Cedar Sink / Mammoth Cave EarthCache
Cedar Sink / Mammoth Cave
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The hike to Cedar Sink is one of the most enjoyable at Mammoth Cave.
Cedar Sink is perhaps the most dramatic surface expression of the cave-bearing landscape of Mammoth Cave National Park. A short walk leads to the lip of this deep depression. By walking down into the sink, one is afforded a glimpse of the regions underground river system as one such stream emerges briefly into the sunlight.
Cedar Sink is located in south central Kentucky, inside the Mammoth Cave National Park, which is also the location of the largest known cave in the world, Mammoth Cave. Cedar Sink is aptly named because it is a collapse structure – also called sink holes or sinks. That is because this region is karst terrain, where the landscape is influenced by the dissolution of rock (essentially dissolves). When the rock is dissolved it can result in the formation of caves, as well as a variety of other features including sinkholes which are depressions in the ground formed by the removal of soil or rock.
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote , is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone. Sinkholes may vary in size from 1 to 600 meters (3.3 to 2,000 ft) both in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. Sinkholes may be formed gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide. The different terms for sinkholes are often used interchangeably.
Sinkholes may capture surface drainage from running or standing water, but may also form in high and dry locations.
The mechanisms of formation involve natural processes of erosion or gradual removal of slightly soluble bedrock (such as limestone) by percolating water, the collapse of a cave roof, or a lowering of the water table. Sinkholes often form through the process of suffosion. Thus, for example, groundwater may dissolve the carbonate cement holding the sandstone particles together and then carry away the lax particles, gradually forming a void.
Occasionally a sinkhole may exhibit a visible opening into a cave below. In the case of exceptionally large sinkholes, such as Minyé sinkhole in Papua New Guinea or Cedar Sink at Mammoth Cave National Park, USA, a stream or river may be visible across its bottom flowing from one side to the other.
Sinkholes are common where the rock below the land surface is limestone or other carbonate rock, salt beds, or rocks that can naturally be dissolved by circulating ground water. As the rock dissolves, spaces and caverns develop underground. These sinkholes can be dramatic because the surface land usually stays intact until there is not enough support. Then, a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur.
Sinkholes also form from human activity, such as the rare but still occasional collapse of abandoned mines in places like West Virginia, USA. More commonly, sinkholes occur in urban areas due to water main breaks or sewer collapses when old pipes give way. They can also occur from the overpumping and extraction of groundwater and subsurface fluids. They can also form when natural water-drainage patterns are changed and new water-diversion systems are developed. Some sinkholes form when the land surface is changed, such as when industrial and runoff-storage ponds are created; the substantial weight of the new material can trigger an underground collapse of supporting material, thus, causing a sinkhole.
I am not an authority on geology so I had to get most of my information for this Earth Cache from Wikipedia, Bijoutery's Blog and from information found at Mammoth Cave.
The hike to Cedar Sink and back is about an hour if you take your time.
Keep in mind that you are not allowed to wander off the trails.
You do not have to post a photo of yourself but one would be appreciated.
To get credit for this Earth Cache you must hike to the posted coordinates, find the answers to these questions and email me the answers.
Now for the questions
1.While standing on the first platform that you come to you will notice a river.
What is it's name?
2.How has the river affected the terrain?
3.While standing on the platform at the posted coordinates.
Estimate the size of the entire sink from the cliffs where the steps are to the cliffs on the opposite side?.
Remember it is against the rules at Mammoth Cave National Park to get off the designated trails and please respect the wildlife.
Please don’t get off the trails even if it looks like someone else has.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Rawbl gur uvxr
Treasures
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