Park Erosion Control EarthCache

Park Erosion Control Earth Cache

N38” 38.766  W092” 46.579

Erosion has always created a problem.  We usually consider it with our soil and it is the process of eroding or the condition of being eroded away.  With rocks and minerals, it is the eating away of the materials.  This area of Central Missouri is a large row crop area, thus there is the possibility of an erosion problem by both water and wind.   Much of the timber and non-crop area are covered with grass as a protection against erosion through their fibrous root systems.   This grass helps hold the soil and makes a permeable surface to absorb water slower.  This protection is absolutely necessary for the soil Taxonomy Order of Alfisols which makes up most of the Park area.  Under this main Taxonomy Order we further break the soil down into a couple of other parts.  The majority of the park area is made of Maplewood Silt Loam (a mixture of sand, silt and clay), which is a deep poorly drained permeable soil.  A small portion of the Tipton City Park is Sackville Silt Loam, which is another deep poorly drained Alluvium soil.  Maplewood has a 5-9% slope to it, while Sackville has only a 2-5% slope.

 The Tipton City Park Lake actually started as a sewage lagoon for the city of Tipton.   In the 1970’s a modern Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant was built south of Tipton.   After completion of the Modern Sewage Treatment Plant the lagoon was cleaned out and converted into a lake.  The lake is approximately 6 acres in size and was later stocked with fish by the Missouri Department of Conservation.   After the desired waiting period for fish growth the lake is now open to public fishing for Bass, Bluegill, and Cat Fish.  The park, which covers about 30 acres, was opened in the summer of 1980.  Part of the park area is now paved for the street passing through the park and for a parking area, which makes for a Non-permeable or impermeable surface that does not absorb water.  This parking lot runoff water flows onto the permeable grass surfaces of the park for better absorption and erosion control.   There is a paved walking/running track on the dam of the lake, which actually has very little effect on the possibility of erosion in the park.  The water on the parking area and adjoining grass runs off into the lake and into the grass and wooded area south of the park.   The watershed for the park continues out of the upper north side of the park into the surrounding residential area, thus large quantities of water can be funneled into the park.

Information for this Earth Cache was obtained from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), the Moniteau County SCS (Soil Conservation Service), Tipton Vocational Agriculture Department,  the City of Tipton, Google, and Wikipedia.  Plus text books of, Fundamentals of Horticulture - 3^rd edition by Edmond, Senn, Andrews, McGraw-Hill Book Company, plus The American Heritage College Dictionary – 3^rd edition

To claim this Earth Cache please answer the following questions and send the answers to the cache owner:

1. What is the slope of the majority of the park? --------- ___________________

2. What are the three components of a loam soil?-------- ______, ______, _____

3. What direction does the park slope to?------------------- ___________________