To log this earthcache, send me an Email with the following measurements and answers to the following questions. Any logs with spoilers, or if I think you have not visited the area, will be deleted. Photos are always welcome!
1) measure the distance the path takes over the cattail marsh. What do you think caused the marsh to form?
2) take an elevation at the bridge, just past the plaque. Then continue up the path, and take an elevation at the bench which you will see on your right. Email me your measurements. What do you think this formation that you have just climbed is? What caused it?
At the posted coords you will see a plaque. Answer the following questions: The Plaque has gone missing! No need to answer the following
3)what glacial features is the Fletcher Creek Swamp Forest located between?
4)how big an area is the fletcher creek swamp forest?
DESCRIPTION
Welcome to the Fletcher Creek Swamp Forest! This earthcache will take you to view a few of the features here, and attempt to explain the glacial forces that shaped it.
As you walk along, imagine how it was, just a mere 17 000 years ago or so. This area was covered by moving ice, 2-3km tall! (If you are interested in learning the mechanisms of how the ice starts to move, I have linked an excellent web page.) So, as the ice moves forward, it picks up rocks, and sediment, which soon became firmly frozen in the glacier. The rocks would then act as a grinding or rasping force, and in this way shaped the earth as the glacier moved along. The more the ice moved, the more sediment and rocks it could pick up.
Eventually, the glacier started to melt and recede. In its wake, it left evidence that it was here, among which are;
Moraines
Moraines are the 'debris' (rock and sediment), that the glacier collected in it's travels. Once the glacier starts to melt and retreat, it leaves it's debris behind,in many forms. The more obvious ones we call Moraine Ridges, and to most of us, they just look like hills.
Drumlins
Drumlins are hills that are shaped by the glacier out of the sediment or 'till' that it carries. They are oriented in the direction that the ice was flowing. The hill is usually in the form of a teardrop, with one end steeper and more blunt than the other. They usually occur in groups.
Kettles
As a glacier retreats, pieces of ice may break off and become covered in debris. As a result, this ice takes much longer to melt. Once it does melt, it forms a depression in the landscape.
As you walk along the pathway, you will see some of the features that make the Fletcher Creek Swamp Forest a significant natural feature in the City of Hamilton. You first pass through a forested area, and then are greeted by the boardwalk over the cattail marsh. Once over the marsh, you again enter a section of the forest which also has open water. Past that are some small drumlins.
Think as you walk along about the glacial actions that formed this land. A glacier scraped away the earth down to the dolostone bedrock as it advanced. As it retreated, it left ground moraine that formed the drumlins that you will encounter as you walk down the trail. The debris also caused the slightly higher elevation of the forested area. The marsh you see may have been a small kettle formation, or could just have been an area that was ground down by the glacier to a lower elevation than the surrounding forested areas. All in all it makes for a beautiful scenic walk. Hopefully you may look at the area a bit differently now! Enjoy your walk.