Syncline or Anticline? EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

AnnieMaroo: Due to earthquake the layers have collapsed and fallen to the ground - enough to make this EC difficult to understand. This to supposed to be an easy lesson for an EarthCache, so it's being archived. Geology happened!
Annie Maroo

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Hidden : 10/12/2014
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:


To log this Earthcache please E-mail me the answers through my geocaching.com account and post any photos with your log. Once you've sent the email with your answers, go ahead and log your find without waiting for a reply from me. I will contact you if there are any problems with your log entry. Please do not give away any answers in your log or your photos!

Questions:
1) How many distinct layers do you see to the left of the lighter rock mentioned in the cache page write up?
2) How thick is each layer that you identified?
3) Which layer is the youngest?
4) What is this - an anticline or a syncline? In your own words please explain your answer.

At the posted coordinates you will be standing on a trail that has been blasted through a large section of sedimentary rock. The focus of this EarthCache lesson begins at the point where a 1.3 m (4 ft) tall bit of lighter coloured rock meets the darker coloured rock.
Facing east will put you in front of a large section of the blasted rock. Look carefully at this rock and notice that some of the exposed layers curve. This is where the geo lesson begins and you can start gathering information for the questions.
Some of the rock is obscured below the soil line, but with a bit of imagination, you will be able follow the curve of the rock layers and see how many layers are to the left of the lighter coloured limestone.
One of your tasks is figuring out which layer of rock (youngest or oldest) is in the core.

While I was at the site with micaparamedic, a man in a wheel chair stopped and asked us what we were looking at. His friends stopped and listened to our conversation. None of them had any formal geology background, but had heard of geocaching. I asked these folks the EC questions. They looked at the rock and were able to come up with the correct answers. This also proved to me that the gravel trail really is wheel chair friendly! 




Anticlines and Synclines:
Anticlines and synclines are folded rock layers. Anticlines are folds in which the oldest rock lies in the center or core and synclines have the youngest rock in its center or core. Most often anticlines are arch shaped and synclines are trough shaped.
Anticlines and Synclines form when rock layers are compressed (pushed together) by plate-tectonics similar to carpet folds when its sides are pushed together. When rocks are compressed they can either bend, creating folds, or they can fracture, creating faults. Synclines can be as small as the side of a cliff or as large as a valley. Anticlines can be as small as a hill or as large as a mountain.
Anticlines are sought out by geologists who explore for oil and gas because the arches form natural traps these hydrocarbons. Since oil and gas are less dense than water they tend to migrate upward through permeable rock. When rock is folded into an anticline and capped by an overlying impermeable rock, then oil and gas will migrate up the slope of the fold to the crest and accumulate there.
Hydrologists search for synclines because they can form natural traps for water. This can provide an underground water supply, or aquifer.
The easiest way to differentiate those two is the word sync ("sink") in syncline, which means that it is a fold that is folding into the earth (downward curving fold), while an anticline is folding out (curving up).



Thank you micaparamedic for your knowledge and encouragement!
Permission granted October 15, 2014 from Graham Gidden CVRD Parks & Trails


Anticlines and synclines
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Additional Hints (Decrypt)

4 dhrfgvbaf gb nafjre

Decryption Key

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

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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