Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse on Limestone
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NEW CACHERS OR CACHERS THAT HAVE NOT DONE A EARTHCACHE BEFORE PLEASE READ THIS!!!
PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. THE QUESTIONS ARE THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE SMILEY ON THIS CACHE SINCE THERE IS NOT A PHYSICAL CONTAINER HERE!!! EMAIL ME THE ANSWERS THROUGH MY GEOCACHING.COM PROFILE.
This cache is handicap accessible and can be done from the parking lot at the bottom and handicap parking (2 parking spots) is near the lighthouse. The coordinates will take you to the lower parking lot area.
******Pictures of you near the Lighthouse requested but not required.******
The Burlington Formation is a marine limestone, found in rock layers laid down during the Mississippian Period (325-360 million years ago). The Mississippian Period was relatively short-lasting only 35 million years-and its fossil record is almost entirely marine (Thompson, 1982). This is due to the flooding of North America called the Kaskaskia transgression, which began during the Devonian Period (380-450 million years ago). This was interrupted at the end of the Devonian Period by partial regression, but deposition continued uninterrupted into the Mississippian Period. The Kaskaskia Sea reached its greatest extent about the middle of the Mississippian Period, and late Mississippian sedimentary rocks of the basins mark its recession. This recession also marks the boundary between the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Periods in the North America (Clark and Stern, 1960).
The Mississippi Valley was covered by this clear, shallow, warm inland sea that advanced from the south. During this period, limestone was deposited to a total thickness of more than 2,000 feet in some areas. These limestone deposits occur almost continuously from Iowa to Alabama. The high bluff along the Mississippi River north of St. Louis are typical of this deposit (Shourd and Wegenek, 1969).
The Kaskaskia Sea extended from the west, eastward into the Mississippi Valley. The Early Mississippian marine deposits are far thicker in the west and they seem to represent a much longer record of the limestone deposition than anywhere else on the continent (Moore, 1958). From Kansas, eastward to the Ohio Valley, the Early Mississippian deposits are relatively thin and lithologically somewhat variable. The prevailing lack of course sediments indicates that the adjacent lands were low.
Shifting seas, oscillating sea level, and instability of the sea floor at the close of the Devonian time and the beginning of the Mississippian resulted in a sequence of rock units that are complexly interlayered and vary from one to another. As a result, geologists have found it difficult to make precise correlations between regions. Some beds with definite characteristics in one locality are considerably different even a short distance away. Also, some beds lack distinctive fossils, and some have no fossils, making age determinations difficult (Unklesbay and Vineyard, 1992). Thompson (1986) has completely revised the Mississippian succession with new definitions of some old units and the introduction of the newly named ones.
Throughout most of the mid-continent, the Mississippian is divided into four series--the Kinderhook, Osage, Meramec and Chester. In the Mississippian of Missouri, the oldest. Kinderhook is followed by a thick limestone section comprising the Osagean Series. The Burlington Limestone is its most prominent formation. It was recognized in the mid 1800's and named by James Hall (Moore, 1928) for its occurrence in the bluffs along the Mississippi Valley at Burlington, Iowa, to include the beds which had been called the "Encrinital group of the Burlington" and the reddish brown Encrintal group of Hannibal."
Questions to answer for logging purposes and requesting picture but not required per earthcache rules.
1. The Burlington Formation is what type of Limestone?
2. What time period was this limestone laid down in?
3. The Burlington Formation stretches from what state to what state? (East to West) and (North to South)
4. Where is the Burlington Formation not present in the State of Missouri, and why?
5. How wide is the limestone cut?(tape measure required)
6. Request a picture of lighthouse, but not required due to earthcache rules.
History of Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse on Cardiff Hill, Hannibal, Missouri U.S.A.
The Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse stands on Cardiff Hill, overlooking Hannibal, Missouri, Mark Twain's boyhood home town, on the banks of the Mississippi River. It is the furthest inland lighthouse in the world and was first lighted in 1935 by President Franklin Roosevelt from the White House in celebration of Mark Twain's 100th birthday. It was relighted by President Kennedy in 1963, and rededicated and relighted by President Clinton in 1994. In 2001, the lighthouse is undergoing additional renovation through grants from the National Park Service and the Missouri Division of State Parks. The lighthouse's beacon serves to remind visitors from around the world of the spirit of adventure chronicled in Mark Twain's books. This spirit was brought to life in Twain's characters Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and Becky Thatcher.
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