To get credit for this cache:
1. You must estimate the hight of the Shark Tooth Sea Stack and
tell how you arrived at this figure.
2. You must explain why the short Sea Stack to the left of the
Shark Tooth Sea Stack is flat on top and why it is the particular
height it is.
3. This information must be in the form of an e-mail to cache
owner and not included in your actual log.
Shark's Tooth is a Sea Stack just south of
Davenport California.
A sea stack is a geological landform or vertical column of rock in
the sea near the coastline, isolated by natural erosion. Such
stacks or columns are formed through processes of coastal
geomorphology. The only factors involved in the formation of a
stack are time, wind and water. They are formed when part of a
headland is eroded by hydraulic action, which is the force of the
sea or water crashing against the rock. The force of the water
weakens cracks or fractures in the headland, causing them to
eventually collapse. Thus free-standing stacks are formed. Without
the constant presence of water, stacks also form when a natural
arch collapses under gravity, due to sub-aerial processes such as
wind erosion. The stacks often provide important nesting locations
for seabirds, and many are popular for rock climbing. As with other
features found along shorelines, sea stacks are also in a constant
state of flux, with new stacks emerging all the time while old ones
disappear. Typically, the ocean wears a hole through the headlands,
creating an arch which may slowly expand as it erodes. Ultimately,
the arch will collapse, leaving a sea stack on one side and the
headland on the other. Separated from the shoreline, the sea stack
will slowly start to erode, eventually melting away into the water
or collapsing. The distribution of sea stacks in a given area may
vary, based upon the kind of rock which makes up the headland,
ambient weather conditions, and the prevailing water currents. In
some cases, an area may have numerous sea stacks made from very
hard stone, while in other instances a shoreline has only a few
stacks composed of soft, crumbly materials like limestone and
sandstone.
