EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. Enjoy the journey (learning adventure) as well as the destination (smiley earned). Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. To get credit for this Earthcache, complete the following tasks:
1. MESSAGE …. Observe the rock face. You will see a U-shaped opening about halfway. Even though this is one rock face, there are noticeable differences between the left and right sides of the U-shape. Describe two of these differences.NOTE: Look for colors, cracks, trees, etc.
2. MESSAGE …. Based on your observations and information search, why would one rock face show the differences between left and right sides? HINT: Formation and composition of the Tuscarora quartzite. NOTE: You may use your knowledge of geology to answer this question, or use information applied from internet searches, or get help from staff at the Discovery Center if it is open on the day/time you participate in this earthcache. Any reasonable answers/hypotheses that show thought are acceptable.
3. MESSAGE …. What is the elevation at the top of the rocks? You can get this information one of two ways. ... Walk the trail to the top and use your GPS to get the elevation. -OR- Take an elevation reading at the coordinates. Then use information on the road sign to calculate the elevation at the top. Note: This is less accurate since you are not at water level.
4. LOG …. Post a picture with the rocks in the background. This picture is your log signature.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in creating this earthcache by adding A and B to your log.
A. JOURNEY OF THE MIND ... Science explains what we observe. Relate (in your own words) something you found interesting in the reading. This adds to your learning adventure and your log.
B. JOURNEY OF THE HEART ... Art shares our personal experience of what we see. Share something special you found on site, and why it is special to you. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
C. For those who wish to walk the trail, you will see a sign that calls attention to rock climbers. Since 1971, how many people have died at Seneca Rocks from falls?
SENECA ROCKS
Seneca Rocks and nearby Champe Rocks are the most imposing examples in eastern West Virginia of several formations of the white/gray Tuscarora quartzite. The quartzite is approximately 250 feet thick here, located primarily on exposed ridges as caprock or exposed crags. The rock is composed of fine grains of sand that were laid down in the Silurian Period approximately 440 million years ago, in an extensive sand shoal at the edge of the ancient Iapetus Ocean. Eons of geologic activity followed, as the ocean slowly closed and the underlying rock uplifted and folded. Millions of years of erosion stripped away the overlying rock and left remnants of the arching folds in outcrops such as Seneca Rocks
SNOW BIRD
"Princess Snow Bird, who had grown to maidenhood in the shadow of the rocks and scaled their heights many times, proposed a contest to her father, [Chief] Bald Eagle. She would climb to the crest of the rocks as prospective suitors followed. The first to take her hand would become her mate. Bald Eagle agreed, and at the end of the climb, of seven suitors, only one remained, the others having turned back from fear or fallen to their deaths. From their lofty perch, Snow Bird and her future mate surveyed the surrounding realm of the Seneca that would be theirs to rule one day."
RESOURCES
https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/798
https://thesenecaproject.org/natural-history/geology/