In Order to qualify for this cache you need only answer 3 questions:
1) According to the plaques in the lowest cave who used to live in these caves
2) Would you say that Hells Gate is the opening to a Valley or a Gorge or Canyon, give reasons for your answer and roughly estimate the depth
3) Looking at the rock itself what type of rock do you think makes up these caves and how would you describe the grain in the rock
4)On the lowest level how height would you say the roof of the cave is at the back of the cave and how deep would you say the cave is
5)On the top most level of caves there are striations that can be seen in the back wall, what direction do they run and what do you think caused this
First lets admire the views of this stunning location, the crowned eagles soaring below you and the beauty of nature all around.
Now lets look at the views and try understand better what we are looking at, firstly what type of formation is it:
1) Well in order to know that we need to know the difference between a Valley, a Gorge, a Canyon and a Kloof - well firstly a Canyon and a Gorge are pretty much the same thing, a Canyon is the American name and a Gorge is the European name but they both refer to a deep ravine with steep side (with or without a river flowing through it) and a Kloof is just the Afrikaans name for a Gorge. They have been formed through long periods of time and frequent erosion from a plateau level. The steep cliffs are formed as hard rocks are resistant to erosion or any type of weathering.
2) While a valley according to the dictionary is "a low area of land between hills or mountains, typically with a river or stream flowing through it"
Ok so now we know what we are looking at formation wise lets try understand how it was formed. A quote I found online at quora.com is "Gorges are mainly formed because of the flow of water or lava. Like canyons, the walls of gorges are also made of sandstone and granite. There are also gorges that have limestone structures which have formed intricate cave systems." ok this is very interesting so looking at the rock around you what type of rock would you say it is - look closely - according to Zulu.org - The sediments of mud and sand were deposited for millions of years into the vast central swamp having washed down from the Drakensberg. This became agglomerated and compacted through the immense pressure caused by the weight of all the overlying layers. This thick blanket of sediment built up about 490 million years ago and today the resultant sandstone can be seen forming the typical table-top shapes that can be seen here and in the Valley of 1000 Hills.
If you would like more information about this stunning formation I suggest doing https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC369AV_oribi-gorge-earthcache which also has some stunning views.
I hope you have enjoyed this Earthcache and I hope you enjoyed the views.
Please send your answers via the Geocaching messaging system
Sources:
quora.com
geology ukzn
dictionary.com
researchgate.net
zulu.org
** HTH goes to TechnoNut **