Moreau Lake Geology EarthCache
Hidden : 4/20/2014
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:


MOREAU LAKE GEOLOGY


PLEASE NOTE: IN ORDER TO LOG THIS CACHE YOU MUST SUBMIT THE ANSWERS OR RISK HAVING YOUR LOG DELETED! Also DO NOT include images of the answers with your logs. Those images may be deleted.
Moreau Lake is located within Moreau Lake State Park which has its main entrance located in Saratoga County, just off US 9 and I-87, in the southwest portion of Moreau, NY. This 4100 acre state park offers opportunities for many outdoor activities including hiking, camping, swimming, boating and of course, geocaching. While the park is open year round, vehicle access in the off-season is limited. Entrance fees do apply during part of the year usually from May to October.

The purpose of this Earthcache is to present the basic geology of Moreau Lake. For more detailed information, please see the references given at the end of this lesson. The coordinates given will bring you to informational signs which will help you answer the questions to complete this earthcache. Please email me with the answers, do not include them in your logs. PLEASE NOTE: IN ORDER TO LOG THIS CACHE YOU MUST SUBMIT THE ANSWERS OR RISK HAVING YOUR LOG DELETED! Also DO NOT include images of the answers with your logs. Those images may be deleted.

MOREAU LAKE - A KETTLE LAKE
The Pleistocene epoch of geologic time commonly known as the Ice age, began about 2 million years ago. During this time at least four major glaciers formed and retreated over the Northern hemisphere. In New York State, the last glaciation, the Wisconsin glacial stage, had the most influence on our present day topography. The Wisconsin glaciation peaked about 20,000 years ago when ice sheets covered nearly all of Canada and extended southward. Most of NYS was buried under ice that was more than a mile thick in places.

As the glaciers moved across NYS, the topography was changed in many ways. For example, debris picked up and moved along by the glaciers worked as tools scraping and gouging the land underneath. These glacially carved depressions in the landscape filled with melting ice to become lakes. Likewise retreating glaciers were also responsible for the creation of lakes. The special type of lakes caused by retreating glaciers are called kettle or pothole lakes. Moreau Lake is an example of this kind of glacial lake.

Kettle lakes form when a large piece of ice breaks off from a retreating glacier- a process is called "calving". This isolated ice block becomes partially buried under sediments deposited by the glacier. As the ice block eventually melts, a depression is left in the landscape. This depression fills with water to become a kettle lake. Kettle lakes are usually shaped in the manner of the ice block that created them. Most kettle lakes are circular because melting ice tends to become rounded. Irregular shapes may also result, however, due to irregular shaped ice masses. While most kettle lakes are small and shallow, they can range up to 8 miles in diameter and be over 100 feet in depth.

MOREAU LAKE WATERSHED
Just as the Wisconsin glacial epoch was responsible for the creation of Moreau Lake, it also established the drainage patterns for the lake's watershed. A watershed, also known as a drainage basin is all of the land and water areas that drain to a particular water body. Watersheds can be big or small but usually they have high point like ridges as their upper boundaries such as the Palmertown Ridge to the west of Moreau Lake.

Watersheds capture water, store it and eventually release it farther downhill. When a drop of water falls on land and runs toward a lake that land is said to be part of that lakes water shed. Water moves back into the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration then falls again as precipitation. This continuous movement and recycling of water is known as the water cycle or hydrologic cycle. At each stage of the hydrologic cycle, water can pick up dissolved substances and particles and carry them to the lake.

At Moreau Lake State Park, surface water flows easterly and westerly converging at Moreau lake. Streams located within the Moreau Lakes' watershed bring water from the Palmertown Range into the lake. There are also smaller intermittent streams that contribute to the lake. Like most kettle lakes, Moreau Lake has no significant inlet or outlet. For this reason, the water level of the Moreau Lake fluctuates naturally and relies on precipitation, surface run off and underground flow. The lake loses water by natural ways as well such as evaporation, transpiration and surface overflow.

Pollutants can impair the use of the water by humans and aquatic life. Healthy water sheds recycle clean, fresh water over and over again. Because much of Moreau Lake's watershed is within the park's boundaries, the park service has been able to protect the lake's water quality. This is important - while lakes seem permanent in our time, they are temporary in geologic time, changing more slowly than we can perceive. Human activities can greatly affect the life of a lake and accelerate the ageing process. However, if appropriate measures are taken, damages can be minimal.

References:
http://nysparks.com/parks/150/details.aspx http://nysparks.com/inside-our-agency/documents/MasterPlans/MoreauLakeStatePark/MoreauLakeIntro.pdf
http://nysparks.com/inside-our-agency/documents/MasterPlans/MoreauLakeStatePark/MoreauLakeChptFour.pdf
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/water_pdf/dietlakech1.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_(landform)
http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.wat.012
Roadside Geology of New York, Bradford B. Van Diver

Questions:

1. Imagine the size of the ice block that created Moreau Lake! What is the surface area of Moreau lake? What is the average depth of Moreau lake?
2. Most of Moreau Lake's watershed is within the boundary of the Park. What is the size of the lake's watershed? What is one method used to protect the lake's water quality?
3. Walk to the bridge between the lake and the back pond located at: N 43° 14.117 W 073° 42.769 What observations can you make regarding the water quality?

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Erzrzore gb fraq nafjref!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
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N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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