Owyhee River Basin Overlook Earth Cache EarthCache
Owyhee River Basin Overlook Earth Cache
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The coordinates will lead you to a scenic overlook area on US95 and a sign describing the area near Rome Oregon. You can access this area from either traveling direction. Please remember the nearby traffic and pay close attention to children and pets. Just south of this area is the Rome Launching area for those that would like to explore the area more
The Owyhee River begins in Nevada and flows in a northwesterly direction through extreme southwestern Idaho into southeastern Oregon. In Oregon it continues in a northerly direction until it flows into the Snake River east of Nyssa Oregon near the Idaho border. The river and surrounding area derives its strange name from an outdated spelling of the word Hawaii and for a group of Hawaiian trappers who got lost and died in the region in 1818. Speaking Owyhee and Hawaii out loud one will discover that the two words are very similar in pronunciation. The river has cut deep canyons into the landscape which reveal a geologic history beginning many millions of years ago. The main the river canyon exposes strata of three eras. The Owyhee offers breathtaking towering cliffs, above the river, picturesque multi-colored geological formations of basalt flows interspersed with sedimentary rock and fossil deposits.
The Owyhee River from Rome to Owyhee Reservoir cuts neatly through the strata of the Owyhee Plateau, beginning with the youngest rock — the Rome Beds — and ending with the oldest — the Sucker Creek Formation. To float down river is in effect to travel progressively backward in time for a period of roughly 6 million years. This amounts to a backward step in time of roughly 100,000 years with each river mile.
The rocks found in the Owyhee River Canyon are relatively young in geologic terms. The Owyhee rocks are composed of sediments deposited in shallow lake basins, interspersed with volcanic deposits. Some prime examples of rocks and minerals include Sandstone, Mudstone, Limestone, Quartz, Opal, Calcite, Potassium Feldspar, Fluorite, Mordenite, Zeolite, Erionite and Clay Minerals. Intense volcanic and hot spring activity over millions of years has produced fine-grained gold deposits and Jasperoids that are prized by rock hounds.
In Rome, the buff to tan colored Rome Beds is visible on the skyline in every direction. The evenly layered nature of these sediments is the hallmark of an ancient lake of considerable size. Between the mud/clay layers one sees coarse sand and gravel from the old lake shore. The fossils preserved in this area include a diverse cross-section of leaves, pollen, and wood, as well as mammals, including rhinoceros, camels, horses, bears, peccaries, beaver, antelope, rabbits, and otters. In addition, the bones and scales of many species of fish are preserved. Most of these fossils have been dated as about 10 million years old. The abundance of huge lake fish and the presence and size of aquatic mammals suggest that the lake was quite large.
To receive credit for this cache, send the answers to the following questions to the CO.
1)How many in your party and what was your arrival time?
2)Look to the south and count the multi-collored layers in the highway cut out.
3)Based on the colors of the layers what rocks make up the layers.
According to the sign at GZ:
4) How many years ago did the geological life of the Owyhee River Basin Begin?
5) Through what three strata eras does the Owyhee River flow?
Conratulations to Sparky52 for FTF !!!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Erzrzore or ivtvynag jvgu fznyy puvyqera naq crgf.