ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FOREST DISCOVERY SERIES
Each of the earthcaches in this series will take you along roads and trails
to discover the wonders that exist in and around the ANF.
Elk - Forest - McKean - Warren
This discovery series was developed as a heartfelt THANK YOU to all who completed the requirements as requested, and wrote positive logs worth the time to read. Complete 24 ECT caches. Send a list of logs (GL links) via message for verification of requirements. Arrange to meet at Cache Condo to pick up your trackable coin.
EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. ... "Geocachers must complete the tasks before they log the EarthCache as found." (4.3. EarthCache logging tasks)
Enjoy the journey (learning adventure) as well as the destination (smiley earned). Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. To get credit for this Earthcache, complete the following tasks:
NOTE: Answers via message -and- two pictures (log signatures) are required to post a find for this cache. 1. Pic at or near the coordinates / 2. Pic at or near the waypoint coordinates
BEAVER MEADOW
1. MESSAGE …. a. There are three rocks at this site. Facing the water, they are Left-Middle-Right. Use your rock detective skills to identify the three rocks. / b. Explain your choices.
2. MESSAGE …. Describe one unusual feature for each rock that is not found on the other two.
3. LOG ... Post a picture at or near the coordinates. This picture is your log signature. No spoiler pics.
FOREST ROAD - Turn right onto Beaver Meadows Road. Turn left onto Forest Road 127 (Adamson Road).
4. MESSAGE - Use your rock detective skills to identify the rock. Explain your choice.
5. MESSAGE - This rock is surrounded by several smaller rocks. Explain what happened.
6. LOG - Post a picture at or near the waypoint coordinates. This picture is your discovery log signature. No spoiler pictures.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in finding and creating this earthcache by adding A B C to your log.
A. Discover another interesting rock in/around the ANF, Give coordinates. Identify your rock and explain your choice. If you found your rock at a geocache/earthcache site, give name of the cache and GC number instead of cooordinates.
B. JOURNEY OF THE MIND ... Science explains what we observe. Relate (in your own words) something you found interesting in the reading. This adds to your learning adventure and your log.
C. JOURNEY OF THE HEART ... Art shares our personal experience of what we see. Share something special you found on site, and why it is special to you ... prose / story / poem / picture. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
THANK YOU LN for travelling and hiking with RT to complete this Earthcache Trail.
ROCK TYPES IN FOREST COUNTY
The predominant rocks in Forest County are sandstone, shale, and conglomerate. The map shows the distribution of each type of rock. The link gives the key and additional information.
"Some 445 million years ago, what is now the Allegheny National Forest was submerged beneath a shallow, inland sea. Over time, weathered material eroded from ancient mountains in eastern Pennsylvania and filled in the sea floor. These deposits left large rocky outcrops, known as Olean conglomerates, which are seen throughout the Allegheny National Forest today. Mud and sand was also deposited, burying microscopic marine life and creating the rich oil deposits by which Pennsylvania would later become so well known." ANF
CONGLOMERATE (Pieces of other rocks)
What Does It Look Like? Conglomerate looks like a mixture of sand and different sizes of rounded pebbles. The pebbles are the important observation.
SHALE-PEBBLE - composed largely of rounded mud chips / FLAT PEBBLE - consist of relatively flat mud chips
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? mostly quartz
How Was It Formed? Sand and pebbles collect along sea shores, lake shores, or river banks. They are compacted by the weight of sediments that collect above them and cemented by material dissolved in the water that seeps through them.
LIMESTONE (Biochemical origin)
What Does It Look Like? Limestone is usually white, gray, tan, or yellow. It may contain impurities to make it red or black. Fossils are often found in limestone. It may be very smooth or even sugary, fine grained, or medium grained. The powdered rock will usually fizz in white vinegar. Unlike marble, limestone is not composed of visible crystals.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? mostly calcite
How Was It Formed? Most limestone is formed by a chemical reaction in sea water. The reaction makes a lime mud which sinks to the bottom to for the limestone. Some limestones are formed from buried coral reefs.
SANDSTONE (Cemented sand)
What Does It Look Like? Sandstone is often red to brown, light gray to nearly white. Sometimes it is yellow or green. It usually is composed of rounded grains that are all of the same size; and it is usually medium grained. Some sandstones show slight color variations in layering.
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Quartz; Sometimes contains: feldspars, mica, glauconite (in green colored sandstone), magnetite, garnet, rutile, ilmenite. FEELS GRITTY.
How Was It Formed? Quartz sand that is produced by the weathering of other rocks (such as granite, gneiss, and other sandstones) is deposited by rivers, waves, or wind. The sediment may have been a sand bar, an ocean beach, or desert sand dunes. The sand is buried under other sediments, compacted by the weight of those sediments, and cemented by material dissolved in water that seeps through it.
SHALE (Compacted mud)
What Does It Look Like? Shale may be black, gray, red, brown, dark green, or blue. It is fine grained, so particles usually can not be seen. When moistened, shale usually smells like wet mud.
BLACK - lots of organics / GRAY - low organics / RED - fully oxidized iron / GREEN - partially reduced iron / MCCREADY - salt and gypsum
What Minerals Make Up the Rock? Clay minerals; Sometimes with some quartz sand, pyrite, gypsum
How Was It Formed? Clay sediments settle in quiet lakes, lagoons, bays, or off-shore areas. When buried and compacted the clays become shale. Iron oxides often help to cement the particles together.
RESOURCES ... County Rock Maps ... Rocks and Minerals of Pennsylvania ... Rock Identification Key