The Second Baby YDT TGT EarthCache EarthCache
Hidden : 4/7/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

Placed for GC46HYP on April 21, 2013 We are GO for CITO! event. Please Cache In Trash Out as you complete this series to keep the area beautiful for all that visit here. Thank you!

Placed with permission from Topsham Parks and Rec, the Yaruhha Dwarven Treasure geocache series, YDT, is part of the Topsham GeoTrail, TGT, in Maine, USA. The theme of the YDT was inspired by the story for the Dwarven Treasure Geocoin - Yaruhha Edition created by Gregson Vaux Artifacts. This series is designed to allow geocachers to find twelve geocaches and three EarthCaches on foot at one stop, the Topsham Recreation Fields.

Please send a message with the answers to the following questions to claim this EarthCache.

1. Large river valleys usually have more than one set of terraces forming a complicated series of platforms. From your observations from the parking area to the coordinates, how many platforms are there here? Describe each platform by what you observe on it. For example, playground, the EarthCache coordinates, name of a geocache, etc. You may not use "ball field" as every platform here has a ball field of some kind on it.

2. A flood-plain is any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source. From your observations of the paths to the coordinates, how often would you estimate this area sees some form of flooding?

3. At the coordinates, what would be some other factors that would cause flodding in this area?

4. What is the name of this river and in what direction is it flowing?

Bonus question: What is the change in elevation from the top platform at GC4770T, The Mountain Winds YDT TGT to the coordinates of this EarthCache? The answer will tell you how far the river has cut down through the platforms.

Thank you for visiting The Second Baby YDT TGT EarthCache!

Once you park, look up hill to observe the higher terrace platforms. The Riverside lower playing fields (that you will cross on foot to get to the coordinates) sit on terraces cut by the river. Based on archaeological studies in this area, the terraces were cut some time prior to 9,500 years ago.

A river terrace is platform of land formed beside a river flowing across a plain where, for some reason, the river channel has deepened and cut down to create a new flood-plain at a lower level. River terraces are often made of fluvially eroded material laid down during the creation of the flood-plain. This material sometimes includes archaeological material and faunal remains which date from any time earlier than the creation of the deposit in which they are incorporated. In this way some river terraces can be roughly dated by reference to the latest material present in the assemblages. Large river valleys usually have more than one set of terraces forming a complicated series of platforms.

From the Kiosk in the main parking lot:

Near the end of the last great ice age, retreating glaciers reached the present-day coast of Maine. The weight of glaciers compressed the Earth’s crust and combined with glacial melt waters raised water levels to the glacier’s edge. As land was freed from heavy ice cover, it began to rise to its former position and emerged from the sea. About 14,500 years ago a strong pulse of glacial melt water was released, causing sea level to rise even more rapidly. Sea level in this region rose at the same rate as the Earth’s crust was rising. A period of equilibrium resulted in the ancestral Androscoggin River depositing a layer of fine sand, commonly known as a delta, now known as the Brunswick – Topsham sand plain, into the sea. In Topsham, the elevation of this delta can be seen at the Riverside upper playing field and extends to the north almost to the Cathance head of tide area. As the rise of sea level slowed and the land continued to emerge, the Androscoggin began to cut down into the delta surface.

The Riverside lower playing fields sit on terraces cut by the river. Based on archaeological studies in this area, the terraces were cut some time prior to 9,500 years ago.

16,000 years ago a continental glacier covered most of Maine, but was receding from the coastal lowland. The sea was in contact with the ice margin.

15,000 years ago, the glacier was receding rapidly and Southern Maine was ice-free. The land was still depressed from the weight of the ice, resulting in the extensive submergence of low land areas.

13,000 years ago, the glacier had disappeared from central and southern Maine. Uplift of the land had caused the sea to retreat.

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