Wragg Swamp EarthCache
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This Earthcache outlines the history of Wragg Swamp and how changes to the swamp over it's history has effected all of the land and water around it.
Also, this Earthcache has been created in the spirit of my Power Walkers Series. You may have to walk up to 1.75 mi to get your answers.
Congratulations DrmLady for FTF of this Earthcache!
Swamps are shallow bodies of water in low-lying, poorly drained depressions, usually containing abundant plant growth dominated by trees, such as cypress, and high shrubs. Swamps develop in moist climates, generally in such places as low-lying coastal plains, floodplains of rivers, and old lake basins or in areas where normal drainage has been disrupted by glacial deposits.
In the United States, swamps cover approximately 100,000 sq mi (260,000 sq km), most of them occurring as small swamps in northeastern states that were covered with glaciers in the past.
The most extensive swamps are found along the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, notable examples being the Everglades of S Florida, Dismal Swamp of Virginia, and Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia and N Florida. Because the bottom of a swamp is at or below the water table, swamps serve to channel runoff into the groundwater supply, thus helping to stabilize the water table.
During periods of very heavy rains, a swamp can act as a natural flood control device, as excess runoff can be temporarily stored in its basin. Swamp vegetation varies with climate. Grasses, rushes, and sphagnum moss predominate in temperate climates; cypress and mangrove predominate in more tropical regions. Lush vegetation provides great protection for nesting waterfowl and fish as well as a hospitable habitat for many types of small mammal such as beaver and otter. Swamps also help maintain water quality by removing and retaining nutrients and processing chemical and organic wastes such as urban pollutants and agricultural chemicals.
This Earthcache is located around the intersection of Interstate 65 and Airport Boulevard in Mobile, Alabama. This entire area was once known as Wragg Swamp. The map above is that of Mobile in 1935, which shows the widest part of this swamp in detail. Sometime in the mid-1950’s the swamp was drained in order to make way for the development of what was then known as Springdale Shopping Center. Its construction began a slow expansion westward from the city of Mobile. Over time the area became more and more urbanized, devastating surrounding creeks. Mobilians who were familiar with Dog River and its tributaries prior to the drainage of Wragg Swamp can tell you of a time when the water was clearer, deeper, and with less pollution in the water and along the banks.
Even though Wragg swamp was drained using channels like the one that you see, the swamp still functions in a seriously degraded form. Along the Montlimar channel you will see you are at the end of the Montlimar fitness trail. The trail is just short of a mile long, paved and fairly well lit at night (indirectly). There are benches to rest on and access to restaurants at stores along it's length. If you walk slowly and look at the channel, egrets have been living in it, a reminder of what was once here? As with any geocache, I recommend taking a buddy with you.
To log this Earthcache you must send me the titles on three of the five information boards along the trail:
Send me a message with the above answer and the geo-names of each person in your group that will log the cache.
DO NOT put any answer in your log, if you do, your log will be deleted without warning.
Information in this cache page has been taken from several sources including:
THE IMPORTANCE OF SWAMPS AND THE EFFECTS OF THEIR DESTRUCTION by Jacquelyn A. Vernon
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 |
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