During the Ice Age, 10,0000-50,000 years ago, rivers carried sediments of sand, gravel and clay from the Rocky Mts. to what we now call Oklahoma. Most was deposited on the banks of rivers such as the North Canadian. Once there, it was wind whipped into dunes that formed terraces. One such example of this is located in the present day Boiling Springs State Park. The oldest rocks you will see are red sandstone, siltstone, and shale. These were formed during the Permian age. They also contain beds of dolomite, gypsum and salt impregnated shale. The North Canadian River deposited these sediments and in time a flood plain developed containing mostly Alluvium sand. A Permian sandstone and shale mixture is at the lowest depth covered by a layer of limestone. This layer extremely permeable, trapping and containing water. The top layer is a terraced layer of sand. It is where the Permian Limestone meets the flood plane boundary that springs can occur. This saturated limestone is now potentially an aquifer. In this case a portion of the Oglala. and can be seen at the GZ. Observe the ledges formed around the spring and you can see the layering of the terrace and below. The GZ for this Earth cache is located in Boiling Springs State Park. All of the conditions and requirements can be observed and answered from the public, visitors area which is op 24 hrs a day, year round.
To claim this Earthcache you must answer the following questions that can be found at the GZ and e-mail them to the CO
1. What type of rock is extremely permeable and holds the water?
2. How many gallons of water per minute flows from the spring?
3. How many layers are there in the four foot ledges and what do you think they are made of?
4. What is the lower level of the formation made of?
If you wish, Attach a photo of yourself and your GPS at the GZ
Email the answers to the above questions to claim your find and please enjoy this oasis of the plains.