Pillars of the Nation EarthCache EarthCache
Pillars of the Nation EarthCache
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At this location you will find four pillars representing stones
found in each state. The minerals listed below can be found on
these pillars. To complete this earthcache you will need to examine
the information sign, all 4 pillars and this page to answer the
following questions: Please click on the link to my profile to
email me answers to ALL of the questions below. Any logs without
the answers emailed to me will have their log deleted:
Please do not post any of your answers in your log or include any
photos showing the answers.
Questions:
1) There is a map of South Dakota on one of the pillars.
a. What type of stone is the map made from?
b. What year is etched into the map?
2) There are some fossils below the VA.& N.C. sign. How many
Nautiloids are located here?
3) Excluding the stones listed below, name 3 other stones found on
the pillars. This may require a little research on the internet if
you’re not familiar with basic geology.
4)
a. What is the main use of bauxite?
b. Which state designated bauxite as their "State Rock"?
c. Which country is the world’s largest producer of
Bauxite?
5) How many states have stones on display?( Hint: It’s not
50)
6) Directly above the Nevada sign you will find a round weird
looking rock. Describe this rock in detail.
Quartz:
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's
continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous
framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen
being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula
SiO2.There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which
are semi-precious gemstones. Especially in Europe and the Middle
East, varieties of quartz have been since antiquity the most
commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone
carvings.
Slate:
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock
derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of
clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The
result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond
to the original sedimentary layering. When expertly "cut" by
striking with a specialized tool in the quarry, many slates will
form smooth flat sheets of stone which have long been used for
roofing and floor tiles and other purposes.
Slate is frequently grey in color, especially when seen in masse
covering roofs. However, slate occurs in a variety of colors even
from a single locality; for example, slate from North Wales can be
found in many shades of grey, from pale to dark, and may also be
purple, green or cyan. Slate is not to be confused with shale, from
which it may be formed, or schist. Ninety percent of Europe's
natural slate used for roofing originates from Spain.
Granite:
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic,
igneous rock. Granites usually have a medium- to coarse-grained
texture. Occasionally some individual crystals (phenocrysts) are
larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as
porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic texture is
sometimes known as a porphyry. Granites can be pink to gray in
color, depending on their chemistry and mineralogy. By definition,
granite is an igneous rock with at least 20% quartz by volume.
Granite differs from granodiorite in that at least 35% of the
feldspar in granite is alkali feldspar as opposed to plagioclase;
it is the alkali feldspar that gives many granites a distinctive
pink color. Outcrops of granite tend to form tors and rounded
massifs. Granites sometimes occur in circular depressions
surrounded by a range of hills, formed by the metamorphic aureole
or hornfels. Granite is usually found in the continental plates of
the Earth's crust.
Marble:
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate
minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Geologists use the
term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however
stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed
limestone. Marble is a rock resulting from metamorphism of
sedimentary carbonate rocks, most commonly limestone or dolomite
rock. Metamorphism causes variable recrystallization of the
original carbonate mineral grains.The resulting marble rock is
typically composed of an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals.
Primary sedimentary textures and structures of the original
carbonate rock (protolith) have typically been modified or
destroyed. Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a
very pure (silicate-poor) limestone or dolomite protolith. The
characteristic swirls and veins of many colored marble varieties
are usually due to various mineral impurities such as clay, silt,
sand, iron oxides, or chert which were originally present as grains
or layers in the limestone. Green coloration is often due to
serpentine resulting from originally high magnesium limestone or
dolostone with silica impurities. These various impurities have
been mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure and heat
of the metamorphism.
Bauxite:
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main provider of aluminium.
This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al(OH)3,
boehmite ?-AlO(OH), and diaspore a-AlO(OH), in a mixture with the
two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite,
and small amounts of anatase TiO2. Bauxite was named after the
village Les Baux in southern France, where it was first recognised
as containing aluminium and named by the French geologist Pierre
Berthier in 1821. Lateritic bauxites (silicate bauxites) are
distinguished from karst bauxite ores (carbonate bauxites). The
early discovered carbonate bauxites occur predominantly in Europe
and Jamaica above carbonate rocks (limestone and dolomite), where
they were formed by lateritic weathering and residual accumulation
of intercalated clays or by clay dissolution residues of the
limestone.
The lateritic bauxites are found mostly in the countries of the
tropics.They were formed by lateritization (see laterite) of
various silicate rocks such as granite, gneiss, basalt, syenite,
and shale. In comparison with the iron-rich laterites, the
formation of bauxites demands even more intense weathering
conditions in a location with very good drainage. This enables the
dissolution of the kaolinite and the precipitation of the gibbsite.
Zones with highest aluminium content are frequently located below a
ferruginous surface layer. The aluminium hydroxide in the lateritic
bauxite deposits is almost exclusively gibbsite. Australia is the
top producer of bauxite with almost one-third of the world's
production, followed by China, Brazil, Guinea, and India. Although
aluminium demand is rapidly increasing, known reserves of its
bauxite ore are sufficient to meet the worldwide demands for
aluminium for many centuries. Increased aluminium recycling, which
has the advantage of lowering the cost in electric power in
producing aluminium, will considerably extend the world's bauxite
reserves. Arkansas has the largest bauxite deposits in the United
States (located in Saline County). Bauxite was designated the
official state rock of Arkansas in 1967.
Fossils:
Brachiopods: Brachiopods are marine animals that, upon first
glance, look like clams. They are actually quite different from
clams in their anatomy, and they are not closely related to the
molluscs. They are lophophorates, and so are related to the Bryozoa
and Phoronida. Although they seem rare in today's seas, they are
actually fairly common. However, they often make their homes in
very cold water, either in polar regions or at great depths in the
ocean, and thus are not often encountered. There are about 300
living species of brachiopods. Depsite their relative obscurity
today, brachiopods have a long and rich paleontological history.
During the Paleozoic era, they were extremely abundant. They
diversified into a number of different morphologies and even
participated in the build-up of ancient reefs. At the end of the
Paleozoic, some 250 million years ago, they were decimated in the
worst mass extinction of all time, the Permo-Triassic event. Their
numbers have never been as great since that time.
Nautiloids Nautiloids are the only cephalopods with an
external shell that are still alive today. The living animal,
Nautilus, is housed in a coiled shell, exposing only its head and
tentacles to the outside world. Much of the shell is divided into
chambers that are filled with gas. By adjusting the levels of gas
the animal may live in the depths of the ocean and move to shallow
water at night time to feed.
Nautiloids first appeared about 500 million years ago. Then, there
were many different species and they lived in the seas throughout
the world. Today, the few surviving species are found in seas
around Australia and the Philippines. They are often referred to as
living fossils, as they have changed very little over millions of
years.
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