| In order to access the Earthcache location, you will need to obtain a permit for the South Coyote Buttes area. There are two options to obtain a permit from the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the area. Please follow the Related Webpage link above, or follow the link below:
Coyote Buttes Permits
In addition to the Permit, whether by mail or one of the walk-in permits, you will also get some coaching on Leave No Trace Principles, to both enhance your visit and to protect the fragile formations in the area.
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Although not nearly as famous as its Northern namesake, South Coyote Buttes has a rather undeserved reputation of being a sort of "door # 3" in the Let's Make a Deal of the BLM Permit Process (maybe the Wheel of Fortune would be more accurate). Most people coming to visit The Wave, often end up "settling" for a visit to either Paw Hole Trailhead, or the nearby Cottonwood Teepees area, after failing to obtain a permit for North Coyote Buttes. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
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Logging Requirements
Email the following information/answers to me:
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In the subject line, please include the following: "Hard and Soft:Differential Erosion GC3FJ9T".
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The number of individuals in your group.
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Your Permit Number issued by the BLM.
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Compare the color and texture between the harder, broader ribs, to that of the thinner layers.
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How do you think the comparative hardness of the sandstone layers contribute to the variation in erosion?
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What Mohs Hardness Scale would you rate the softer layers?
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A short walk from the Paw Hole Trailhead parking area, should bring you to the Earthcache coordinates, and in view of something similar to the picture above.
We've all heard the phrase, "hard as a rock", yet not all rocks are of the same hardness. Geologists have a objective scale of hardness classifications, based upon 10 standard minerals. From softest to hardest they are:
1. Talc
2. Gypsum
3. Calcite
4.Flourite
5. Apatite
6. Feldspar
7. Quartz
8. Topaz
9. Corundum
10. Diamond
This scale of hardness is referred to as the Mohs Mineral Hardness Scale. It's quite ironic then, to wander around the "teepees" of the Paw Hole area, which are predominantly made of up sandstone (i.e. quartz), and witness erosion on a fantastical scale! Quartz, being number 7 on the scale, would make you think that it should hold together pretty well.
Of course, the answer to the seeming conundrum, is that these features aren't made up of a single piece of silica, but of individual grains of sand that have been compressed and packed together, and to some extent, held together by Iron (i.e. hematite). Still it is curious to wonder why then, don't the features all erode at the same rate?
At the teepees at the cache page coordinates, the varying ribs of sandstone will be clearly evident. In the final question of the Logging Requirements, give some thought, knowing that the softer layers can't be any harder than a Mohs Scale of 7, just how soft it appears to be?
References and further reading:
"Scenes of the Plateau Lands and How They Came to Be", William Lee Stokes; 1969, 20th printing. Starstone Publishing Company, 333 J Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84103.
Pliny the Elder.Naturalis Historia. Book 37. Chap. 76. The methods of testing precious stones.
American Federation of Mineralogical Societies. "Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness"