Piney Island Marshes EarthCache
This cache has been locked, but it is available for viewing.
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This cache is dedicated to Dr. John Dennis Robinson. Included are parking coordinates. You have permission from the landowner to travel east through the woods to ground zero. Remember the policy of Leave No Trace, and tread carefully. There is a property to the north, and a railroad to the south. Do NOT cross over. There is no need. Upon reaching ground zero you will arrive at a small grove of trees. From this general area you will be able to observe and answer all questions.
Salt marshes are located among different landforms based on their physical and geomorphological settings. Such marsh landforms include deltaic marshes, estuarine, back-barrier, open coast, embayments and drowned-valley marshes. Deltaic marshes are associated with large rivers where many occur in Southern Europe such as the Camargue in the Rhone delta or the Ebro delta. They are also highly extensive within the rivers of the Mississippi Delta. In New Zealand, most salt marshes occur at the head of estuaries in areas where there is little wave action and high sedimentation. Such marshes are located in Awhitu Regional Park in Auckland, the Manawatu Estuary and the Avon-Heathcote Estuary in Christchurch. Back-barrier marshes are sensitive to the reshaping of barriers in the landward side of which they have been formed. They are common along much of the eastern coast of the United States and the Frisian Islands. Large, shallow coastal embayments can hold salt marshes with examples including Morecambe Bay and Portsmouth in Britain and the Bay of Fundy in North America. Salt marshes are sometime included in lagoons, and the difference is not very marked: e.g. a major part of the Venetian Lagoon is made of them.
While salt marshes located near low elevation are not normally thought of as geological landmarks, they are in fact the result of millions of years of erosion and geological changes. Over time, ocean inlets have found ways into the landmass and shaped the landscape. The snakelike formations that can be seen from satellite images of the marshes are part of the ever changing process of erosion, which shapes the terrain, thus affecting the entire ecosystem. Without these constant geological changes we would not have the diverse landscape you will see at ground zero. It may not be the rocky mountains, or a pretty rock formation, but low elevation geological environments have a part to play in the interaction between people and how they live their lives. I hope that by bringing you here you can enjoy the beautiful environment I call home.
Enjoy the scenery and then answer the following questions in an email to me (NOT in the log):
1. Based on what you can see at ground zero, and from the information on the web page, do you think this area is part of a deltaic or back-barrier marsh? Explain your answer.
2. What is the elevation (above sea level) at ground zero?
3. Can you see any tide inlets from the ground zero area? If so, how deep are they? How have they helped shape the low elevation terrain around them?
4. Is it high tide or low tide? How have the tides affected the topography of the marsh?
Lastly, while it is not necessary, feel free to include a picture of yourself at ground zero.
Information for salt marsh descriptions on this page were referenced from Wikipedia.org (English) search result- salt marsh.
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