Rich Cove Forest EarthCache

Logging Requirements
 1 - the Brevard fault line runs from which two states?
 2 - rich cove forest are found on soils that are high in ____ , ____ and ____.

Waterfalls can be very dangerous areas. Never attempt to climb a waterfall, avoid ledges, and remember the rocks can be very slippery.

Thank-you, Mike Crane and Randy McCoy for allowing me to develop this Earthcache!

A waterfall is usually a geological formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, known here as Station Creek, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a nickpoint, or sudden break in elevation.
 

The story of Station Cove Falls began about a billion years ago with the collision of ancient continents to form the super continent of Rodinia. This collision crumpled and thickened the crust burying the rock that would become Station Cove Falls some 5 miles under high mountains. Rocks that are buried this deep are exposed to temperatures over 1000° F and pressures over 150,000 pounds per square inch. These temperatures and pressures cause minerals to crystallize into layers and also to become folded or wrinkled. These metamorphic rocks can be seen at Station Cove Falls in the different colored and folded layers of rock.
 
About 750 million years ago the super continent of Rodinia began to break apart. The two main continents were formed from the breakup, Laurentia which would later become North America and Gondwana which would later become South America and Africa. At this time Station Cove Falls was near the southern coast of Laurentia, if you had your GPS then you would have been at about 25° south longitude.
 
About 330 million years ago Gondwana collided with Laurentria , this collision pushed up the deep buried metamorphic rock to form the Appalachian Mountains. Geologists have estimated the height of the Appalachians at this time to be an average of 26,000 feet. The collision of Gondwana and Laurentia formed the next super continent known as Pangea.
 
During the Triassic period about 220 million years ago the super continent of Pangea began to break apart. As what happened before with Rodinia the crust cracked and sank as it stretched apart. A great rift basin formed north to south along what are now the east coast of North America and the west coast of Africa. This basin has grown 4000 miles to what is now the Atlantic Ocean.
 
The past 200 million years weather has eroded the Appalachian Mountains to there present height and rounded form. Streams such as Station Creek come from springs in the higher mountains that flow into rivers, lakes and eventually the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. As these streams flow down the mountain they encounter drop off in the rock that create waterfalls such as Station Cove Falls. So as you look at the beauty of Station Cove Falls think about the amazing journey these rocks have taken from being buried 5 miles deep below the earth to rise over 20,000 feet above just to be worn down by weather and time.