You are looking for the answers to this earthcache at Spooners Cove in Montaña de Oro state park. In this area you will find a few caves and arches. This is a great place to bring your lunch and have a picnic on the beach. Also this park is full of other great hiking trails. You can find a free parking in a nearby lot.
Sea Caves are formed by constant beating of waves against ocean cliffs. Waves pound the cliff faces with hundreds of pounds of force per wave eroding away the base of the cliffs. Where there are areas of weakness, that portion of the cliff erodes forming indentations. These indentations reinforce the erosion by focusing more energy from each wave into the confined space creating caves. Continued erosion eventually erodes the cliffs and caves down, sometimes isolating remnants of the cliff off-shore in what are called sea stacks. This is something else you can see in the area. Rock formations can become weak for wide variety of reasons. The cliffs of this section of coast are made up of a layered sedimentary rock. The contact between each layer in the formation is a point of weakness.
- The text GC6GEB0 Spooners Cove Caves
- What type of rock do you think this is?
- How thick are the layers?
- What do you think created the caves and arch you are looking at?
- How deep do you think the cave is?
- What is the texture of the beach you are walking on?
- Do you think this cave will one day become an arch?