Erosion at Huff's Spring EarthCache

Huff spring is a naturally formed spring that measures roughly 4' by 4' and averages about 120 gallons of water per minute. Throughout a typical 24 hour period this rate changes. This change is believed to be a result of the numerous large oak trees located down stream. The water contains over 12 minerals and is extremely high in both carbon dioxide and alkali with almost zero oxygen. This suggests the water comes from very deep within the earth and as the water slowly makes its way toward the surface it infuses with minerals contained within the rocks. Thick walls of granite deep within the surface maintain the water's constant 70° temperature regardless of the outside environment. Once it has reached the surface, the water from Huff's Spring travels into Antelope Creek, through both the Secret Ravine and Miner's Ravine, and eventually spills into the Sacramento River.

The introduction of this spring as caused the ground soil to erode away, carving a deep trench within the relatively flat sloping landscape. Erosion, the action in which wind or, as in this case, water moves soil and rock from one place on the Earth's surface to another.

There are many types of water erosion:

• Rainsplash - In an intense rain, the energy of the raindrop striking the Earht’s surface can displace loose ground soil moving it a short distance.
• Sheet Erosion - As rainwater flows into lower elevations loose soil runs off with the rain. As the water loses its speed it either becomes absorbed into the soil or slowly evaporates leaving a uniform layer of removed top soil.
• Rill and Gully Erosion - Water that is not fully absorbed into the ground forms pools. As the pools grow the excess runoff begins to spill following the natural contours of the surface. At first it moves slowly moving a relatively small amount of soil. As water continues to collect it gains speed and intensity. Over long periods of time, this constant movement of water slowly starts to carve a small depression in the ground. The pathway it creates is called a rill and is often only centimeters in width and depth. As these erosional channels of water continue to flow and increase in intensity and more sediment is removed from the channel the rill eventually becomes a gully. A gully is a much larger channel carved into the landscape with steep banks on either side.
• Stream Erosion - As water continues to flow through the gully it constantly picks up loose sediment from the bottom and sides. As larger debris is eroded away it rolls along the bottom gently knocking other sediment free. This carves a much wider pathway eventually forming a small stream.

When the water here at Huff’s Spring was first surfaced, a small rill began to form as the water slowly moved southwest. Huff’s Spring flows an average of 120 gallons a minute making it a relatively slow spring but the flow is faster than the nearby soil can absorb it. The spring is believed to be well over 1,500 years old and the constant flow of water has carved a wider and deeper ridge into the landscape forming a gully. If water continues to flow at the present rate a small stream will begin to form. But this process can take thousands and thousands of years and the reservoir that Huff's Spring draws from will eventually run dry.

To log this cache:

In an email please answer the following questions based on your own observations:
Do not post answers as part of your log, encrypted or otherwise, or it will be deleted!

1. How many cachers are in your party and what time of day are you visiting the Spring?
2. Are there any dramatic signs of erosion here or does it seem fairly consistent as you walk from Stage 1 to Stage 2?
3. How wide does the spring appear at Stage 1? How wide does it appear at Stage 2?
4. Using your answers from question 3, what does this tell you about the erosion taking place? Is there more, less, or about the same amount of erosion upstream or downstream?
5. Estimate the depth at both Stage 1 and Stage 2.

• Optional: Post a pic of yourself at the posted coords.

• _Wikipedia
• _{Sierra College Geology Department}
• _{Encyclopedia Britannica}
• _{National Park Service}
• _{National Geographic}
• _{California Geologic Survey}
• _{USGS - Geologic Map Database}
• _{National Park Service}

Congrats to The attendees of GC5BN7B: An Earthcache day CITO and optional 5k event for being co-FTFs!!!