The posted coordinates will take you to The Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve which is a 30-hectare (74-acre) reserve near Hepburn Springs, Victoria. It contains several mineral springs that have been used for drinking and bathing since the 1860s. The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and forms part of Hepburn Regional Park.Several springs exist in the main reserve – Soda, Sulphur, Pavilion, Locarno and Wyuna. Golden Spring, Hendersons and Lithia Spring are located in the vicinity.
Some geology: There are two types of stone found GZ: Granite and Basalt.
Basalt: By definition, basalt is an aphanitic igneous rock with less than 20% quartz and less than 10% feldspathoid by volume, and where at least 65% of the feldspar is in the form of plagioclase. Basalt features a glassy matrix interspersed with minerals. The average density is 3.0 gm/cm3. Basalt is defined by its mineral content and texture, and physical descriptions without mineralogical context may be unreliable in some circumstances. Basalt is usually grey to black in colour, but rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due to oxidation of its mafic (iron-rich) minerals into rust. Although usually characterized as "dark", basaltic rocks exhibit a wide range of shading due to regional geochemical processes. Due to weathering or high concentrations of plagioclase, some basalts are quite light coloured, superficially resembling rhyolite to untrained eyes. Basalt has a fine-grained mineral texture due to the molten rock cooling too quickly for large mineral crystals to grow, although it is often porphyritic, containing the larger crystals formed prior to the extrusion that brought the lava to the surface, embedded in a finer-grained matrix.
Granite: Granite is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. The word "granite" comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a holocrystalline rock. The term 'granite' also applies to a group of intrusive igneous rocks with similar textures and slight variations on composition and origin. These rocks mainly consist of feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole minerals, which form interlocking, somewhat equigranular matrix of feldspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole (often hornblende) peppering the lighter color minerals. Occasionally some individual crystals (phenocrysts) are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic texture is known as a granite porphyry. Granites can be predominantly white, pink, or gray in color, depending on their mineralogy. By definition, granite is an igneous rock with at least 20% quartz and up to 65% alkali feldspar by volume.
Your task:
Attend each WPT and answer the questions.
WPT 1: S 37° 18.710 E 144° 08.543 (Q1)
Q1 What sort of stone is it? How does the top of the stone differ to the sides of the stone? Describe the differences in colours and texture.
WPT 2: S 37° 18.681 E 144° 08.490 (Q2)
Q2 What sort of stone is it? Describe the differences in colours and texture.
Q3 What is the distinguishing feature on the side of this piece?
Once you complete the Earthcache requirements you can post your find without delay, as per the Earthcache guidelines. You will also need to verify your find by sending me an email providing your answers to the questions. This can be through the message centre or via petergmason66@gmail.com
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