Darkness, loneliness, and unseen danger lurk in a tunnel
Stokes Bay is famous for its beautiful beach. To get to the beach you must traverse an amazing rock formation. The bay is protected by a natural breakwater of Cambrian metasediments, known as Stokes Bay sandstone. The cliffs surrounding the bay consist of aeolianite (carbonate dune deposits composted of cemented shell grit and quartz sand). At the eastern end of the bay the protected aeolianite cliffs have broken into truck sized pieces and tumbled onto the headland. A 100m tunnel winds through the boulder field to a beautiful sandy beach and a rock bar protected calm sandy pool.
The rocks lie at all angles and range from truck sized pieces to gravel. Sea spray solution weathering has etched and fluted the upper surfaces into jagged points. Wave action has formed a notch around the exposed boulders. The aeolianite cliffs extend around the head of the bay up to 30m high.
Please visit the earthcache site at the listed coordinates and explore the tunnel. Study the rocks and report your answers for the following tasks. Send your answers to the cache owner.
- Describe the rock at the listed coordinates. Do you see any evidence of wave or tide erosion?
- Estimate the height of the rock in the deepest part of the tunnel?
