans), species that only occur on rock outcrop pools. Both species can survive desiccation as the outcrop pools often dry up in summer.

Because of their harsh exposed environment, rock outcrops offer a good place to observe primary succession and early soil development. The first organisms that can survive on the bare rock surface are lichens and mosses. These organisms actually dissolve rock with weak acids. After many years, through chemical and physical decomposition, a thin soil layer is formed. Soil allows other tolerant plants to establish, such as Diamorpha and Sedum, both succulent plants (fleshy leaves that hold moisture) well designed to withstand long periods of dry weather. As the soil continues to thicken, Broomsedge (Angropogon sp.), Sandworts (Caryophyllacea sp.) and Orange grass (Ctenium aromaticum) can colonize the rock. Confederate Daisy (Viguiera porteri), an endangered and endemic species, is quick to follow. Eventually small shrubs and trees will entirely cover the rock outcrop. This entire progression from rock to forest can often be seen on a single rock outcrop transect starting on bare rock and walking towards the encroaching forest at the outcrops edge. Standing at the posted coordinates, one can see most of the different stages of succession.

Please stay on the trail. The cache is located along the Blue trail.

To get credit of this cache, stand at the posted coordinates and look out at the rock outcrop. About 40 feet in front of you notice a large “out of Place” rock that is approximately one foot thick. Please email the answers to the following:

1. What makes this rock “out of place” and what is keeping it out of place?
2. Approximately how far “out of place” is it?
3. Knowing that the fence railing in front of you is 8 feet long, how long is this rock? (Please do not cross the fence, just give an estimate.)
4. Why in the world do you think someone would move such a rock in this “out of place” way? (there is no right or wrong answer, I just want your opinion.)
5. Knowing that 1 acre is approximately 208.71 feet × 208.71 feet (a square), how many acres do you estimate the entire rock out crop to be?

If you post a photo of yourself, please do not include the out of place rock in the background. Please send me the answers to the questions the same day you log the cache as a find.

For information on this and other Georgia habitat types, please visit the Project WILD Teacher Resource Guide at: (visit link)

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gur ebpx gung vf hc va gur nve.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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