You are standing near the southern shore of an ancient lake. Debris from a retreating glacier blocked the river to create the lake 50,000 years ago, but it eventually filled with sediment. When glaciers move, they grind any rocks in their path to dust. That dust blows away when the glacier retreats and blankets the land wherever the wind deposits it. These kinds of deposits are called loess. Chemical action over thousands of years has turned that dust to rock, and as the river migrated to carve the channel you see today, it exposed those ancient deposits.
To log this EarthCache as a find, send me the answers to the following questions. Do not put the answers in your log, even if encrypted.
1. What is unusual about the Nenana River according to the sign?
2. Why is the color gray?
3. Look at the cliff across the river. If you had to choose 3 characteristics to describe a rock formation initially deposited by wind-blown dust, what would they be? (For instance, you might think about the following: do you see strata/layers? As the cliff erodes--what does it reveal about the texture of the rock? What color is it? How high is the cliff?)
4. Post a picture of yourself or your GPSer here with the hotel behind you in the background.
Please send me your answers to the questions above within 5 days of logging your find, or else per EarthCache rules, I will have to delete your log.
CONGRATS TO THE GATOR BAIT FOUR ON BEING FTF!!!
References: https://www.britannica.com/science/loess https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/loess/ https://alaska.usgs.gov/portal/project.php?project_id=20