Miss Maggie's Crack EarthCache EarthCache
Hidden : 12/25/2012
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

There is no physical cache at this location, you must answer the questions below.

A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the Earth from underground. Thus, a spring is a site where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface.




A spring may be the result of karst topography where surface water has infiltrated the Earth's surface (recharge area), becoming part of the area groundwater. The groundwater then travels through a network of cracks and fissures—openings ranging from intergranular spaces to large caves. The water eventually emerges from below the surface, in the form of a karst spring.

Spring discharge, or resurgence, is determined by the spring's recharge basin. Factors that affect the recharge include the size of the area in which groundwater is captured, the amount of precipitation, the size of capture points, and the size of the spring outlet. Water may leak into the underground system from many sources including permeable earth, sinkholes, and losing streams. In some cases entire creeks seemingly disappear as the water sinks into the ground via the stream bed.  Human activity may also affect a spring's discharge--withdraw of groundwater reduces the water pressure in an aquifer, decreasing the volume of flow.

The Crack is a 3rd magnitude spring. The scenery in the area is excellent to outstanding.  Most times you will have the place to youself, except on weekends.  There is a cost to launch your kayak or canoe and parking.

The Crack is a zigzag, lightning bolt-shaped fissure set perpendicular to the creek it creates like the top of a capital "T."  It slopes downward to a visual depth of at least 15 feet.  Water in the spring is clear and blue over the fissure.  Small fish congregate in the pool and crack.  The spring lies in dense semitropical forest/jungle. There is a slight path around the spring and a small area on the bank where campfires have been made in the past.

The spring initially forms a shallow (6" on average) canopied creek that flows 100 yards before turning, deepening, widening, and flowing another 100-150 yards to the Blue Spring basin and thence to Baird Creek and the Chassahowitzka River.

Access by canoe and kayak (and then by foot).  Larger boats cannot get through the tight squeeze and turns behind Blue Spring. Visiting this spring is nearly a one-hour side trip off the Chassahowitzka River (but is well worth it).

    The Crack offers wading, snorkeling, and nature observation.  It is well known in the local area and sometimes has trash and evidence of campfires.  Canoes can be rented for a reasonable fee.
   
    
"Miss Maggie" owned the original public campground at the headwaters of the Chassahowitzka River.  The spring and its runs are superlative sights.  The lower run is a lovely combination of marsh, semitropical forest, canopied canoe trail, and open paddling.  The run teems with mullet, needlefish, blue crab, herons, kingfishers, snakes, and other fauna and flora.  The final section, the portion that must be walked in the shallow creek, is almost breathtaking in its pristine beauty.  Sunlight shafts through the canopy and into the sparkling and bubbling water, minnows dart at your feet, birds flit about in the surrounding canopy, and the spring is revealed through a curtain of foliage as a startling blue oasis in a surrounding world of brown and green.  It is worth returning to repeatedly as an expression of how the forces of nature can conspire to create a living aesthetic vision.

The EarthCache is located up Baird Creek. Once you reach Blue Springs look for two small openings on either side of an island, then continue up stream and through another spring. When you reach the donut you will see an overhanging oak limb, this is about as far as you can go by kayak/canoe. The final 300 foot walk to the EarthCache is on a hard sandy bottom in about ankle deep water.


To claim credit for this earthcache you must answer all of the following. Email your answers to the email address on my profile page. Please DO NOT post your answers in your log, even if encrypted.


What is the average flow rate of a 3rd magnitude spring?

What is the length and width of the fissure?

What is the shape of the spring pool, what size is it (length X width) and how deep is it?

In your own words, what effect does the amount of water filtering into the aquifer have on the discharge of water at the crack?

Additional Hints (No hints available.)



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