To get credit for this Earthcache, please complete the following tasks:
1. EMAIL Taking the trail from the parking lot to the Earthcache location, observe the changes to the soil. What do you notice about the soil as you get closer to the swamps edge? Is the color darkening or lightening due to the humus? Is the type of soil changing?
2. EMAIL How did the soil composition at the posted coordinates aid in creating the swamps?
3. EMAIL Hypothesize why the entire area is not either a swamp or pond, but a combination of both.
4. EMAIL At the posted coordinates, estimate the distance from the boardwalk across the open pond to the edge of the swamp trees on the other side.
5. OPTIONAL. Post your picture at the swamp or pond to verify that you were at the earthcache.
6. OPTIONAL. Post a picture next to your favorite "art" along DH Trail.
You do not need to wait for confirmation from me to post your log.
I will email you if you have done an outstanding job
(including completing all optional activities),
-or- if you have not met the requirements to earn your smiley.
You can find Constitution Lakes Park near the intersection of South River Industrial Boulevard Road and Moreland Avenue. Doll’s Head Trail is a little harder to find but can be easily picked up at the posted coordinates. It’s an easy hike that’s worth the trek to see the unique decorations along the way.
Constitution Lakes is a 125-acre park operated by DeKalb County. It was purchased for $1.28 million in 2003. Previously owned by the South River Brick Company during the early 20th century. The park hours are from 7am to sunset daily.
The hike to the posted coordinates is about a mile round trip on a mainly paved level trail. There are additional trails that can be picked up near the posted coordinates.
Humans have had a major impact on this area, setting the perfect conditions for these wetlands. The soil composition near the swamp area readily enabled the manufacturing of bricks. The company used open pit mining to mine the clay used to fire the bricks. When the company went out of business, their efforts of keeping the pits from flooding were abandoned. The effects of the mining and subsequent abandonment of the mines lead to the creation of the Constitution Lakes. Due to the nearby South River and low lying land, the area around the pits were quickly and naturally converted to swamp land. With the swamps and ponds being unsuitable for humans to develop; they than moved outward, away from the previous industrial area; allowing nature and wildlife to thrive to include turtles, crappie, catfish, large mouth, small mouth, spotted and striped bass, belted kingfishers, woodpeckers, ducks, blue herons, geese, hawks and more. As seen on the information signs along the boardwalks or if lucky and observant along the walk itself.
SWAMPS
A swamp is a wetland that is forested. It is a low land that has more woody plants than a marsh and better drainage than a bog. Swamps have very fine sediments (silt and clay). The waters are usually stagnant to slow moving with low levels of oxygen that leads to very high organic contents. Normally adjacent to rivers or lakes. They are located in areas with a very low topographic relief.
PONDS
Ponds are quiet, shallow bodies of water that allow enough sunlight to reach their bottom. Water temperature of ponds is fairly even from top to bottom and changes with the outside air temperature. There is little wave action in the water body, and the pond bottom is usually mud-covered. The amount of dissolved oxygen in the pond may vary greatly during a day.
SOILS
Each component, and their size, play an important role. For example, the largest particles, sand, determine aeration and drainage characteristics, while the tiniest, sub-microscopic clay particles, are chemically active, binding with water and plant nutrients. The ratio of these sizes determines soil type: clay, loam, clay-loam, silt-loam, and so on.
SAND
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles. It is defined by size, being finer than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of soil or soil type; i.e. a soil containing more than 85% sand-sized particles (by mass).
SILT
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as sediment mixed in suspension with water (also known as a suspended load) in a body of water such as a river. It may also exist as soil deposited at the bottom of a water body. Silt has a moderate specific area with a typically non-sticky, plastic feel. Silt usually has a floury feel when dry, and a slippery feel when wet. Silt can be visually observed with a hand lens.
CLAY
Clay is a fine-grained soil that combines one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.