Blow Sand Hill EarthCache
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Difficulty:
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A Four Wheel Drive is recommended.
Blow Sand Hill was formed by the powerful desert wind. As rocks erode away, all that is left of them is sand. These little particles are carried away with the wind and deposited elsewhere, in most cases miles away.
It takes three ingredients to create a sand hill, a lot of sand, strong consistent wind and a good location. Blow Sand Hill is a perfect spot for a sand hill to form.
Wind-blown sand is a highly effective agent of abrasion, as anyone who has been in a sandstorm will agree.
Even after a big weekend of dune buggies, jeeps and ATVs and people, once these intrusions leave, if the wind blows for a couple of days, there will be no trace of people having been on the hill. It’s just as if it were 1000 years ago.
The finest sand grains are on top of the hill because they are the lightest and can travel the furthest. Wind is one of the few agents than can and does carry material uphill. The sand here has been carried for miles before being piled up into the hug sand hill.
If you look closely, the sand at the base of Blow Sand Hill is very large and course, whereas the sand at the top of the hill is very fine. This is because the winds do not carry the larger heavier sand uphill, therefore only the finest sand is at the top of the hill.
There are many examples of wind erosion and sand dispersion in the desert. As your tour the park, check out the Cache Mesquite Dunes SRVA Earthcache,GC1MX8Z. Look carefully at the creosote bushes, cacti and high spots in the desert; check the wind direction of the sand build up around these items. These places will have a buildup of sand when left undisturbed.
Logging requirements:
E-mail the answers
1. The text "Blow Sand Hill Ocotillo Wells" & the geocache number on the first line
2. The number of people in your group.
3. Based on the information above, estimate the size of the sand at the posted coordinates.
4. What is the elevation at ground zero.
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Treasures
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