Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Fergus Loch named after King Fergus who defeated King Cole, King of the Britons ( in the nearby fields) extends to a length of 620m / 2035 ft and a surface area of 7.044 ha/ 17.41 acres. Formed in a kettle-hole - a feature created as a result of the last glaciation. Whooper swans can be found here and today the loch is used for coarse fishing. There is a wooded island which once was a site of a monastery, was reached by a causeway.
There are three processes by which glaciation affects the landscape - erosion, transportation, and deposition. Glaciers have a huge impact on landscapes. They exert colossal forces on the land and are responsible for dramatic changes caused by erosion. They transport rocks, stones, sand and soil along with them which are deposited when the glacial ice recedes (melts). Deposits laid down by ice are called till or boulder clay which is an assortment of material of various shapes and sizes.
Drumlins are elongated hills of glacial deposits. They can be 1 km long and 500 metres wide, often occurring in groups. A group of drumlins is called a drumlin swarm. These would have been part of the debris that was carried along and then accumulated under the ancient glacier. The long axis of the drumlin indicates the direction in which the glacier was moving. The drumlin would have been deposited when the glacier became overloaded with sediment.
The definition of a Kettle Hole is a hollow created when buried blocks of glacier ice melt out. The name derives from an old meaning of kettle, as in a deep iron basin for heating water over a fire. A kettle drum has a similar derivation.
A kettle hole is formed by blocks of ice that are separated from the main glacier - perhaps the ice front stagnated or retreated or perhaps ice blocks were washed out from the glacier during a glacier flood. If conditions are right, the isolated blocks of ice then become partially or wholly buried in outwash. When the ice blocks eventually melt they leave behind holes or depressions that fill with water to become kettle hole lakes. In Scotland, they may be preserved as isolated small lochs such as here at Fergus Loch which is unusually deep for a Kettle Hole.
(visit link)
Much of the soils of Ayrshire are predominantly glacially deposited sediment. Some of this contains marine shells, indicating that some ice must have moved from the sea onto the land. Just before the ice melted some of this was pushed by the remaining ice into low mounds called ‘drumlins’ (drumlin is Irish for smooth hill). These hills are to be found all over Ayrshire, but they often occur in groups.
To claim this EarthCache, please send the answers to the questions below to us by email / message centre - do not post in your online log. It is helpful that you send your answers at the same time as you log. Your log may be deleted if this criteria is not met. Educational guidelines for EarthCaches are set by Geocaching.com and GeoSociety.org (EarthCache) and have to be adhered to.
1 ) What do you think supplies the loch to keep it filled? (ex: rain/runoff, streams or the water table)
2 ) Do you think the water level of this kettle fluctuates very much during the year? Look at the shoreline for evidence of water lines (dried mineral deposits) on rocks or other debris.
3 ) What does the edge of the Kettle hole look like? sandy, muddy, rocky?
4) Using your gps what elevation are you at, at the shoreline, how much does this differ from the parking?
5) Beside the Kettle hole, can you see any other evidence of a glacier having been here ? ( Think about your journey here, what were the roads like ) ?
While not compulsory it is always good to see photos of your visit and please be careful near water
Roadside parking at N55.26.062 / W004.32.178 or N 55° 25.788 W 4° 32.260, though please be aware that this is farm access and may be required at short notice
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)