GC7H7VW Makiling Mud Springs (Earthcache) in Philippines created by Tonio2000&Co

GC7H7VW ▼

A cache by Tonio2000&Co Message this owner

Hidden : 1/16/2018

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:

The Mud Springs has been popularly but erroneously known as the crater of Mt Makiling. The Mud Springs site is actually one of the mud pots left in the mountain. A mud pot is a type of hot spring that is formed when due to volcanic heat, sulfuric acid breaks down surrounding rocks into clay. The clay mixes with water to form mud. The mud springs of the Mount Makiling are measured with a temperature of 80°C.

A mud pot (sometimes spelled mudpot) is a type of hot spring that contains thick muddy clay. Although mud pots have slightly more water than fumaroles, they also contain the volcanic gases present in the steam vents. In particular, they contain hydrogen sulfide. When this gas combines with water, it forms sulfuric acid. At a mud pot's surface, the acid dissolves the surrounding surface rock, thickening the water with muddy clay. Steam and other gases bubble up through the layers of mud, often explosively so. Mud pots are usually gray or light brownish-gray in color. Sometimes, minerals from the dissolved rocks tint the mud with shades of pink, red, and other colors. When this occurs, the mud pot is also called a paint pot.

The underground plumbing system of hot springs, fumaroles, mud pots, and geysers .

So, how to distinguish all these notions?

Crust: The thin, solid outermost layer of Earth.
Fumarole: A small hole or vent in Earth's surface through which volcanic gases escape from underground.
Geyser: A hot spring that periodically erupts through an opening in Earth's surface, spewing hot water and steam.
Geyserite: A white or grayish silica-based deposit formed around hot springs.
Groundwater: Freshwater lying within the uppermost parts of Earth's crust.
Hot spring: A pool of hot water that has seeped through an opening in Earth's surface.
Lithosphere: The rigid uppermost section of the mantle combined with the crust.
Mantle: The thick, dense layer of rock that lies beneath Earth's crust.
Mud pot: A hot spring that contains thick, muddy clay.
Plates: Large sections of Earth's lithosphere that are separated by deep fault zones.
Plate tectonics: The geologic theory that Earth's crust is composed of rigid plates that "float" toward or away from each other, either directly or indirectly, shifting continents, forming mountains and new ocean crust, and stimulating volcanic eruptions.
Rhyolite: A fine-grained type of volcanic rock that has a high silica content.
Travertine: A dense, white deposit formed from calcium carbonate that creates rock formations around hot springs.

The access can be slippery if it has rained the previous days.
Don't touch the mud. This would hurt you.

What I ask you to do to validate this Earthcache:

    1. Give me the approximative temperature of the mud.
Now observe the boiling mud.
    2. Explain me briefly how this phenomenon works.
Now see the creek running out of the mud spring
    3. Describe me what you see including colors, what you smell. How do you explain these phenomena?
    4. Optional but highly appreciate: please post a picture of you or your GPS when you are at PZ.

/!\ For item 1 to 3, don't put your answers directly in your log but send them to me /!\
Don't wait for my feedback to log the cache. I would contact you if there was a problem with your answers.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)