Crack in the Ground EarthCache
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Park at the designated parking area only. Follow the established trail to the entrance of Crack in the Ground. There are NO barricades, warning signs or safety nets here. Keep your children close to you and your dogs on a leash. Please note that during the spring and early summer that you may find snow in the crack when there is none to be seen on the ground. Please be careful if you see snow in the crack. The answers as to the width and depth can be observed from the edge of the crack.
The Four Craters Lava Field formed during the late Pleistocene era at least 11,700 years ago. Crack in the Ground is along the southwestern side of the lava field. Crack in the Ground opened before the last volcanic activity and as its northwest end a tongue of lava piles up, tumbled into, filled, and buried the chasm for several hundred yards. The opening of the fissure probably took place no more than 1,000 years ago. Erosion and weathering have been at a minimum but over many years sand has blown or washed in to fill the bottom. At several places the walls have slumped, thus bridging the gap and allowing access to the deeper parts of the fissure. Winter ice is sometimes preserved during the summer in the deeper, more cavernous places where cold air is trapped. Homesteaders in the area have known about this giant fissure for many years. Reuben Long of Fort Rock, Oregon, notes author of the "Oregon Desert" reports that when he lived at Christmas Lake as a boy, he used to explore "the Crack" as it was called locally. He remembers the homesteaders went there to hold picnics and make ice cream, using ice they found in the caves of the chasm. The Four Craters Lava Field originated from four pyroclastic cones that were constructed along a roughly 4-km-long NW-SE-trending line. The NW-most and highest cone has a well-preserved crater rim. The other cones are breached to the west, SW, and south, respectively. The age of the Four Craters lava field is not known precisely, but it was considered to be latest Pleistocene or early Holocene (Sarna-Wojciki et al., 1983). Sherrod (1995, pers. comm.) noted that the age is not well constrained, but could be latest Pleistocene. (from Smithsonian) Crack in the Ground road turns north about 2 miles east of the town of Christmas Valley. The parking area is about 7.5 miles from the turnoff. Since there is not a good information sign on site, you may have to Google some of the information. Some information is available at the Oregon Outback kiosk at Fort Rock Junction (GC1Q7Y3). To make sure you visit the Crack in the Ground, I made 2 questions that can be answered only on site. Any armchair logs will be deleted. I hid a small geocache 250 feet~122 steps from the entrance (GC31VYX). Original cache is gone. Earth cache location is about 72 steps past the "Step down" spot. As always, do not reveal the answers in your online log. Pictures are encouraged but not required. Question #1: How wide is the crack 250' in from the entrance? Question #2: How deep is the crack 250' in from the entrance? (look up the cliff for the dead sage brush bush) Question #3: What type of rock is this? Do not answer hard! It is not flint, limestone or scoria. Question #4 As you look ESE down the Crack in the Ground, which side (right or left) is part of the Green Mountain Block? The Crack in the Ground is relatively new in geologic terms. It broke open only about 1100 years ago. Contact me though my profile with the answers. If you came this far, visit the two logscaler & Red caches in the area. http://www.geosociety.org/earthcache/Images/banners/OfficialECBanner.jpg
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