Flathead Lake the Footprint of a Glacier EarthCache
Flathead Lake the Footprint of a Glacier
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Flathead Lake is the "Footprint" of an ice age glacier that extended for nearly a thousand miles from the Yukon Territory in northern Canada to the areas of present day Polson and Ronan
To claim credit for this Earthcache you must post your "Found It" log here and then email me with your answers for the following six questions.
Do not put your answers in your "Found It" logs.
Logs posted without emailing the answers will be deleted:
From the information given on the Montana Department of Transportation sign at the above coordinates:
1. How many branches did the glacier break into?
2. What type of moraine are you now standing on?
3. Geo-Facts: In more recent times what follows the path of the glacial melt water stream?
4. Geo-Facts: The Mission Mountain Range can be seen on the east side of the lake.
Where were the Mission Mountains once located?
5. Geo-Activity: If you can follow the directions given on the sign to mimic the movement of a glacier.
In geologic terms, what is the formation at the toe or the nose end of your footprint called?
6. What would you say the formation might also look like ?
7. OPTIONAL: Post a picture of you or your group at the sign with Flathead Lake in the background.
Satellite View of Flathead Lake
Can you see the imprint of the big toe?
Swan Lake is the snake shaped lake near the top center
Lake Mary Ronan is a triangle shaped lake to the lower left of the large "right foot shaped" Flathead Lake
Flathead Lake lies near the southern end of a geological feature called the Rocky Mountain Trench.
15,000 years ago this trench was filled by a mighty glacier that filled the Flathead Valley from wall to wall with a colossal "river of ice" that was thousands of feet thick and 20 or more miles wide.
As the glacier slowly moved southward, it carved out the basin of Flathead Lake toward the north of where you are standing.
Geologists believe that the glacier stalled in this area for many years. As the climate warmed the glacier finally melted and receded. It is thought that a portion of the glacier in the valley receded more slowly than the main body.
This slow-to-melt body of ice kept the lake basin from being filled with rocks and sediment.
Eventually this ice also melted, leaving Flathead Lake behind as a "Glacial Footprint".
Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi and is about half the size of San Francisco Bay.
Statistics of Flathead Lake .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Length 27.3 miles 43.9 km
Maximum Depth 370.7 feet 113.0 meters
Surface Area 191.5 sq miles 495.9 sq km 122560 acres
Area of included Islands 5.5 sq miles 14.2 sq km 3520 acres
Water Volume 5.56 cu miles 23.2 cu km
Length of Shoreline 161.4 miles 259.7 km
Curvature of Lake Surface Along Length 13.2 feet 4.02 meters
Flushing Time 15 months (time required to completely flush through old water and fill with new water)
The turn out for this cache is on the northbound side of US 93 at N 47° 40.190 W 114° 06.380 .
If you are southbound, you can turn left at the Commerce Drive crossover at N 47° 39.890 W 114° 06.620 and go back north about 2000 feet to the northbound turnout.
References:
Wikipedia
Flathead Lakers
Stonybrook
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)