Dearden Brook Earth Cache EarthCache

An earth cache to add to the Dearden Brook series

I have graded this  T4.5 because the footpath is close to a steep drop into a deep pool of water, there is fast and deep running water and you will need to cross the river at a point where there is no easy crossing.

You are likley to get a little wet doing this cache

Please cache responsibly, keep mini and fury cachers safe 

Dearden brook is a fast running stream/river which flows from the moors and hills north of Edenfield and eventually confluences with the river Irwell.  At the cache location it is about 20 feet wide and is flowing quickly.  The cache location is the ‘other’ side of the river to the footpath and just below a waterfall which was probably created by industrialists in the 18^th or 19^th century, when this area was home to cotton mills, coal mining and stone quarries.

You will need to read this to answer the questions below

The vast majority of stone is created through a simple sedimentary process.  That is to say that material sinks to the bottom of a body of water and it settles. Time and weight squash the sediments and it becomes solid. This process takes millions of years.

The stone at this site is Sandstone

For the most part stone is created very slowly and the build-up of the particles takes hundreds if not thousands or millions of years.  It is amazing to think that when you look at the face of a rock outcrop, like this one, that the stone is mostly the same colour.  This means that for eons the slow build-up of that rock, was by a constant supply of the same type of material.  However, from time to time there were changes in the material that was building up, for a short time.  This is evidenced by the breaks in the strata, (where you can see lines in the rock). The events that cause the lines must have been some sort of catastrophic event; here are some examples of what this could have been. 

• A huge storm bringing different materials to the area
• A fire or volcanic event that deposited ash or a weaker rock for a while
• A meteorite strike
• A sudden change in global temperature, drought or mini ice age
• A tsunami or massive flood

There are many other things that could have happened too but you have to remember that it was a short event because the rock then continues to form as it did before.

These changes in the rock strata are the focus of this earth cache.

So to answer the questions you will need to get down on the cave floor, across the river from the footpath and search.

To claim the cache please message me the answers to the questions below.

1. How does the evidence of catastrophic events show itself in the rock structure?
2. What does the face of the rock feel and look like?
3. Looking at the base of the cave, how many catastrophic events can you see evidence of?

If you are willing and able, please take a photo of yourself or something close to the cache, from the cave side of the river; please do not include the rock face or cave floor.

Thank you for visiting the cache

Please cache responsibly, keep mini and fury cachers safe