Why is the surrounding area lower than the town site? The surrounding area is an ancient abandoned course of the Fraser River, or a meander scar.
This earthcache location is an arbitrary point where you can overlook the meander scar, depending on the time of year and the plant growth, you may need to shift down the street a bit for a better view.
The image below shows a rough approximation of the ancient channel. The meander scar can be seen highlighted in red.
The low elevation change throughout the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley area, allows for a relatively slow rate of flow for the Fraser River in this locale. A slower/older river like this has a tendency to meander.(fig a in the image below)
As the meander gets more extreme, it can eventually break through to a new channel. If this builds up enough sediment along the new channel, an oxbow lake can be formed.(fig b in the image below)
Over time sediment can build up in the oxbow lake turning it into a swamp (fig c below) and eventually completely filling it in.
This will leave what is known as a meander scar.(fig d below)
Below is an image overlooking the meander scar towards the southeast, fertile farmland shown with the upland ridge in the distance.
In order to log this as a find you must email me the answers to the following questions. Do not post answers with your log please.
Questions to answer:
1: Looking at the link (related web page at the top) to the terrain map of the Fraser Valley, can you identify any other areas that were possibly an historic channel of the river but are now just dry land?(Hint: Hatzic Lake is an oxbow of the Fraser River and could eventually become a meander scar)
2: At the posted co-ords for this earthcache, estimate the difference in elevation from where you are standing, to the farmlands below.
3: I would like to hear your estimate for when you think this scar was actually part of the river. (no wrong answers here this is just fun)
4: Can you think of an event that would have occurred to cause the change in the course of the river? (think seasonally)
5: Visit either (or both) secondary waypoints. What steps are being taken to prevent this area from reverting back to a swamp during high water times?
Optional task: Post a picture of the area with your log
*Reference: "Vancouver, City on the Edge" by John Clague & Bob Turner ISBN 0-9697601-4-0 (a great book)