Alien Markings! EarthCache

AID CASE GC76H22 - The Story

It was a Thursday morning, early in the twenty-first century. Senior Alien Investigations Department (AID) investigator Shadrock stood amid the Geo Zone, pensively surveying the scene. He and his longtime assistant, Whatssup, had been dispatched to identify strange markings on the land. According to the initial docket it was reported that they were approach calibrations for extra terrestrial travelers, Investigator Shadrock had his doubts.

Whatssup was the first to speak. “They look like Alien Road Markings, “ he blurted. He was fond of stating the obvious. “See how the base is dull and lifeless, like tarmac on a runway. And squished out, like toothpaste from a tube caught under the wheel of a shopping trolley at the supermarket.”

Inspector Shadrock considered the image, and frowned slightly. He turned, and knelt down next to the dull smooth bulb of rock beneath his feet. Tapping the black rock, he continued, “ this hard rock is basaltic, a metamorphic rock that contains very little useful structure. Sort of ...” he smirked, “ a dead-weight!”

He looked to Whatssup for a response.

“What...Why...When...” stammered Whatssup

.

Shadrock smiled at the confused assistant. “ What it is,” he slowly explained, “ is pieces of solid matter laying near the basement mantle of the earth that have been thrust up to the surface of the earth, and then have fallen back into the ground to be heated and squashed. Tremendous heat – enough to melt rocks, and as a consequence a huge amount of pressure, that most atoms with open spaces in their outer orbits have been modified to form closed nonreactive inert compounds. Any resilient elements, such as silicon, for example, have escaped the confines of this basal. In a liquid form, the exposed molten rock has slowly oozed from the point of entry to the surface of the earth, and has been drawn by gravity to where we are now.” Pausing for breath, Whatssup chirped in with a quick “ Why..” before the Investigator could continue.

Which he did, saying “ I know you are wondering Why? Why here? Well, the reason is pretty simple. When the landmass known as Gondwana broke up, one of the separation points; the separation of what is now known as Antarctica, was a break in the foundation mantle. This break happened out to where the current sea is, some 25 kilometers Southward.” He turned his eyes toward the sea, and continued, “ With the release of the weight of the great highlands of Antarctica, and the separation of the Eastern attachment to the Himalaya mountains in the North, the stretch of landmass now known as Kzn was tilted ever so slightly toward the South East. Remember that the Drakensburg mountains had not formed yet.”

Whatssup blinked but was silent.

“With this tilt, the molten rock inched its way toward the lowest point, which is this very area. Because the molten rock was exposed to the surface air and weathering, it cooled rapidly and solidified to form what you see before you. “

Inspector Shadrock looked toward Whatssup, who was eyeing the lines in the rock around him.

Anticipating the question, Shadrock continued, “ The linear cracks you see are the result of flex upon the mantle, as well as the effects of various rates of cooling. Remember that there is no internal molecular reinforcing of this basalt rock. Because of the intense creating pressure most of the cohesive rigidity has been reduced. What we have is a solid mass of matter, that is resting on a slowly tilting base. As the support changes, the basal rock will crack along the pivotal line of equilibrium. Hence the linear cracks we can see. “

Investigator Shadrock beamed at his gawping assistant, and waited for him to grasp all that had been said.

After a while, the round eyed Whatssup blurted out his third request: “ When? When did this all happen? I didn't see anything about it on Animal Planet!”

Shadrock smirked, and spoke in a slow measured tone,” No, my faithful assistant, you didn't.”

“ We speak here of matters that happened before the age of Dinosaurs. The Jurassic period, subject to that popular movie, had not even begun yet. We are looking at the evidence of some 400 million years ago. The rock upon which we stand, flowed into place at that time. It was, “ he added as an after thought, “ around the same time that the popular Drakensburg Mountain range began to protrude into the surface of the land, setting in motion the Moorland cycle which accounts for much of the environment of this piece of Africa. We are standing amongst some really old history. Not as old as some, but for the newborn Africa, really old.”

Whatssup had the familiar glazed look in his eyes. His lips mouthed The Moorland Cycle while his face took on the look of a question mark. Shifting focus, and adjusting his stance, Shadrock quickly summarised, “ The Moorland Cycle was a period of the upliftment of the interior and a simultaneous dropping of the sea floor beyond the coastal hinge. The spin off of this was the creation of the Drakensberg, as well as the creation of the Indian Ocean.”

The two stood side by side, eyeing the surrounds for a while.

Whatssup was the first to break the silence, “ These reflective lines look like Alien road markings upon the rock,” he blurted. He was fond of stating the obvious. “See how they are uneven on the surface, and how they reflect the light.”

“No, my dear Whatssup. You are seeing, but not looking. What you see as a strip of marking is in fact a series of tiny compounds packed together tightly, and then cemented into place.”

The investigator leaned toward the broadest example, “ see how the edges of this piece of matter is made up of many individual molecules. And each molecule has definite flat sides that appear to reflect light. But notice that it is simply the even surface that does the reflection. When looking at the surface square on, there is no form of reflecting ability. “ Shadrock twisted his head in demonstration.

Whatssup tightened the belt around his overcoat with a shiver. He had learned not to be afraid of asking obvious questions. Clearing his throat, he asked “If rocks are formed from sand under great pressure, either from heat or overlaying solids pressing down,” he cleared his throat a little more hesitantly, “ and if most rock formations are weathered away to well rounded protrusions, why then does this rock strip still exist..?” His voice broke off midway before he could finish.

Shadrock spoke out, “ Yes,” he mused, “ the outer protrusions of these strips do appear to have been well rounded where exposed,” he moved closer to the light coloured strip of rock resting upon the black base.

The frown upon Whatssup 's forehead shaped into a question “But Investigator, if that is so, why then did the entire composition not break down?” He looked at Shadrock expectantly.

The Inspector turned from where he was crouching, and faced his trusted assistant, “ The one party to this mystery is renown for it's resilience “ Shadrock patiently pointed out “The grains of sand that make up this rock are Silicates.” he said.

“ Due to the stable structure of the Silicon atom, the outer valencies upon which degradation can take place, are sealed up by the Oxygen atoms and in some cases an additional element.”

“At this site, that additional element would be of a calcium nature, given the marine environment ”

“But if what you say is true,” began Whatssup, “ Why do we not have an entire field of this type of marking? It is only these strips. Look back there “ he pointed toward the vegetation at the edge of the dune, “ there is no markings over there! Why is that?” he challenged Shadrock with his observations.

Investigator Shadrock sighed, and held up two fingers. “ On the one hand, “ he lowered one of his fingers, “ Silicate particles, or sand made up around a silicon oxygen base, such as this and most of the sediments on this planet, are easily broken down when resting on an organic base. “ He saw the question before it was spoken, and answered before being asked.

“ I say broken down. I mean the outer atomic shell forms with a carbon influenced or carbon rich substrate, thus allowing the Silicon molecule greater mobility in compound. This is how the biologists “ he spat the word out with years of distrust “ how they can say that the body requires silicon, yet are unable to show us which organ uses it. Or how it gets into the body. Or what it does.” He allowed his eyebrows to form an exclamation mark in emphasis.

He continued “ and so the same formation that we see here is the same as the formations that were formed over there, and there, and in fact all around here. Only those formations have been weathered, whereas these here ,” he peered down to the strip of quartz like composition, “ these placings have been somewhat immune from the erosion process.”

He glanced at his remaining finger held upright, frowned briefly, then continued, “ On the other hand, notice how the particles of sand have been trapped in the cracks in the basaltic rock. It is probable that their being trapped in these cracks has in fact saved them from being decommissioned by the surrounding elements.” He lowered his upturned hand.

Whatssup looked thoughtfully at the angular markings, and after a thoughtful pause, thought for a bit and cleared his throat. “ So the strips of reflective markings are actually grains of silicon rich sand glued together in the cracks created by the hardened basaltic rock flexing when the ground underneath it moved.”

Inspector Shadrock was once again pleased with the grasp his faithful assistant had of the so called mystery. He beamed, and turning to Whatssup, said, “ Well, yes. Although I would say cemented together using the hydrolyses byproduct of bacterium on calcium carbonate instead of glue, and cracks upon settling instead of flexing when the ground moved; But yes. You do seemed to have grasped it.” He beamed, and as he turned to leave the scene, added “and thus you can do the paperwork and file the report!”

References:

1. Calvo, S., Scientists turn sand to stone, Science Alert, sciencealert.com.au/news/20090705-19095.html, 7 May 2009.

2. Whiffin, V., Microbial CaCO₃precipitation for the production of biocement, PhD thesis, 2004-

3. Murdoch University Synergy 6(2): Winter 2002, Biocement for Sandcastles, about.murdoch.edu.au/synergy/0602/biocement.html,

4. The Geography of KwaZulu-Natal – Kzn Tourism 2017

Tasks to undertake:

1. What sort of rock is to be found at the co-ordinates? List at least two types.
   
   

2. Describe the surrounding environment.
   
   

3. Describe two methods that can be used to create Rocks.
   
   

4. Site Verification: Near the gz a man made structure can be seen. Count the number of bolts attached to the circular face that faces the land.
   
   

5. Bonus task (not required) Can you identify any object other than those mentioned within the description that has made use of the chemical properties of Silicon?
   
   

6. Optional: You may wish to take a picture of the gz with yourself included, and post same on the log.

Please send responses to the Cache Owner via the message service within the App, within 10 days. You may claim the find, but any 'Found It' log will be deleted if the responses are not received, at the absolute discretion of the Cache Owner. Individual responses are required; group responses will not be accommodated.