Atsena Otie EarthCache

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Geocaching HQ Admin: It has now been over 30 days since Geocaching HQ submitted the disabled log below and, unfortunately, the cache owner has not posted an Owner maintenance log and re-enabled this geocache. As a result, we are now archiving this cache page.

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Hidden : 5/24/2012
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
5 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

This Earthcache takes you to a tiny barrier island near the small artist’s colony of Cedar Key. The island, Astena Otie, is actually 2 islands and a handful of sandbars with vegetation cropping up. As far as Mother Earth is concerned, Atsena Otie is always "under construction" due to weathering, erosion, deposition, and a little something else.

Weathering

– is one of the Earth’s destructive processes. It is the breakdown of rock. Chemical weathering actually changes the mineral composition of rock, while physical weathering breaks rock into smaller pieces without changing its composition. The main causes, or agents, of weathering are water, wind, and ice. Around here, it’s just wind and water. Water can dissolve the minerals in a rock, which happens a lot in Florida. Wind can grind and polish rocks by blowing them against each other. Another less-often considered agent of weathering is vegetation. Ever seen a weed slowly but surely spread a crack in your driveway? A seed will plant itself in the nook or cranny of rock, and if conditions are right, the roots will grow into the cracks, make them bigger, and thus weather the rock.

Weathering can be affected by the composition of the rock. Harder rocks take longer to weather and wear down.

Erosion

– is another destructive process. It is the wearing-away of landforms through the removal of rocks, rock fragments, and sediment. The agents of erosion are water, wind, glaciers, and gravity. Bet you can guess which one we don’t have (and never have had) in Florida! That’s right, Florida has never experienced a period of glaciation.

Erosion is affected by things like local weather, the climate, topography, and human activity. Consider weather: a tropical-storm force wind moves sand a lot more easily than a gentle sea breeze. Then there’s topography: weathered rocks and sediments move faster down slopes than across flat places. Erosion is also easier on barren land than on areas covered with vegetation, (which is why it’s so important to landscape your hillsides to avoid unnecessary runoff and soil degradation). Human activity can help deter erosion in other ways too.

Deposition

– is a constructive process. It is the laying down of eroded material. As water and wind slow down and lose their ability to carry rocks or sediments, the material is dropped. Beaches are Florida’s most beautiful depositional environments, unless you’re into swamps (which I am). A beach is a rather high energy depositional environment, whereas a swamp is a low energy depositional environment.

Storm Surge


– is an event, not an ongoing process. It is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, usually a cyclonic one, like a tropical storm or hurricane. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface! The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea level. Sometimes people call these tidal waves … but that’s so Hollywood. The height of a storm surge is measured in feet/meters above the normal astronomically predicted tide. For example, a storm surge of 20 feet would head inland until it reached an elevation 20 feet higher than the predicted high tide line. Hurrican Katrina’s highest storm surge was over 25 feet in some parts of Mississippi. A surge that big would cover Atsena Otie!

The Story of Atsena Otie


Five hundred million years ago, this area was attached to what we now call Africa. Continents tend to drift you know. J This area remained underwater until about a million years ago. Way before our time. As you hike across Atsena Otie to reach this Earthcache though, you will be stepping on some human history, not just the natural history of the barrier island made by long-term deposition!

The oldest human fossil found on Cedar Key is 2000 years old! Artifacts of the “Safety Harbor Cultures” found here are of the Weeden Island period, 200-
1300 CE (Common Era), and what archaeologists call. Note: If you go up the Suwannee River (about 20 minutes drive north of Cedar Key), there is another major settlement area of the indigineous “shell cultures” of Florida. That one has been dated to about 6000 years ago and is the tallest shell mound settlement (29 feet). Middens (shell mounds) can be found throughout Florida.

More recently, the Spanish explored the area starting in the early 1500s, and then the British ruled during the U.S. Revolutionary War period for a couple decades. The Spanish took Atsena Otie back and controlled it until the U.S. acquired the Territory of Florida in 1821. Fifteen years later, the U.S. government took over the long-since uninhabited island of Astena Otie for its strategic and supply-line importance while fighting the Second Seminole War. Creative as ever, they renamed it Depot Key. Twenty years later, in 1858, it was renamed Atsena Otie by the US Postmaster General. Eberhard Faber opened a mill to make pencils. Milling, fishing, turtling, hunting, oystering, and small-scale farming were the way of life. It was not an easy life though, and sad times are documented in the crumbling tombstones at the top of the hill. Justine Bozeman and Wm Jones’ graves are a testament to that.

On September 29, 1896, a powerful hurricane and a 10 foot storm surge hit the Atsena Otie! The Eberhard Faber mill was destroyed and the island was wrecked except for a few houses. Eventually, by 1897 all inhabitants had left the town and Atsena Otie was abandoned. Soon the present town of Cedar Key was built on a nearby island.
 

Logging Requirements


Answer the following questions in an e-mail to Siúlaí, the cache owner. You will find some of the answers in the informative plaque near the trailhead.

  1. Atsena Otie used to be one island, but now it’s two. What Earth process is responsible for it being cut in half  
          A) weathering B) erosion C) deposition

  2. How did the activity of the indigenous people of the island deter erosion in the past 2000 years

  3. What is the elevation of the island at the location of the Earthcache and what do you think is mainly responsible for this elevation

  4. Otsena Otie was the Timucuan people’s name for this island. What does it mean

  5. Was the Timucuan population wiped out by a hurricane

  6. Las Islas Sabinas was the Spanish colonists’ name for these islands. What does it mean

  7. In what year did U.S. Army buildings on the island get damaged by an erosional event

  8. How would you categorize the rapid destructive process of the 10-foot tidal surge on September 29, 1896  
           A) weathering B) erosion C) deposition

  9. Specifically, what devastated the mills at the water’s edge in 1896

  10. Compare the headstones of Elizabeth Dillingham, Justine Bozeman, and Matilda Parr. Why are these headstones and markers – all from the late 1800s – still easy to read whereas others in the cemetery (of similar age), are not

     

    Atsena Otie and Cedar Key

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