Joseph and the Mountain EarthCache
Hidden : 8/15/2019
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: other (other)

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Geocache Description:


Joseph and the Mountain Earthcache


St. Joseph Island
St. Joseph Island is located near the mouth of the St. Marys River in northwestern Lake Huron. It is the sixth-largest lake island in the world; the second-largest island on Lake Huron, following Manitoulin Island; and the third largest of all the islands on the Great Lakes, trailing Manitoulin and Lake Superior's Isle Royale. The circumference of the island's coastline is 145 km (90 mi).

Formation of an Island
The island was formed by debris and erosion at the end of the last glacial period. As the Laurentide Ice Sheet, a huge glacier extending into the present-northern United States, melted about 11,000 years ago, it carved deep gouges into the earth, scraped off top soil and deposited rock and sand. It also allowed land compacted by the weight of the ice to rise. The Great Lakes were created when their north shore rebounded from the retreating ice, capturing glacial run off. The land mass that is St. Joseph Island today emerged 5,000 years ago, its shorelines carved out by glacial water which formed what is today the St. Marys River and Lake Huron that surround the island.

"The Mountain"
The town of Carterton sits on a high hill near the center of St. Joseph Island, is the island’s highest point, 346 m (1134 ft) above sea level. This high, slightly rolling upland is locally known as “The Mountain.” The hill, a glacial moraine, is made up of thick layers of sand and silt, overlain by till. During the last ice age (nearly 10,000 years ago), the hill was an island surrounded by glacial Lake Algonquin.

"The Mountain" is a glacial moraine of rock debris pushed by a glacial lobe before it receded. A moraine is what is left at the foot of a glacier as it stops and begins a melting retreat. Imagine a bulldozer blade (the glacier) maybe two kilometers high that is pushing rubble before it – that rubble is now the Mountain! This formation is of particular interest to geologists as it would have been an island itself during the glacial Lake Algonquin period about 10,000 years ago. During the last ice age, the top of the hill was an island surrounded by glacial Lake Algonquin.

Why is "The Mountain" even here?
During the height of the last ice age the Laurentide Ice Sheet extended all the way south to Ohio so why wasn’t that pile of rubble pushed further south? After having reached its maximum southern extent, the last ice sheet retreated and advanced at least 10 times in an uncertain dance until finally retreating for good. "The Mountain", therefore, may represent the last bulldozer blade of rubble deposited on St. Joseph Island before the Laurentide Ice sheet bid us a final farewell.

References.
Island Clippings, Issue 791. 2011. online at www.islandclippings.com
St. Joseph Island. Wikipedia (online).


In order to log this Earthcache, you must email / message wiji (see profile) the answers to the following questions:

1. The posted coordinates bring you a a scenic stop so you can catch your breath as you are near the peak of "The Mountain"! Examine the exposed earth of the moraine beneath your feet. Describe it's composition (ie. size, shape, color or soil/rocks)?

2. Just down the road from where you are standing is the peak height of 'The Mountain'. At the posted coordinates, how may meters or feet are you below 'the island’s highest point, 346 m (1134 ft) above sea level'? What is the elevation reading on your GPSr? Subtract your reading from from 346 m (1134 ft). While you are performing this calculation, think about how much sediment was left behind by the glacier to form this this island moraine!

3. OPTIONAL - Take a photo of your GPSr or yourself/team with the historical Mountain United Church of Canada in the background. You may include this photo in your log.

++ Congratulations to frogman100 on the FTF!! ++

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