Limestone is one of the most common natural building materials in the world. It can be found on all corners of the earth, but only makes up about 8% - 10% of the volume of the planet's sedimentary rocks. Limestone deposits can be found on every continent, and humans have used is as a construction material at least since the time of the Egyptian pyramids. But not all limestone is created equal.
As mentioned, limestone is a sedminetary rock, meaning that it is composed from the deposition of minerals and organic particles on the earth's surface and on the bottom of the oceans. The deposition of different kinds of grainy sediment—usually the calcium shells of marine life such as corals—causes the formation of different kinds of limestone. For example, coquina limestone, found in Florida, looks like this:
Coquina limestone is interesting in that the calcite shells are still readily visible.
On the other hand, carboniferous limestone, found in Great Britain and Ireland, has a smoother surface marked by the tracks of organisms:
There is also a type of limestone called Tennessee Marble, which is a crystalline limestone valued for its pink hue:
The different type of limestone are categorized based on their composition, although all limestone contains calcite and argonite. Tthe colors differ because of the different kinds of impurities, such as clay, sand, iron oxide, or other materials that mixed in with the calcite shells. So the color of a limestone block can act as a kind of a fingerprint for the quarry from which the stone came.
There are a number of buildings in Bowling Green constructed from limestone. The most prominent ones sit on the campus of Western Kentucky University. Your task is to examine the limestone used in a pair of buildings at WKU.
Go to the coordinates listed for this cache. You will be standing in front of Cherry Hall.
This building is the iconic building for the campus—the cupola is used as the symbol of Western Kentucky University. While there get close to the building and notice the color and texture of the limestone on the building. It it oolitic limestone, so-called because of the presence of oolites, a spherical grain of calcite that leave pocks in the limestone.
Cherry Hall was erected during the New Deal, as part of a Works Progress Administration project. The limestone for this building came from an area where the limestone is so well-known that it is named after the geographic region and the nearby town. Your task is to figure out the area where the quarry came from. You will need the following information in order to complete the coordinates:
1. There are a number of inscriptions on the statue in front of Charry Hall. On the side under Henry Hardin Cherry's left foot, count the number of letters in the inscription. It is a two digit number, to which you should assign the letters AB. Plug them in below.
2. As you face the building, there is a year inscribed in front side, on the far right, near the bottom. Assign the numbers 19CD and plug in below.
The Cherry Hall limestone quarry can be found at:
N A8 5B.AD0
W 8D C1.871
Once you've plugged the numbers into your GPS, figure out how far away and in what direction the quarry lies. Once you get home, use the coordinates to figure out the name for the type of limestone quarried here. Google and wikipedia are your friends here.
The second stage of the earth cache can be found at Van Meter Auditorium:
N 36 59.295
W 86 27.142
Van Meter Auditorium is used for arts performances, lectures, convocations and even weddings. When you get to Van Meter, get close to the building and notice the color and texture of the limestone used as the base of the building. How is the color different from the limestone at Cherry Hall? Although this is also oolitic limestone, the blocks for this building came from a different quarry, far from the quarry that supplied the limestone for Cherry Hall. To figure out where this quarry is, you will need the following information:
1. To the immediate right of the front doors at the top of the steps there is a small bronze plaque with a year printed on it. What is the most commonly-ocurring number in the year? Assign it the letter E and plug it in below.
2. There are eight massive Ionic columns in front of the hall. These columns are stacked in round segments. Figure out how many round segments there are altogether. Then take the second digit of that that two-digit number and assign it the letter F.
The Van Meter Auditorium limestone quarry can be found at:
N 36 5F.E50
W F6 3E.270
Once you've plugged the numbers into your GPS, figure out how far and in what direction the quarry for the Van Meter limestone lies.
Altogether, you need to send me the following answers in order to log this cache:
- Describe the color difference in the limestone between the two buildings. Do you notice a difference in texture as well?
- When standing in front of Cherry Hall, what is the distance and direction—in degrees and as an expression of cardinal direction—to the quarry from which this stone came?
- What is the limestone from this area called? (Can be found on Google and then in Wikipedia)
- Name one other major building in the United States constructed from this type of limestone. (Can be found by googling the type of limestone and looking in Wikipedia)
- When standing in front of Van Meter Hall, what is the distance and direction—in degrees and as an expression of cardinal direction—to the quarry from which this stone came?
Of course, it is not a requirement, but we'd love to see pictures of you and your crew at the cache site. Enjoy the view!
Finally, even though this is a University campus with a full staff of folks to keep the place clean, you can still practice Cache In, Trash Out. Leave it a little cleaner than you found it.