EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. Enjoy the journey (learning adventure) as well as the destination (smiley earned). Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. To get credit for this Earthcache, complete the following tasks:
1. MESSAGE …. Exploration via touch is encouraged at different locations within this cave.
WITH GUIDANCE FROM YOUR TOUR GUIDE, touch two colors of flowstones. Describe how each one feels.
2. MESSAGE …. Observe three colors of flowstones. Explain what each color means as it relates to human touch.
3. MESSAGE …. Based on the reading and your observations, what is the form of flowstone? Explain your reasoning.
4. MESSAGE …. The flowstone within this cave is from what two types of limestone? The answers are on the wall of the cave.
5. LOG …. Post a picture of you or your signature item anywhere along the tour. This picture is your log signature.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in finding and creating this earthcache by adding A and B to your log.
A. JOURNEY OF THE MIND ... Science explains what we observe. Relate (in your own words) something you found interesting in the reading. This adds to your learning adventure and your log.
B. JOURNEY OF THE HEART ... Art shares our personal experience of what we see. Share something special you found on site, and why it is special to you. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
FLOWSTONES
Flowstones are the most common speleothem. They are composed of sheetlike deposits of calcite formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave building up layers of calcium carbonate (calcite). The minerals dissolved in the water are deposited when the water loses its dissolved carbon dioxide because it can no longer hold the minerals in solution. The flowstone forms when thin layers of these deposits build on each other, sometimes becoming rounder as the deposit gets thicker.
There are two common forms of flowstones, tufa and travertine. Tufa is formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from ambient temperature water bodies. It is spongy or porous in nature. Travertine is formed by rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. It has a fibrous or concentric appearance.
Though flowstones are among the largest of speleothems, they can still be damaged by a single touch. The oil from human fingers causes the water to avoid the area, which then dries out. Flowstones are also good identifiers of periods of past droughts, since they need some form of water to precipitate; the lack of that water for long periods of time can leave traces in the rock record via flowstones.
ROCK-WATER RELATIONSHIP
Water is necessary for speleothems to form. The nature of the cave formation depends on whether the water drips, seeps, condenses, flows, or ponds.
LOCATION
SECRET CAVERNS - 671 Caverns Road - Cobleskill, NY - 518-296-8558
Cave is closed during the winter. Call ahead to verify off-season hours.
There is a fee to take the cave tour.
RESOURCES
Thank you Sarah for your help, and R.J. Mallery for permission to develop this earchcache.
http://www.secretcaverns.com
A Trip to Secret Caverns and Fossil Collecting - New York State Museum - 10/23/99