In Order to qualify for this cache you need only answer a few questions:
1) At waypoint 1 there is a cliff face in front of you look carfully at the surface - Discribe the surface (try using texture and inclusions and how you think it was formed in your answer)
2) Looking at your surroundings - Why do you think the surface texture is the way it is?
3) Repeat Question 1 but at waypoint 2
4) Repeat Question 2 but at waypoint 2
5) Bonus Question - After seeing the 2 types of surfaces of the cliff faces can you try name the rock types
First lets enjoy the peace and quiet that we find at at this location (if the river is not in flood).
OK firstly what is a cliff:
"A cliff is a mass of rock that rises very high and is almost vertical, or straight up-and-down. Cliffs are very common landscape features."
Interesting facts but where do cliffs come from, how are they formed?
Cliffs are usually formed because of processes called erosion and weathering. Weathering happens when natural events, like wind or rain, break up pieces of rock. The break off soft or grainy rocks from hardier rocks leaving the harder rock exposed and often the harder rocks are left as cliffs.
The tiny pieces of rocks broken off by weathering are called sediment or alluvium. Erosion is the process of transportation of this sediment. On sea cliffs, sediment becomes part of the seafloor and is washed away by waves while for inland cliffs the, sediment may be carried away by rivers or may even collect in piles on the floor below the cliff face. Some times the pieces of Rock breaking off are quite large, these are called scree or talus. Scree builds up at the bottom of many inland cliffs as rocks tumble down. These piles are called scree slopes or talus piles. Some scree slopes can be so large that soil and sediment can build up between the rocks, allowing trees and other vegetation to grow on the slope, giving the hill like slope in front of some cliffs
Now it is time to take what we have learned and look at the areas at the 2 waypoints, they are good examples of 2 very different cliff faces, one is by a river and you will see very little scree while the other is not and the scree has started to form, now take a moment and answer the above questions while you roam around and look at these small cliffs
I hope you have enjoyed this Earthcache and I hope you learnt somthing along the way.
Please send your answers via the Geocaching messaging system
Sources:
quora.com
http://nationalgeographic.org/
geology ukzn
dictionary.com
** HTH goes to TechnoNut **