QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
1. Can you identify the different types of rock in the rock wall opposite the viewing platform?
2. Why is the water in the creek and pools the colour it is ?
PHOTO REQUIREMENT
Take a photo with your caching name displayed at or near GZ (please do not give away answers for the above questions). Include this photo with your Found log.
Blue Waterholes Campground is located in the Snowy Mountains Region of NSW. The Karst environment of Cooleman Plain is a complex and diverse array of interesting geological and biological life. The essential component of the environment is water which drives the system’s chemical and physical processes that maintain and continue creating this Karst landscape.
The Cooleman Plains contains an outstanding collection of geologic features, including dry valleys, springs, stream sinks and more than 100 caves. It is commonly regarded as one of the most beautiful karst areas in NSW and can be viewed from the numerous walking tracks winding through the limestone gorges and over ridge tops, revealing striking rock formations, open limestone plains, springs, rivers, waterfalls and many caves.
The limestone rock on Cooleman Plain formed during the Silurian period, around 435-412 million years ago, when most of the area was covered by a shallow sea. During the Devonian period of 412-354 million years ago, the limestone was covered in sediments and layers of rock. The lifting, faulting and erosion of the Earth’s surface exposed the limestone to the atmosphere, where physical and chemical weathering resulted in the development of caves and other karst landforms.
Limestone is a sedimentary rock consisting of the cemented remains of marine organisms and/or fine-grained calcite all of which are made from calcium carbonate. The large circular outcrop of limestone here is surrounded by mainly volcanic rock. This is thought to have formed following an explosive volcanic eruption when the limestone collapsed into a marine caldera (a huge depression left by the eruption). The viewing platform provides a good place to view the different rocks types with the limestone being a creamy-yellow colour while the granite is coloured a dark grey.
The Cooleman Plain area is the largest karst spring in eastern Australia. Although it is relatively small in area, it is unique in that the entire karst area is surrounded by igneous rock-like granite. This granite rock is more resistant to erosion than limestone and that is why the plain is lower in altitude than the surrounding hills. The different rock units, soils, landforms and related systems and processes provide a foundation for the development of a complex ecosystem. The resulting Karst features interact with the environment to produce complex ecosystems supporting highly specialized plants, animals and micro-organisms which are considered to be nationally significant. These species contribute to the biodiversity of NSW and, in many cases are unable to survive elsewhere. The caves also act as a natural time capsule, preserving evidence of past life, climates and earth forming processes.
Four of the main caves - Murrays, Barbers and the left and right Cooleman Caves - are predominantly horizontal and can be explored by torchlight. Though heavily vandalised in the 19th and 20th centuries, these and other caves at Cooleman Plain contain a wide range of cave formations created by the deposition of minerals (mainly calcite (speleothems)) and excellent examples of marine fossils are visible in many of the caves' bedrock walls. Speleothems are secondary mineral deposits formed in caves. The name covers formations such as: stalactites (roof down), stalagmites (ground up) and flowstone (usually located on the floor or walls of caves). Speleogens are pillar-like formations within caves that are created by the removal of bedrock, rather than as secondary deposits. Both Speleothems and Speleogens are in evidence in the Cooleman Plain Karst caves.
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:
To claim this earthcache you will need to head to the Viewing Platform and collect the answers to the questions below and email these to me for verification using the contact details in this listing. The photo at or near GZ with your caching name displayed is also compulsory. You may log a find without sending me answers immediately, but I will check and will delete your Found log if I do not receive your answers within a week or so, or if there is no photo with your log. I will reply asap and may get back to you for further clarification.
GETTING THERE
Blue Waterholes campground is in the Northern Plains and Wilderness area of Kosciuszko National Park. This is a remote campground, please make sure you arrive well prepared. To get there: • Turn off Snowy Mountains Highway on to Long Plain Road • Turn right on to Blue Waterholes Trail • Blue Waterholes campground is located at the end of the trail, around 25km from the Snowy Mountains Highway turnoff • Long Plain Road and Blue Waterholes Trail are unsealed, so please check conditions before you set out, and allow plenty of time to reach the campground. References: Geological sites of NSW - http://www.geomaps.com.au/scripts/coolemanplain.php NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service - http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/camping-and-accommodation/campgrounds/blue-waterholes-campground
WEATHER RESTRICTIONS:
There is no vehicle access to the campground in winter (June to October long weekends), and road closures may occur in extreme weather. Check conditions with the Tumut Visitor Centre before you set out as Long Plain Road and Blue Waterholes Trail can become boggy when it rains. They are unsealed roads accessible by 2WD vehicles, however 4WD vehicles are required in wet weather.