Wellington Caves EarthCache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(other)
Related Web Page
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
LOCATION: Wellington Caves are located 8km south of Wellington in central New South Wales (Orange 90kms and Dubbo 58kms). CAVE TOURS: Tours are available and last about 45minutes each. The caves are open daily (except Christmas Day), from 9am until 4.00pm. Tours usually run hourly, and more frequently on weekends and during holidays. Unfortunately Wheelchair access is limited only to the mine tour.
Geology The caves at Wellington are located in an outcrop of early Devonian limestone, which is 400 million years old. That limestone is part of the Garra Formation. There are many caves in the Garra limestone but Wellington Caves and Finch’s Cave (located near Euchareena, south of Lake Burrendong) are the only known ones of significant size. The Garra rock, like almost all limestone, is the remains of tiny marine animals, such as corals and other marine invertebrates. The Garra Formation disappears under the Catambol range to the West of the caves reserve, resurfaces further west for a few kilometres and then disappears. From there the land mass was presumably above sea level. Exposed limestone is known as a ‘Karst landscape’ and one of the characteristic features is the pattern made of exposed ridges by rainfall, known as ‘Rillenkarren’. Another feature is the depressions known as ‘dolines’. These are usually collapsed caverns and there is one of these on the caves reserve. The main component of limestone is calcium carbonate. Water passing through the cracks and fissures in the limestone pick up minute quantities of the calcium carbonate which can be deposited in the form of calcite crystals in formations in the caves such as stalagmites, stalactites and flowstone. There is a lot more information at the following link: http://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf1/37.1.Osborne.pdf History The aboriginal tribe of the area, the Wiradjuri people, knew of the caves but were not fond of the caves and considered them to be inhabited by an evil spirit known as ‘Koppa’. The aboriginals made a number of carved trees around the caves. For the European settlers, the first mention of the caves is a picture painted by Augustus Earle 1826/1827. They were noted by Hamilton Hume in 1828, explored in 1830. The first organised tours of the caves began around 1885 when a caretaker was appointed. A phosphate mine was started in 1914 and operated for a number of years. Over time other caves have been discovered and some opened for viewing. To complete this Earthcache you need to: Gather a few pieces of information and email them to me. I will send you back an email letting you know you can log the cache as found. Please do not post your answers in the cache log as it will spoil it for others. 1. How many caves are open for general public and what are their names? 2. How long did the Phosphate mine operate? 3. What prehistoric age did the majority of the fossils originate? 4. Dippy has been at caves a few years now, what and where is he? (He used to be here…) Take a photo with him if you find him. and 5. Can you find the names of those who explored the caves in 1830? Hope you enjoy your visit !
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)