Litzenberg Moraine EarthCache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS
To successfully log this Earthcache as a find, you must email the cache owner the answers to the following questions:
1. What is the difference in elevation between the high point of the moraine, at the overlook deck, and the low point at the Blanchard River?
2. In your opinion, what type of Moraine exists in Litzenberg?
3. At the posted coordinates, you will find a informational sign. Choosing from of the sign, what is your favorite type of animal that may have roamed through Litzenberg during the last ice age?
4. --Optional-- Post a picture of yourself AND/OR your GPS near the posted coordinates.
Litzenberg Memorial Woods
Oak, hickory and maple dominate a mixed species stand of trees in Litzenberg Memorial Woods. Hillsides and upland forest habitats are full of watchable wildlife like squirrels, owls and deer that can be seen from vantage points along the trails. A variety of habitats can be compared in the Park as the north woods slope to fields, wetlands and the Blanchard River floodplain to the south. The ravines contain steep slopes cut into a glacial moraine. The moraine was deposited at the end of the last ice age (Wisconsin Glacial Period) 10,000 - 14,000 years ago. Small streams have continued to cut the ravines from the north bank of the prehistoric and present flood plain of the Blanchard River. The changes in grade or elevations vary significantly from the river to the high point at the overlook deck. This topography gives visitors some interesting scenery not found elsewhere in Hancock County.
The Last Ice Age
The Wisconsin Glacial Episode was the most recent major advance of the North American Laurentide ice sheet. Globally, this advance is known as the last glacial period. The Wisconsin glaciation extended from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago, between the Eemian interglacial and the current interglacial. The maximum ice extent occurred approximately 21,000 years ago during the last glacial maximum, also known as the Late Wisconsin in North America.
Map of Wisconsin Glacial Episode
The Wisconsin glaciation radically altered the geography of North America north of the Ohio River. At the height of the Wisconsin Episode glaciation, the ice sheet covered most of Canada, the Upper Midwest, and New England, as well as parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington. On Kelleys Island in Lake Erie or in New York's Central Park the grooves left by these glaciers can be easily observed. In southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta, a suture zone between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets formed the Cypress Hills, the northernmost point in North America that remained south of the continental ice sheets. At the height of glaciation the Bering land bridge potentially permitted migration of mammals, including humans, to North America from Siberia.
What is a Moraine?
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris (soil and rock) which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have fallen off the valley walls as a result of frost wedging or landslide. Moraines may be composed of debris ranging in size from silt-sized glacial flour to large boulders. The debris is typically sub-angular to rounded in shape. Moraines may be on the glacier’s surface or deposited as piles or sheets of debris where the glacier has melted. Moraines may also occur when glacier- or iceberg-transported rocks fall into a body of water as the ice melts.
Types of Moraines
Moraines can be classified either by their origin, location with respect to a glacier or former glacier, or by shape. The first approach is suitable for moraines associated to contemporary glaciers but more difficult to apply to old moraines whose glaciers have disappeared long ago. Moraines types like rogen and veiki moraines are defined by their particular morphology since their origin has been a matter of dispute. Some moraine types are only known from ancient glaciers, like the two former ones, while medial moraines of valley glaciers are poorly preserved and difficult to distinguish after the retreat or melting of the glacier.
Lateral Moraines: Lateral moraines are parallel ridges of debris deposited along the sides of a glacier. The unconsolidated debris can be deposited on top of the glacier by frost shattering of the valley walls and/or from tributary streams flowing into the valley. The till is carried along the glacial margin until the glacier melts. Because lateral moraines are deposited on top of the glacier, they do not experience the postglacial erosion of the valley floor and therefore, as the glacier melts, lateral moraines are usually preserved as high ridges.
Lateral moraines stand high because they protect the ice under them from the elements, which causes it to melt or sublime less than the uncovered parts of the glacier. Multiple lateral moraines may develop as the glacier advances and retreats.
Ground Moraines: Ground moraines are till covered areas with irregular topography and no ridges, often forming gently rolling hills or plains. It is accumulated at the base of the ice as lodgment till, but may also be deposited as the glacier retreats. In alpine glaciers, ground moraines are often found between the two lateral moraines. Ground moraine may be modified into drumlins by the overriding ice.
Rogan Moraines: Rogen moraines or ribbed moraines are a type of basal moraines that forms a series of ribs perpendicular to the ice flow in an ice sheet. The depressions between the ribs are sometimes filled with water making the Rogen moraines look like tigerstripes on aerial photographs. Rogen moraines are named after Lake Rogen in Härjedalen, Sweden, the landform’s type locality.
End or Terminal Moraines: End moraines, or terminal moraines, are ridges of unconsolidated debris deposited at the snout or end of the glacier. They usually reflect the shape of the glacier's terminus. Glaciers act much like a conveyor belt, carrying debris from the top of the glacier to the bottom where it deposits it in end moraines. End moraine size and shape is determined by whether the glacier is advancing, receding or at equilibrium. The longer the terminus of the glacier stays in one place the more debris will accumulate in the moraine. There are two types of end moraines; terminal and recessional. Terminal moraines mark the maximum advance of the glacier. Recessional moraines are small ridges left as a glacier pauses during its retreat. After a glacier retreats the end moraine may be destroyed by postglacial erosion.
Recessional Moraines: A medial moraine is a ridge of moraine that runs down the center of a valley floor. It is formed when two glaciers meet and the debris on the edges of the adjacent valley sides join and are carried on top of the enlarged glacier. As the glacier melts or retreats, the debris is deposited and a ridge down the middle of the valley floor is created. The Kaskawulsh glacier in the Kluane National Park, Yukon, has a ridge of medial moraine 1 km wide.
Supraglacial Moraines: Supraglacial moraines are created by debris accumulated on top of glacial ice. This debris can accumulate due to ice flow toward the surface in the ablation zone, melting of surface ice or from debris that falls onto the glacier from valley sidewalls.
Washboard Moraines: Washboard moraines, also known as minor or corrugated moraines, are low amplitude geomorphic features caused by glaciers. The name "washboard moraine" refers to the fact that, from the air, it resembles a washboard.
Veiki Moraines: A Veiki moraine is a kind of hummocky moraine that forms irregular landscapes of ponds and plateaus surrounded by banks. It is formed by the irregular melting of an ice covered with a thick layer of debris. Veiki moraine is common in northern Sweden and parts of Canada.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
#2: Tb sbe n jnyx naq gnxr na rqhpngrq thrff. Gurer ner frireny cbffvovyvgvrf sbe nafjrevat gur pbeerpg glcr(f) bs zbenvar