This cache is asking you to look at the deposits that are in the roadcut by the side of the road, and interprete what you see there.
Email me your answers to the following questions
- What other cachers were in your group. (this is important if you are submitting for multiple people).
- The deposit on the left, explain how you think the deposit was made.
- The one in the center, was deposited how?
- Can you list what you think is the newest deposit to the oldest and why you think that. Which one do you think would have taken place during the time of Lake Bonnivile (this was the mouth of the canyon depositing the material)
- Add a photo of you from the location or of an identifiable item (paper with trackable name). Posting a photo pulled from the internet, or photoshopped will result in instant deletion.
There are three deposits at the cache site. they were all deposited different ways and at different times. They have distinct looks to them.
Geologists look at the cross sections of deposits to determine how they were laid down. Ancient eras are primarilly laid down by oceans seas and other methods. They appear in layers that are usually in order from the oldest (lower) to the newer (highest).
Quatranary Period.
There are many different periods that geologist use to discuss different times periods. Many of those are well known, Triassic, Jurassic, and others. The Quaternary is the period that covers the last 2.5 million years. So we are looking at deposits that are far more recent. Almost all of those deposits on land come from some different deposit methods.
River deposits
This location was under the Lake Bonneville at one time. The rivers that flowed into this location actually deposited a large amount of material. A river deposit has a unique signature in deposits. Rivers do not deposit materials evenly. Every year there are spring runoffs, years of floods and other large water flows. These heavy flows will move larger material down river to deposit them. Stones, boulders, and larger sediments will be deposited during heavy flows and periods of flooding, while other regular flows will deposit, soil, sand, and clays. So you will see layers like in a cake with some having rocks and others being soil.
Mass Movements
This is a term that describes the movement of material (mass). It can be an avalanche, mud flow, debris flow, or other stones or materials that fall from cliff overhangs. They type can be narrowed down by the deposits. If it is all stone or a majority stone you may be looking at an avalanche. Deposits that are equal parts stone/dirt are often debris or Earth flows. There are also other flows that made up of mud or soil, an mudflow. Some are so slow you may still see the deposit layers in them, they will usually be distorted by the move, slumps and creeps,
Determining what is newest and oldest deposits.
This is usually very simple. What is on top. Most of the time when looking at flows, and deposits the oldest will be on the top. Remember that sometimes things erode strangely, but the newest deposit will be on top of the older one. You may see many debris flows stacked on top of each other.