Logging Requirements:
1. The Crowe River has a drainage of 2000 square kilometres (800 sq miles). By the time the waters of the Crowe River have finally reached Lake Ontario, they will have passed through 7 different townships. The region east of Apsley is a less populated area and you will probably need to drive some distance to arrive at this Earthcache. Despite the mileage you will put on your vehicle, you will not be disappointed by the natural beauty of this Conservation Area and breathtaking view of the gorge. In your online log, tell where you traveled from today to arrive at "The Gut Conservation Area." Did you pass through more than one or two different townships?
2. a) "The Gut" is classified as a "gorge". "A gorge is often smaller than a canyon, although both words are used to describe deep, narrow valleys with a stream or river running along their bottom. A number of natural forces form gorges. The most common is erosion due to streams or rivers. Streams carve through hard layers of rock, breaking down or eroding it." - the National Geographic Education. The gorge you are observing today is 250 metres long. Estimate the height of the limestone walls of the gorge and the width across the gorge in either metres or feet. Send those 2 numbers to the CO via email. Do not post this information in your online log.
2. b) Take 2 elevation readings: one at the parking lot (top) and another at the gorge (bottom). Email the elevations to the CO. Do not post them in your online log.
3. "The Gut" is an exposed Precambrian basalt lava ridge over which the Crowe River flows. This means that the bedrock of which the gorge is comprised was originally shaped by volcanic activity and predates the glacial period when much of the Canadian Shield was formed through a "scraping" of the upper layers of topsoil and an exposure of the Precambrian rock underneath. The Precambrian rocks here were then, most likely, altered and carved out by the huge amounts of ice in the glacial period. As you walk to the gorge, you will encounter the usual topography of the Canadian Shield: exposed limestone, thin layers of topsoil, large boulders in the middle of wooded areas. However, when you reach the gorge itself, you will notice the signs of an earlier time when the igneous rock was being shaped by tremendous forces. At an observation point along the wooden railed fence, near the "drop" of the gorge at N 44° 45.989 and W 77° 52.408, you will be standing opposite an interesting geological rock formation. In the rock wall across from the co-ordinates, notice the ridges that formed when the rock was in a less solid state and water was able to create deep gouges. In an email to the CO, tell whether the ridges you see are vertical or horizontal?
4. a) Finding streaks of different colours and types of minerals is common in silicic volcanic rock and preserves a record associated with varying mineral contents and magma flow. A vein is a long, narrow deposit of mineral or rock that fills the void formed by a fracture or fault in another rock. The mineralogy of the host rock surrounding the vein is often altered where it is in contact with the vein because of chemical reactions between the two rock types. The "veins' are noticeable because they differ in colour from the rest of the rock. They also might differ in texture and might range in width from minute stripes to decimetres in width. Veins are usually caused by differences in composition or crystallinity. If you follow the river's edge north, 25 - 50 metres, between N 44° 46.000 - N 44° 46.015 and W 77° 52.400 - W 77° 52.410, you will notice "veins" or "streaks" of igneous rock, criss-crossing through the limestone. In your email to the CO, describe the colour of these "veins". Are they black and shiny, or pinkish-orange, or white and sparkly, or greyish-blue?
4 b) In this same area, you will notice ground-level ridges of rock. It is difficult to walk here because the rock is not flat, but ridged. By observing the allignment of the ridges, you can tell which direction the glaciers were flowing when they cut these grooves. In your email to the CO, tell whether the ridges (or grooves) in the rock are alligned in a north-south direction or a west-east direction.
5. Optional: Post a picture with your online log that clearly proves you visited the Crowe's Gut today. You do not need to be in the picture. However, your picture should somehow be personalized. Some ideas are: hold your GPS in front of the gorge, write your geocaching name and current number of finds on a piece of paper and take a picture of that in front of the gorge, etc...
http://www.crowevalley.com/conservationgut.html
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/docs/v-g/nation/sec3.aspx
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/gorge/?ar_a=1
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