As an Earth Science teacher and mentor, I have written my share of curriculum and teacher planning manuals. I am always in search of new resource materials for students and teachers. What better place to look than the Earthcaching community?
So, I would like to invite you to help me illustrate a virtual, earth science textbook and to complete this geocaching challenge. My "virtual textbook" will have 12 chapters. Each chapter requires one Earthcache. You must have physically visited each of the types of earthcaches listed below and report a ‘found’ to the earthcache owner following whatever logging requirements are required.
For each chapter, you must supply the chapter number and name, the name of the location, GC identification number, the found date, the ‘city’ and state where it is located and a brief description of what you found there.
This information should be contained in a bookmark list or listed as a log entry.
Example: Chapter 7 GROUNDWATER APEC Springs GC xxxxx 4/12/07 Bayside NY Source of an aquifer
GUIDELINES:
1. Earthcaches may have been found at any time. You cannot use your own earthcache.
2. Earthcaches must have been found in North America (or nearby islands) but no more than 4 Earthcaches from any one state or province.
3. The chapters are very broad and there is overlap in their descriptions. If the feature appears in more than one chapter, it can only be counted once. If in doubt, drop me a note.
Chapter 1 ROCKS AND MINERALS
Features include but are not limited to igneous rock, sedimentary rock, metamorphic rock, sediments, intrusions or extrusions highlighting rock type, mineral sources, chemical make up of minerals, shape of crystals, interesting outcrops and road cuts, bedrock
Chapter 2 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY
Features include but are not limited to mines, wells, coal, petroleum, gas, quarries, commercial or industrial use of geologic features, industrial pollution, nuclear waste, alternative energy sites, drinking water supplies, hydro-electric facilities, glass and glass making, unique man-made structures that have affected the environment
Chapter 3. GEOMORPHOLOGY
Features include but are not limited to mountains, dormant or extinct volcanoes, valleys, seashores, sand dunes, scarps, cliffs, plateaus, unique river channels, deserts, plains, ice packs, faults, caves, alluvial fans, seamounts, plate boundaries, coastal morphology, waterfalls, sinkholes, canyons
Chapter 4 GEOHAZARDS
Features include but are not limited to active volcanoes, earthquake zones and evidence, storm damage, landslides, slump, meteor impacts, forest fires, levees, erosion, subsidence, tsunamis, flooding, detection equipment, landfills, environmental damage, sinkholes, wind damage
Chapter 5 GLACIERS
Features include but are not limited to moraines, drumlins, eskers, ice sheets, erratics, striations, grooves, U-valleys, hanging valleys, fjords, glacier types, cirques, kettle lakes, kames, till, outwash, arrets
Chapter 6 VOLCANISM
Features include but are not limited to volcanoes, batholiths, domes, lava fields, tephra, lahars, calderas, geysers, geothermal development, hot springs, dikes, sills, igneous rock
Chapter 7 GROUND WATER AND KARST TOPOGRAPHY
Features include but are not limited to caves, sinkholes, underground rivers, pollutant migration, limestone, water supply, coral reefs, water wells, saltwater intrusion, springs, aquifers
Chapter 8 SAND and SOIL
Features include but are not limited to particle size, mineral type, particle shape, sand, compaction, porosity, dust storms, glass and glass making, crop rotation, types of soil, soil horizons, quicksand
Chapter 9 HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
Features include but are not limited to surface water, oceans, rivers, underground water, water tables, aquifers, percolation, infiltration, precipitation, streams, wetlands, bogs, clouds, ice packs, swamps, marshes
Chapter 10 OCEANS
Features include but are not limited to oceans, seas, lagoons, bays, sounds, coastal features, tides, currents, ocean pollutants, navigation, barrier beaches, coral reefs, sea mounts, guyots, seafloor spreading, plate boundaries, sea life
Chapter 11 HISTORICAL GEOLOGY
Features include but are not limited to fossils, faults, stratigraphy (outcrop layering), early humans, radioactive decay, iridium, mass extinctions, discontinuties, unconformities, uniformitarianism, dinosaurs, mammoths, coral reefs
Chapter 12 MISCELLANEOUS
Features include but are not limited to geographic terminology, latitude/longitude, mapping, weather, atmosphere, astronomical events, environmental issues, wildlife refuges, climate, ecosystems, navigation, scientific investigations or anything else that seems to fit.
The cache is located at the posted coordinates in a nature center on Little Neck Bay--formed by the Wisconsin Glacier 10,000 years ago. The cache is a lock and lock box. Be careful when signing in as the location is easily visible from some of the trails. Rehide the cache better than you found it. You may write a note or find the cache at anytime but you cannot post it as a 'find' until you post the information for all twelve chapters. "Finds" without the required postings will be deleted.