This location holds a special 4th of July memory for me, so I
wanted to commemorate this beautiful area with an earthcache.
Please take the time to sit and enjoy the lake while thinking about
what went into creating it. Ample parking is available at this
public park, and it is wheelchair accessible. This cache is named
after the very nice man whom you will probably see sitting on the
bench near the marker. Feel free to say hi to him!
Lakes are extremely varied in terms of origin, occurrence, size,
shape, depth, water chemistry, and other features. Lakes can be
only a few hectares in surface area (i.e., less than a square
kilometer), or they can be thousands of square kilometers. Their
average depth can range from a few meters to more than a thousand
meters. Lakes can be nearly uniformly round, or they can be
irregularly shaped.
Their water can be highly acidic (as in some caldera lakes),
nearly neutral, or highly alkaline (as in soda lakes). Lakes can be
low in nutrients (oligotrophic), moderately enriched (mesotrophic),
or highly enriched (eutrophic). Lakes may be fresh-water or
salt-water (saline). Fresh-water lakes contains less than 1 gram
per liter of salt, whereas saline or hypersaline lakes, such as the
Great Salt Lake (Utah), may contain more than 250 grams per liter.
For comparison, sea water contains about 35 grams per liter. Saline
lakes typically occur in arid climates, and occupy closed basins
(low areas which lack stream outflow).
Lakes can be formed in many different ways. Below are listed a
few of the more common types and methods of formation:
• Periglacial lake: Part of the lake's margin is formed by an
ice sheet, ice cap or glacier, the ice having obstructed the
natural drainage of the land.
• Glacial lake: a lake with origins in a melted glacier, such
as a kettle lake.
• Artificial lake: A lake created by flooding land behind a
dam, called an impoundment or reservoir, by deliberate human
excavation, or by the flooding of an excavation incident to a
mineral-extraction operation such as an open pit mine.
• Endorheic lake, A lake which has no significant outflow,
either through rivers or underground diffusion.
• Crater lake: A lake which forms in a volcanic caldera or
crater after the volcano has been inactive for some time.
• Lava lake: A pool of molten lava contained in a volcanic
crater or other depression. Lava lakes that have partly or
completely solidified are also referred to as lava lakes.
• Ephemeral lake: A seasonal lake that exists as a body of
water during only part of the year.
• Intermittent lake: A lake with no water during a part of the
year.
To log this cache, please email me the answers to the following
two questions. As with all earthcaches, please do not include the
answers in your log. The photo is optional, but I love to see
them!
1) Based on the information above and the marker at this location,
determine which type of lake this is.
2) Using the information on the marker, hypothesize how this lake
came into being.
3) Optional: Take a photo of yourself with the lake in the
background. Please do not take a picture of the information
marker!