Please note that this is an Earthcache; a find will only be accepted if the Logging Requirements have been met.
Parking: The listed coordinates are for quite reasonable parking situated approx 100 metres east of the feature.
Etymology: Almost exclusively a Northern terminology, Intake relates to a small parcel of moorland brought under cultivation.
The Last Ice Age: The so called Devensian Ice Age 50000-10000 years ago was responsible for shaping the topology of much of Britain as we know it. Stockport's upland geology is mainly Upper Carboniferous and is poor quality arable land. Ludworth Intake has probably been used only for the grazing of livestock, resulting in the restriction of the area's reversion back to moorland. Here at Ludworth Intake we see the result of the erosion of existing strata caused by the glaciation.
How do we recognise the feature and attribute what we see to the results of glaciation? Standing at GZ and looking westwards we can see a deep gently bending channel of considerable size. By walking downhill it can be observed that the channel is open ended like a long thin saddle. There is no stream running through the channel as might be expected of another type of erosion. Finally the direction of the channel is roughly parallel with the expected glacial movement.
So how did the channel form? At the time of the Ice Age the whole area would have been covered by a great sheet of ice which varied in thickness through the seasons of the year. The movement of the glacier would have resulted in mechanical erosion of the land mass as a whole, but this channel is cut through that eroded landscape. We need to consider what happens in the summer season. Ice on the uppermost land having less shelter from the sun's rays was subjected to considerable melting and it was this meltwater which was responsible for the creation of the meltwater channel. The meltwater would run off the high ground, form a lake and eventually penetrate the ice down to the land mass below. From there it would continue running down hill, but unlike a natural stream as we know it, propelled by a considerable head of hydrostatic pressure. This created a channel under the ice cap sustained by a stream of meltwater. When the ice retreated there was no further water to sustain the erosion, and that is more or less as we see it now.
Logging the cache:
In order to log this earth cache you need to answer a few simple questions.
1. How deep is the channel?
2. What is the average width of the channel?
3. What is the approximate orientation of the channel?
4. Why does the orientation of the channel indicate that it might have a glacial origin?
5. The channel is sometimes described as 'sinuous'. Give a reason why the shape of the channel displays further evidence of a glacial meltwater effect.
6. Assuming that the Specific Gravity if the removed material is 2.5 grams per cubic centimetre, estimate the weight of eroded material.