Limestone Terraces EarthCache
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Note: Curacao has a very low violent crime rate but fairly high petty crime. Never leave anything that could be seen as valuable in sight in your car. Before you leave your car, put everything in the trunk, glove box or center console. Thieves will break windows to get at bags, boxes, and the like but will rarely disturb a vehicle it the passenger compartment has nothing in sight.
Curaçao exhibits four major geological formations. The Lava Formation consists of basalt at least 2 miles thick and formed below sea level during the Cretaceous Period. The Knip Formation consists primarily of Radiolaria that bloomed in the warm water after Curaçao’s volcanos ceased to erupt. The Mid Curaçao Formation occurred as a series of earthquakes combined with the slow rising of the island due to tectonic movements. The rising of Curaçao also resulted in the birth of two islands which are now the West and East lobes of present day Curaçao. Coral reefs formed around and between these islands and ultimately became the Ser'i Domi Formation.
Changing sea levels along with glacial and interglacial cycles following the Ser'i Domi Formation produced the limestone terraces we know today. The highest (oldest) terrace can be observed as a southwest-northeast “spine” through the middle of Curacao. The town of Tera Kora is built on the next lower terrace which was formed as a subsequent glacial period caused sea levels to drop. Two younger terraces were similarly formed. The first can be visited at the cache site and the second is along the Hato Plain where the airport is built. Finally, another reef was formed and drowned during the most recent glacial period and is known to divers as the “second drop-off.” All of these terraces are composed of the skeletons of countless tiny corals that were once part of a living reef. They are also full of pits and sharp ridges caused by chemical reactions between carbon dioxide from the air and the seawater and rain that washes onto the rock, which dissolves the limestone. (Some information from Carmabi.org and Caribseek.com)
This Earthcache will take you to a public park on the middle limestone terrace on the island of Curacao. It will introduce you to the fossilized coral composing the terraces as well as interesting geological formations including jutting rock formed by tectonic lifting and caverns formed by subterranean water flowing through the terraces. To log this Earthcache, attempt the following earth tasks and send me your findings. Once you send me your answers, you may log the cache. You do not have to wait for permission. Finally, please upload any photos you take with your log.
1. In order to appreciate the magnitude of the terraces, measure the distance and elevation change between terraces. The airport runway elevation is 29' (9 m) at 12°11.102 N 068°57.500 W. It is roughly in the center of the Hato Plain terrace while the cache site is near the center of the next higher terrace.
2. Identify at least two types of rock in the immediate vicinity of GZ.
3. Identify at least two species of coral on the terrace by observing fossils in the park.
4. Explain (or at least guess) why the terrain near the cache site is so markedly different than that at north edge of the park (near the cliffs leading down to the airport).
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)