PARKING: Study the questions before you arrive and do as a drive-by OR look for parking before you arrive at GZ, maybe 200' before. Drive carefully. You assume all risk whether you are walking, parked or driving. Be safe at all times.
The band of lignite is best seen on the north (northwest) side of the road. This earthcache may not be possible if snow has hidden it.
To log this earthcache:
Measure the thickness (top to bottom) of the band of lignite, and estimate its height above the shoulder of the road. Read about lignite (below) and answer the questions and email the answers to me about the same time you claim your find.
Email me the answers to these questions:
(1) Start with "There's coal in" GC6M3CZ and include the number people in your party and the geocaching names of any others in your group.
(2) What is the thickness of the lignite?
(3) What is your estimate of the height of the lignite above the edge of the shoulder of the road?
(4) Do you think this lignite was originally buried at the same depth, deeper or less deep than the bituminous coal mined elsewhere in the western Dakotas?
Answers must be sent in before the find is logged or about the same time. Logs without answers will be deleted without warning within 12-24 hours.
The Badlands of southwestern North Dakota stretches about 190 miles and is about 6 to 20 miles wide. The Badlands are a valley of stone and clay where wind and water have shaped the land into strange and beautiful formations; buttes, pyramids, domes, and cones colored in shades of browns, reds, grays, and yellows. In some areas of the Badlands the rocks contain lignite coal that has been burning for many years. The clay above these coal beds has turned bright pink and red. White Butte, the highest point in North Dakota stands 3,506 feet above sea level in the Badlands.
Lignite, often referred to as "brown coal", is a soft brownish-black combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content. It has a carbon content around 60–70%. It is mined all around the world and is used almost exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation.
Lignite begins as an accumulation of partially decayed plant material, or peat. Burial by other sediments results in increasing temperature, depending on the local geothermal gradient and tectonic setting, and increasing pressure. This causes compaction of the material and loss of some of the water and volatile matter (primarily methane and carbon dioxide). This process, called coalification, concentrates the carbon content, and thus the heat content, of the material. Deeper burial and the passage of time result in further expulsion of moisture and volatile matter, eventually transforming the material into higher rank coals such as bituminous and anthracite coal.
Lignite deposits are typically younger than higher-ranked coals, with the majority of them having formed during the Tertiary period.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_North_Dakota
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignite