First of all, you need solid rock for the wind to hit and erode away. To learn more about the rock, you can check out my earthcache around the corner (GC6CDXD) that talks more in depth about how this type of limestone is created. This solid rock can't be just any rock. it needs to be fragile enough where wind can break it down, but not animals or rain. If it was too brittle, like tuff (volcanic ash), it would not stay for long. If it was too hard, like granite, wind wouldn't erode it at all. Once you have a solid rock that is soft enough, the next thing is that there needs to be wind and a lot of it. Wind is one of the slowest ways to erode a rock. Wind is a fluid, like water. You can move through it, like water.
In order for a wind cave to form, the wind must be coming from one direction, and it must be within a certain range. What I mean by this is that the wind can't hit the rock at a parallel angle. There isn't much the wind would hit. The greatest angle where wind can do the most erosion is perpendicular or 90 degrees. This is where the wind is hitting the exposed rock, dead on. The rock takes the brunt force and small particles fall off the rock, one at a time. If the wind does this constantly, and at the same angle, in a few thousand years a wind cave will have formed large enough to go inside. Eventually, if the wind continues, it will erode the cave entirely until it collapses.
TO LOG A FIND ON THIS CACHE YOU MUST GIVE ME THE CORECT ANSWERS BEFORE YOU LOG A FIND. YOU CAN CONTACT ME THROUGH MY EMAIL OR THE GEOCACHING MESSAGE CENTER. ANY INCORRECT ANSWERS WILL RESULT IN A DELETED LOG
1. "Laguna Beach - Wind Caves" on the first line of your email AND list all geocaching names of your party so I can match your answers to them. Note, this IS cheating as only the person who sent their answers has learned something, while the others get a "free ride". It's not fair to others. If you all want to learn something, I would prefer each cacher send me individual emails in the spirt of earthcaching.
2. Pick the largest wind cave you see. What are two geologic differences you see from the inside of the cave to the exposed rock at the entrance.
3. What are the average sizes of the caves here? You can also just tell me the average diameter of the entrances / holes.
4. What direction is the wind coming from? Does it match with the direction the wind was coming when you visited? Does this surprise you?
5. Is there any sediment building up on the ground from the caves? If so, tell me the texture and color. If not, why not AND where would it be?
Works Cited
http://geobytesgcse.blogspot.com/2007/08/coastal-erosion-landforms-features-and.html