The Hills are Alive (with the sound of glaciers) EarthCache
The Hills are Alive (with the sound of glaciers)
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
In order to count this Earthcache as a find, you must complete the following tasks and email the answers to me.
1. Describe the area.
2. How many hills can be seen from ground zero? What does that tell you about the glacial movement?
3. What is the elevation on the valley floor?
4. You should clearly be able to see where the Coteau des Prairies begins. Hypothesize the height of the ridge.
5. Describe any glacial boulders that may be seen from ground zero. Include size, shape, and color.
The geological history of Eastern South Dakota is replete with glacial activity. The ridges and valleys that can be seen while driving through this area provide one of the best examples in this part of the state of glacial power. The provided coordinates will take you to a gravel road located on the very eastern edge of the Coteau des Prairies--a landscape created by glacial activity. Enjoy the beautiful landscape!
For a good portion of its geological history, Eastern South Dakota was covered by massive ice sheets that stood about three miles thick at the thickest point. Ever so slowly, these glaciers slide across the earth. As these gigantic ice cubes made their way across the land, the massive force behind the ice sheets gouged out the land it passed over. For a visual, think of what a snow plow does as it moves across a snow-covered street. The earth was pushed forward by the glacier and deposited as mounds of debris. Over time, these “snow piles” became the hills that dot this region today. The hills mark the edge of the glacier. The flat area between the ridges of the hills should give you and indication of how wide (and somewhat of an idea of how tall) the glaciers were. Glacial boulders can also be seen on these hills. These boulders were too large to be broken down into smaller bits by the glacier and so were mixed in with the other glacial debris and deposited in whole. Some of these boulders still lie beneath the surface--unseen. To visualize this, think of a cookie dough blizzard.
The Coteau des Prairies (or “hills of the prairie”) is the most evident example in the midwest of the force of these glaciers. The Coteau des Prairies is a plateau that rises from the prairie flatlands and stretches about 200 miles from north to south and 100 miles from east to west. This landscape covers much of eastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota, and northwestern Iowa. The flat-iron shape of the plateau is one of the most conspicuous landforms in central-US that can be seen on a relief map.
NOT A LOGGING REQUIREMENT: Feel free to post pictures of your group at the area or the area itself - I love looking at the pictures.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures