All Ab🌎ut The Water EarthCache

All Ab🌎ut The Water EarthCache

Located within the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, the freshwater Antelope and Buffalo springs have something about them that makes them special.

To get credit for this EarthCache, be sure to complete the logging tasks at the bottom of this page.

Before We Begin:

• The Chickasaw National Recreation Area (CNRA) is open 24 hours a day, all year round except on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day.
• Park entrance and parking within are free.
• The pathway to the springs are wheelchair friendly but it is quite a ways there so the terrain rating reflects this distance.
• The CNRA attracts 1.5 million visitors a year so it can get busy at times, especially during the summer.
• If you want to visit the Travertine Nature Center, it is open 9 am to 4:30 pm daily.
• Here is a park map for your convenience.

As this is an EarthCache, there is no container to find. Instead you will have an opportunity to learn about the following:

• What is the difference between freshwater springs and mineral springs here?
• What makes these streams so special?

Let's get started!

What is the difference between freshwater springs and mineral springs here?

In the Chickasaw National Recreation Area, the main focus of the park is about the water. Protection of the freshwater and mineral springs was the primary reason that the Sulphur Springs Reservation was established in 1902. Over the years, several of the springs have been modified, and many of the springs and seeps do not carry official names.

Today, the CNRA contains five named springs and spring groups. Antelope and Buffalo springs are considered to be freshwater springs, and Black Sulphur, Hillside, and Pavilion are considered mineral springs. The mineralized springs contain high concentrations of sodium and chloride, which gives the water a salty taste, and hydrogen sulfide, which imparts a sulfuric, rotten-egg odor. Chemical analyses of Antelope and Buffalo springs indicate that groundwater flowing from here contain similar concentrations of the same major elements except for sodium, chloride, sulphur, and hydrogen sulfide.

Although the springs in the CNRA are west of the mapped area of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, they are supplied by water from the aquifer. The confined groundwater in the aquifer is under a great amount of pressure. Where that pressure is released, groundwater rises naturally to a level of hydrostatic equilibrium in what is known as “artesian flow”. If that equilibrium level is higher than the ground surface, the water will flow onto the surface, such as what you see here at Antelope and Buffalo springs.

What makes these streams so special?

Antelope and Buffalo springs are the primary freshwater springs in the CNRA. They are the principal source of water for Travertine Creek, and in average years, the two springs have a combined flow of about 5 million gallons of water a day. A unique feature of these streams is its ability to form an unusual rock called travertine, from which Travertine Creek gets its name. The water of the stream is so highly charged with dissolved calcium carbonate that upon exposure to air much of the mineral will precipitate to form a buff-colored deposit. Sometimes you can see plant leaves and branches along the stream covered with a film of travertine dust from wind-blown spray. When this material accumulates, it forms porous travertine rock.

Travertine rock is somewhat uncommon in the United States. It can be found in Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon, and some hot springs in other states. It often has a fibrous (or concentric) appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. You can see impressive travertine deposits that have formed along the length of Travertine Creek, especially exposed on Travertine Island (N34 30.389 W96 57.109) just to the northwest of here.

To Get Credit For This EarthCache

Copy the questions below and send your answers via geocaching messages.

• DO NOT post the answers in your log.
• Group answers are fine, just let me know who all was there.
• Note: The photo task is a requirement for each account claiming a find. See acceptable EarthCache logging tasks effective June 10th, 2019. If you don't want to post the photo with your log, you may send it to me with your answers instead.
• Please send the answers in a timely manner or it may result in the deletion of your log (no offense intended).

Logging Tasks

  1| The name of this EarthCache: All Ab🌎ut The Water

  2| In your log, you have two options here to provide a photo of yourself:

  A) In front of Antelope springs.

OR

  B) In front of Buffalo springs. This is the most wheelchair-friendly of the two.

• If you prefer, the photo can be of a personal item in one of these locations instead. Just make the photo unique to you and your visit. Feel free to have fun with this!

Answer the following questions:

  3| What makes the freshwater springs different from the mineral springs in the CNRA?

  4| As you walk back to the Nature Center from Buffalo Springs, describe any evidence of travertine that you see along the banks from this stream source.

  5| Optional: At Antelope springs, try a sip from the source at the base of the rocky outcropping. Can you taste any minerals or does it have no taste at all?

Optional: I'd love to see other photos you took from your visit here!

Sources:

• National Parks Service Guidebook
• Chickasaw National Recreation Area - Geologic Resources Inventory Report
• National Parks Service - Geodiversity Atlas
• Chickasaw National Recreation Area - Origin and Movement of Water
• United States Geological Society

Permission for this EarthCache placement was granted by the Park Superintendent at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

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