Tyrone Spring EarthCache

Spring

Definition:  A spring is a water resource formed when the side of a hill, a valley bottom or other excavation intersects a flowing body of groundwater at or below the local water table, below which the subsurface material is saturated with water. A spring is the result of an aquifer being filled to the point that the water overflows onto the land surface.

Types of spring outlets

• Seepage or filtration spring. The term seep refers to springs with small flow rates in which the source water has filtered into permeable earth.
• Fracture springs, discharge from faults, joints, or fissures in the earth, in which springs have followed a natural course of voids or weaknesses in the bedrock.
• Tubular springs are basically underground cave systems formed by underground water. 

  All springs start out as groundwater that runs through an aquifer before meeting the earth surface. An aquifer is basically layers of rock in which water runs through porous rock and the cracks that from.  The rock acts as a filter as the water runs through it.

  The Tyrone Spring is located on the southern edge of  the Oak Ridges Moraine in Clarington.  The Oak Ridges Moraine is one of Ontario's most significant landforms.   This irregular ridge stretches 160 kilometres from the Trent River in the east to the Niagara Escarpment in the west, covering 190,000 hectares.   The Escarpment and Moraine together form the foundation of south-central Ontario's natural heritage and greenspace systems. Strategically located north of and parallel to Lake Ontario, the Moraine divides the watersheds draining south into western Lake Ontario from those draining north into Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe and the Trent River system.

  

• The location of the Tyrone Spring can be seen on this map segment circled in red.  You can see a number of creeks that are draining south into Lake Ontario and that this is also an area of High Aquifer Vulnerability.

  The Oak Ridges Moraine is under increasing pressure for new residential, commercial, industrial and recreational uses which compete with the present natural environment.

  The quality of the water in the local ground-water system will generally determine the quality of spring water. The quality of water discharged by springs can vary greatly because of factors such as the quality of the water that recharges the aquifer and the type of rocks with which the ground water is in contact.

   

  Human activity greatly controls the quality of the groundwater. Farming can contribute pollution of many varieties and is among the worst factors impacting quality. The rate of flow and the length of the flow path through the aquifer affects the amount of time the water is in contact with the rock, and thus, the amount of minerals that the water can dissolve. The quality of the water also can be affected by the mixing of freshwater with pockets of ancient seawater in the aquifer

  
  Groundwater that runs as a spring is gathered a couple of ways. One method being from rain or snow melts which is called an ephemeral. The other method would be water flowing from a higher point under the ground surface. This is known as perennial.
  
  The magnitude of the flow will dictate how much water is present and how it surfaces. The magnitude is measured in several ways; common ways would be by litres per minute or gallons per minute. A "0" magnitude is no current flow; this may have had flow in the past or is an ephemeral type spring. Now a 1 magnitude is the highest flow, a little confusing right? Well the chart is from 1 through 8 and then 0. As water breaks through the surface it may be from a spout, several sprouts or it may just seep. With spouts, the water may bubble up from a flat surface and create a pond. Or it may pour out of an exposed rock surface including exposed rock due to erosion. Eroded areas can have the water seep, pour and even come from the rock as we see when waterfalls are present. So a seeping aquifer would normally be a low magnitude spring, though some seeping springs can produce a large amount of water flow over a wide area. The "waterfalls" types of springs can flow at a very high volume making it very high magnitude.
  
   

  

  
  Logging Requirements:
  
  

  At the posted coordinates you will find the Tyrone Spring and you will need to complete a task and send me the answer to the following questions. Please email me to my profile the answers. DO NOT INCLUDE THE ANSWERS IN YOUR FOUND LOG.
  1. Based on the information contained on the sign at the posted coordinates do you think this spring water is safe to drink?
  2. Estimate, or collect and measure the rate of water flow from the spring. What magnitude would you classify this spring ?
  3. From your observations at this location and the surrounding countryside, and the information contained in this listing, what factors have contributed to make this aquifer a highly vulnerable area?
  4. Based on the topography of the local area, is the groundwater at this spring being gathered from an ephemeral or perennial source?
  Note: Please send me your answers within 4 days of posting your found log. If there are more then one cacher in your party, include the names in your group. Only one person needs to send me the group answers. No spoiler photo's of the information sign please. Found logs posted without proof you visited the site will be deleted.