Yukon Cornelius was an arctic prospector who claimed to be
looking for silver, but was actually looking for peppermint.
Welcome to Silver Reef, Utah a true old west ghost town. At this
earthcache one can see several interesting geological features and
how they have influenced the settling of the area.
Southern Utah is famous for its red sandstone. Red sandstone is
red because it has an unusual amount of iron in it. when this iron
is exposed to oxygen it changes into iron oxide, better known as
rust, giving the rocks their distintive red color.
Here at Silver Reef we find a strange deposit of white sandstone
that is much older than the surrounding red stone (it was formed in
the middle to late Jurrasic Period). The area around Silver Reef
was eroded away to expose the older rocks, which at first caused it
to be rather unknown why they were this color until modern
geologists traced the history of the geology in this area. This in
itself is a strange feature geologically speaking.
Sandstone is formed when grains of sand are cemented together by
silca or calcium carbonate to produce a brittle stone. The stone
may harden if exposed to heat and pressure of a long period of
time. However, if the stone is put under pressure for too long it
will change into another form or rock. This explains why two kinds
of sandstone are visible here. The red sandstone was formed more
recently than the white stone and thus is more brittle as well
because it has spent more time on the surface (this is known
because most of the rock formations in the area are made out of
it). The white sandstone was formed at an earlyier time and has
spent most of its time underground. This white rock actully forms
to bedrock of most of southwestern Utah, but here in Silver Reef is
has been exposed by erosion. These rocks has been 'cooked' longer
than the red ones giving it the white color and harder texture.
This area was originally inhabitated by the Anasazi indians who
built many stone buildings from the surrounding rocks. The town of
Silver Reef was founded in the early 1870's because of an
interesting geological feature located here. The toen received its
name because of a strange formation of white sandstone that covers
the area around the town. This formation is older than the
surrounding red sandstone and is known for having the look of a
dried out coral reef, which is the origin of the name Silver
Reef.
At the posted cordinates there are a set of runes built of the
local white stone that shows some unusual construction
techniques.
The white sandstone at this location contains a vien of silver,
which formed within it. The silver is the reason that the town of
Silver Reef was founded here. It all started with a group of miners
who foound a small deposit of Silver here that caused a boom in
population.
To get credit for this earthcache email me the answers to the
following questions;
1. The name and GC code of this cache.
2. The number of people in your group.
3. From the posted coordinates, in what directions are the visible
outcroppings of white sandstone?
4. About how wide are these formations all together?
5. Based on the weathering on all the stone in the area, does the
white sandstone appear to have been formed and exposed earlier than
the red stone?
6. Are the white or red rocks harder to the touch?
7. Do the runes appear to be from the old west times or anasazi
times?
8. Are the structures made completly out of white stone or is there
red stones as well?