FTF HONORS GO TO GEOJUNKIE_PATTY
This cache is located, on public property, with permission from the City of Covington/Newton County Parks Department.
Welcome to beautiful Academy Springs Park! The park is the original site of the Newton County "Male Academy" that was chartered in 1822. The school was completed in 1827 and served as an "All boys" school until 1889, when it merged with the "Female College", under the Covington City Public School Commision.
At the site of the old school, flows a natural spring! I cannot locate any history indicating if it had a connection to the original school. If you have any knowledge of the history surrounding the spring, please share it in your log!
ABOUT THE CACHE
A spring is any natural situation where water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface. It is a component of the hydrosphere.
A spring may be the result of karst topography where surface water has infiltrated the Earth's surface (recharge area), becoming part of the area groundwater. The groundwater then travels through a network of cracks and fissures. The water eventually emerges from below the surface, in the form of a karst spring.
The forcing of the spring to the surface can be the result of a confined aquifer in which the recharge area of the spring water table rests at a higher elevation than that of the outlet. Spring water forced to the surface by elevated sources are artesian wells. This is possible even if the outlet is in the form of a 300-foot-deep cave. In this case the cave is used like a hose by the higher elevated recharge area of groundwater to exit through the lower elevation opening.
Non-artesian springs may simply flow from a higher elevation through the earth to a lower elevation and exit in the form of a spring, using the ground like a drainage pipe.
The action of the groundwater continually dissolves permeable bedrock such as limestone and dolomite, creating vast cave systems.
This information was found in an excerpt at www.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(hydrology)
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR SMILEY
Visit the posted coordinates and find the spring. Notice how it emerges from the ground and flows underneath the flagstone "Floor" and then creates a creek. If you'll follow the creek, it flows into a pond, over a small dam and creates a second pond. Both ponds (combined) cover approximately .25 acre and are approximately two feet deep. Take note that the spring flows year-round and is able to maintain the full level of the ponds. In addition to staying full, the second pond forms another creek that travels beneath the road and continues for an undetermined distance.
1) After reading the information above, what type of spring do you think this is, Artesian or Non-Artesian?
2) If you follow the creek, towards the ponds, you'll see some "Cypress knees" protruding from the ground. Approximately how wide is the creek bed at the Cypress knees? This is an indicator of how much water actually flows from the spring year-round.
3) Give your best estimate of what you believe the flow rate (gallons per minute) of this spring is.
Please send your answers via email or through the new message system, using my profile!
THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE PONDS, FROM THE SPRING!
