White Rapids Park Earth Cache EarthCache
White Rapids Park Earth Cache
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This Earth Cache is located in the White Rapids Park on the banks of the North Branch Oromocto River in Fredericton Junction. You should park in the public parking lot (Coordinates N 45 39.560 W 066 36.636) and follow the walking path a short distance to the listed coordinates. This is an Earth Cache, so there is no container to be found. There is only an Earth Sciences lesson. To log a find on this cache you are required to read the description, observed the weathering of rock in the area of ground zero and answer a couple of questions in an email to the Cache Owner.
At ground zero, observe the dozen or more long grooves in the sandstone outcrop ranging from an inch to a few inches wide and several feet in length. Sandstone is particularly soft as rock goes. It is made up of sand that settled at the bottom of a body of water and hardens with time and pressure.
These long grooves could have been made by rocks being pushed or dragged by ice passing through here, either by glacial ice more than 14000 years ago or by spring breakup any number of years ago. As you can see, there are two large rocks sitting here at the end of these grooves that could have been pushed there by ice in a spring runoff. They may well have made these grooves as they were pushed to their present location.
Please send an email to kbullock@nbnet.nb.ca answering the following: Please send an email to kbullock@nbnet.nb.ca answering the following:
1) What is the orientation of the grooves?
2) Do you think these grooves were originally formed through erosion or weathering?
3) Which is having a greater impact on the size and shape of these grooves today?
4) What observations did you make to support your theory?"
5) I would appreciate you posting a photo of yourself or GPS at the site with the river in the background (Optional).
You may post your FOUND log at any time, but it must be followed within two days by your email answering the above questions.
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, plant life and waters. Weathering should not be confused with erosion, which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by water, ice, snow, wind or gravity. There are two important classifications of weathering; physical and chemical weathering. The two often work hand in hand.
There is much evidence of weathering here. The most obvious is physical weathering by water. Water can soften rocks by dissolving some of the minerals in the rock depending on the type of rock and the impurities in the water, this could be a major effect or a minor one.
Water can also be soaked up into the pours of the rock and freeze. Sandstone is quite porous so it will soak up a large amount of water as compared to other harder rocks. Ice has nearly 10 percent more volume than water so it forces the outer layer to crack or peel off. So areas that are predominately wet will weather away more that the areas that are dry most of the time. These grooves are often filled with water when the temperature goes below zero. Each time this happens, the grooves get microscopically deeper.
This is also seen when water rests in a crack and freezes, the crack will expand slightly each time this happens. During the next cycle, more water can seep into the crack and force it open even more. This cycle may repeat any number of times. There is much evidence of this here.
Living organisms may contribute to weathering, as well. Mosses grow on essentially bare rock surfaces and create a place for water to lie. The water softens the rock and allows for more freeze induced weathering, as described above. A plant might also put down roots in a crack in the rock and force the crack to grow as it grows, physically forcing it wider.
PLEASE NOTE that Erosion in not a form of weathering. Erosion is the process by which soil and rock are removed by natural processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations. There is much evidence of erosion here. It is particularly noticeable when you compare the area that is near the river bank, which is under water much more often than the area of the grooves which is rarely under water.
The depth of the river changes drastically depending on the season. Please, be mindful of these changing conditions. Keep children and pets at a safe distance. You will be able to watch Gaspereau fishing in the later part of May at this location. There are so many Gaspereau heading up river at this time that the fish can be plucked from the water by hand. It is easy to tell when this is taking place as the area will be inundated with Seagulls. Enjoy and please practice CITO...... Ken.......
Congratulations to Bth7 for their FTF, well done.....
| I have earned GSA's highest level: |
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cyrnfr fraq na rznvy gb trbpnpurex57@tznvy.pbz nafjrevat gur sbyybjvat:
1) Jung vf gur bevragngvba bs gur tebbirf?
2) Qb lbh guvax gurfr tebbirf jrer bevtvanyyl sbezrq guebhtu rebfvba be jrngurevat?
3) Juvpu vf univat n terngre vzcnpg ba gur fvmr naq funcr bs gurfr tebbirf gbqnl?
4) Jung bofreingvbaf qvq lbh znxr gb fhccbeg lbhe gurbel?"
5) V jbhyq nccerpvngr lbh cbfgvat n cubgb bs lbhefrys be TCF ng gur fvgr jvgu gur evire va gur onpxtebhaq (Bcgvbany).
Treasures
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