Slumgullion Stew EarthCache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Slumgullian is named so because it looks like a popular stew often eaten by early prospectors made with potatoes and whatever meat and veggies could be scrounged up.
When at the posted coordinates you will be on windy point overlook, about halfway up Slumgullian Pass. Before you lies the Slumgullian Earthflow National Landmark, known locally as the Slumgullian Slide. The original slide, known as an earthflow or "mass waisting" by geologists occured about 700 years ago when a decomposed volcanic rock section of Mesa Seco gave way, migrated down the mountain and blocked the Lake Fork arm of the Gunnison River. This created Colorado's second largest natural lake, Lake San Cristobal. Parts of the original flow can still be seen and cover about 100 acres. The major flow you see before you began about 300 years ago and is still active. This earthflow is one of the most visable flows on the planet (1).
The Decomposed volcanic ash consists mainly of a mineral called montmorillonite, a spongy clay made of plate shaped crystals. Montmorrilite can absorb and retain large quantities of water and particles may swell up to 20 times thier original volume. Theese facts have led geologists to a primary theory of the nature of the earthflow (2).
Modern geologic surveys track the movement of the earthflow at around 20 feet (6 meters) anually at the narrowest part of the slide, near the vertical center of the flow. A joint project beginning in1998 between Brigham Young University and the USGS produced evidence backing a popular hypothisis that the modern flow is heavily influenced by ground water levels and thus is seasonal in nature (3).
Slumgullion Pass is located in the San Juan mountain range. The San Juans cover about 15000 square miles and are the largest reminant of a composite volcanic cauldera field, created about 30 to 35 million years ago. The many peaks and valleys are a direct result of caulderas forming adjacent to one another,combined with glacial erosion (4). The distinctive jagged, rocky appearance of the San Juan range is what the glaciers left behind; exposed basement rock which is a group of very hard erosion resistant formations like granodiorite and quartsite. The earthflow here is a great example of gravitational erosion, where the weight of the soil overcomes the friction holding it in place. Millions of years from now the soil you see and the soil you stand on will have worn down and been carried away by the wind and rain, exposing more basement rock as the San Juans continue thier cycle of uplift (endogenic) and erosion (exogenic) processes (5)
Requirements for logging:
Answer the following questions:
1-According to one of the information boards, how deep and how cold can it get in the San Juans?
2-A quote from a letter written in 1876 is posted. Who wrote the letter?
3-How were the minerals deposited into the volcanic rock and when, according to the sign board, did prospectors begin arriving toseek those minerals?
(1) (visit link)
(2) (visit link)
(3) (visit link)
(4) (visit link)
(5) (visit link)
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)