Note: This is an Earthcache. There is no physical cache to find. Logging this Earthcache requires that you undertake an educational task relating to the specific Earth Science at the site.
Prior to logging this cache, click on Message this owner, or send an email with answers to the following questions:
- Does the water have a “rotten egg” odor? If so, is it a strong odor?
- If the strength of the odor is an indication of the quantity of hydrogen sulphide, do you think this spring emits a high quantity of hydrogen sulphide gas?
- What is the diameter of the pool?
- Required to log this cache: Please provide a photo of yourself or a personal item in the picture to prove you visited the site. Upload the photo with your log.
The Geology
A spring is a natural flow of water from the ground or from rocks, representing an outlet for water that has accumulated in permeable rock strata underground. Some of the water that falls as rain soaks into the soil and is drawn downward by gravity to a depth where all the openings and pore spaces in the rock or soil have become completely saturated with water. This region is called the zone of saturation, and the water it holds, groundwater. The upper surface of the zone of saturation is called the water table.
The occurrence of springs is closely related to the geology of an area. If an impervious layer of rock, such as a clay deposit, underlies a layer of saturated soil or rock, then springs may appear on a slope where the clay layer outcrops. Igneous rocks are also impervious to water, yet they are often extensively fractured, and springs commonly appear where these fractures come to the surface.
Just where does that odor come from? The smell is a result of H2S (hydrogen sulphide), a gas similar to natural gas. It results from anaerobic bacteria converting some of the dissolved sulphur in the water to H2S. The presence of H2S indicates that the water has penetrated to great depths. As the water percolates deeply into the crust, pressure increases, and this allows anaerobic bacteria to convert sulphur in the form of sulphate to the sulphide of H2S. This normally is followed by a quick trip to the surface in order to retain the H2S created.
Value of Sulphur Water
Sulfur has been used medicinally since ancient times, and it is contained in every cell in your body. Approximately 0.25 percent of your total body weight is sulfur. It is most concentrated in keratin, which gives you strong hair, nails, and skin. It is known as "nature's beauty mineral" because your body needs it to manufacture collagen, which keeps your skin elastic and young-looking.
The minerals in sulfur springs have positive therapeutic effects on skin disease, women's diseases, asthma, neuralgia, arteriosclerosis, rheumatism and shoulder, neck and wrist pains; they also have a detoxifying and mucolytic effect (breaks down thick mucus). Limited oral intake can improve conditions such as constipation and diabetes; however, a doctor should always be consulted first.
The History
White Sulphur Springs was first used by Indians; then by the Love family who built a house near the spring. During the Civil War, it was the locale of the last official skirmish-battle east of the Mississippi River. After the Civil War, Waynesville’s first grand hotel was built here. It later became the site of a hospital for WWI soldiers who had contracted TB, then a job-training school for WWI veterans. In 1941 the hotel was demolished and the area returned to pasture amidst the foundations of the old hotel. The original spring house area is now open to the public as Sulphur Springs Park.
