Castle Rock Overlook EarthCache
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This earthcache brings you to the village of Rockcastle, Trigg County, Kentucky. At the western edge of the Corps of Engineer park,you'll find a limestone rock outcrop overlooking Lake Barkley(Cumberland River) and Land Between the Lakes Recreational Area.
TASKS
IN ORDER TO LOG THIS FIND YOU MUST:
A. Click on my profile and e-mail the answers for the following questions to me. Do not post your answers when you log in your find. Logs which do not meet the requirements to claim the find will be deleted.
1. Find a fossil at this location. Describe this fossil as best as you can, i.e. type, size, and shape. If you see more than one type which is predominate in the limestone. A photo of the fossil would be nice, too (but is optional).
2. What is the general texture of the rock at this location, rough, smooth, glassy, etc.?
3. On the main ledge, you will find a round to square limestone block.
a) Approximate the length, width, and thickness of the block in feet
b) Determine the block's aprroximate volume in cubic feet = (length)(width)(thickness)
c) Determine the weight of the limestone block = (150 lb/cf)(Volume)
B. Optional, though greatly appreciated. Take and log a picture of you(and your group) standing atop the exposed ledge.
HISTORY
This area was originally called Castle Rock for the large embankments of limestone rising to a height of many feet above the alluvial plain of the Cumberland River to the west. In the late 100's and early 1800's, the area was settle by pioneer families from Virginia, North Caroline, and South Carolina. By 1842, a village was developed and called Rock Castle. Rock Castle lay above Old Ferry Corner on the Cumberland River. It was an important trading and shipping point for goods and iron from the Trigg, Center, and Empire Furnaces. During the 1960's, the Corps of Engineers had bought must of the land around Rockcastle for the empoundment of Lake Barley by the construction of Barkley Dam. Today, there is a boat ramp, a beach, and a large picnic pavillion at Rockcastle.
GEOLOGY
The most common rock in this area is Warsaw Limestone of Mississippian age, which was deposited 350 million years ago in the bottom of a warm, shallow sea. The Warsaw Limestone was named by Hall (1857) from outcrops near Warsaw, Illinois.
During the latter part of the Cretaceous Period, 130 million years ago, the Gulf of Mexico inundated much of the southern United States and covered all of the Jackson Purchase Region and some of the Mississippian Plateaus with sands, clays, and gravels. The Warsaw Limestone of western Kentucky was deposited on a shallow-marine shelf and in troughs within this shelf. It contains thick deposits of high-calcium limestone and is a medium gray, fine- to coarse-grained limestone containing fossil material in a chalk-like matrix. The Warsaw Limestone is about 150-300 ft thick, and. like most of the Upper Mississippian limestones of western Kentucky, is poorly exposed, cropping out mainly along the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.. It is identified principally by a thick, reddish-brown, cherty soil.
FOSSIL PRIMER
If you look closely you can find fragement of fossils embedded in the limestone layers. A fossil is an impression, cast, or track of any animal or plant that is preserved in rock after the original organic material is transformed or removed.
• Fossils give clues about organisms that lived long ago
• They also provide evidence about how Earth’s surface has changed over time
• Fossils help scientists understand what past environments may have been like
Some Of The Fossils You May Find...
Trilobites - Trilobites are special. They look like scary monster bugs from Mars (see background image). They can be found just about anywhere, but the silica shale is known for them. These phacops rana used their large eyes to watch for food and predators while cruising the bottoms of deeper water. Most finds will only be pieces of these critters, but if you are lucky, you may find a whole "bug"!
Brachiopods - Brachs and other shelled animals are the most common finds in the park. These creatures didn't chase after their food, instead they filtered it from the water around them. The paraspirifer bownockeri is a common find.
Bryozoans - Bryozoans are often called "moss animals". These creatures filtered their food from the surrounding sea by waving soft tentacles through the water. Fossil fragments of bryozoans often look like a piece of linen cloth.
Horn Coral - These coral, also known as rugose corals, lived a solitary life on the sea floor. They spent their days filtering food from the warm, salty water. Look for small, ice cream cone-shaped pieces in the shale. Mmm, ice cream...
Aulopora - This type of coral lived with a group of the same type of coral, and is otherwise known as a colonial coral. Like horn coral, they were filter feeders, and with other forms of colonial corals, formed the backbone of the coral reefs present during the Devonian period.
Crinoids - These fossils, often called sea lilies, are common at Fossil Park. However, finding an intact crinoid is very rare. Look for small "cheerio" shaped pieces in the shale. These "cheerios" are actually pieces of the crinoid's stem. Mmm, cheerios..
1. Geocache is placed on USARCOE managed property with permission.
2. It is the visitors responsibility or orient themselves with policies and rules pertaining to this Department managed site.
3. Though others may climb the walls at the quarry and/or dive into the waters below, not everyone should. Please gauge your own abilities carefully.
Additional Hints
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Treasures
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