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 log signature pictures are required to post a find for this cache.
UNDULATING ROCK (posted)
1. MESSAGE …. What process is causing this rock to have an undulating appearance?
2. MESSAGE …. Observe the water trough. a. How deep is it? / b. What direction is the water flowing? / c. Why is it only located in the one spot?
3. LOG ... Post a picture at or near the coordinates. This picture is your log signature that you visited this location. No spoiler pics.
PALEOCURRENT (waypoint)
4. MESSAGE …. Looking at the crossbeds and the angle of dip ... a. What was the direction of flow? / b. What was the speed (fast or slow) of flow?
5. LOG ... Post a picture at or near the waypoint. This picture is your log signature that you visited this location. No spoiler pics.
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 oddity in/around the ANF, Give coordinates. Identify your oddity. If you found your oddity 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.
PALEOCURRENT
Cross-beds are inclined layers formed on a sloping surface such as ripple marks and dunes. These inclined layers allows us to interpret that the depositional environment was water or wind. Cross-beds are a palaeocurrent indicator for the direction of flow at the time the sediment was deposited. It is also referred to as palaeoflow. The direction of dip indicates the direction of flow. The angle of dip indicates the speed of the current.
ROCK ODDITIES IN THE ALLEGHENY NATIONAL FOREST
Weathering is the key reason rocks have a variety of holes drilled in them. This may be MECHANICAL (breaking rocks into smaller pieces), CHEMICAL (changing composition), BIOLOGICAL (action of plants and animals).
"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
SEARCHING FOR ROCK ODDITIES
The ANF is a 513,175 acre rock gallery. Here you will find evidence of organisms that lived long ago. Weathering is the key reason rocks have a variety of holes drilled in them. Mineral staining adds a rainbow of color to rocks. A myriad of geological processes cause a different type of rock to be embedded within the parent rock. Deposition, erosion, upheaval, etc. cause variations in the order of rock strata.
FOSSILS ... Fossils are the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism. They are formed when a plant or animal dies and is buried in mud and silt. Soft tissues quickly decompose leaving the hard bones or shells behind. Over time sediment builds over the top and hardens into rock. Most of the fossils found in the ANF are either molds or casts. There are FOUR main types of fossils. / TRUE FORM - actual animal or animal part. / MOLD - impression / CAST - formed when a mold is filled in / TRACE - evidence left by the organism like burrows, footprints, etc.
COLORS ... LIESEGANG BANDS/RINGS are colored bands formed by the dissolution of iron compounds and their rhythmic precipitation in the sandstone. IRON STAINING - Most sedimentary rocks contain iron in varying degrees. This mineral may appear in patterns or dispersed randomly throughout the parent rock. Color appears in various reddish hues. MANGANESE STAINING - Forms similar to iron staining, but from manganese rich solutions (water) percolating through the sandstone. This mineral may appear in patterns or dispersed randomly throughout the parent rock. Color appears in various blackish hues.
HOLES ... Pit is the general name for a hole in sedimentary rock that is produced by weathering. Small pits are called alveolar, honeycomb, beerock, or stone lattice. Large pits are called tafoni, A tectonic window is formed by erosion or normal faulting on a thrust system where the underlying un-transported) rocks crop out. Plants may also exert a powerful force in weathering through root wedging and solution by organic acids leaving varied size holes. The ANF is dotted with hundreds of working oil wells. Thousands, however, have been abandoned leaving partially filled holes in their wake.
INCLUSIONS ... Any material that is trapped inside a mineral during its formation. There are a myriad of processes that cause a different type of rock to be embedded within the parent rock. BLEBS - Small bubble-like inclusions of one mineral within a larger mineral. LENSES - Deposits that are thick in the middle and thin at the edges, resembling a convex lens in cross-section. CONCRETIONS - Hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles. They are found in clay strata that was originally mud laid down on the sea floor millions of years ago. Concretions vary in size and shape, but most usually spherical. ORGANICS - Rocks are often covered with lichen and other organics, which sometimes appear like inclusions.
WATER ... Water is responsible for eroding the rock creating a myriad of formations. Erosion of rock occurs from falling water (waterfalls), meandering water (rivers), and wave action (seas). Evidence of flowing water occurs as ripple or scour marks.
UNCONFORMITIES ... This is a separation of two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. This is caused by deposition, removal of the next strata due to erosion, then deposition of another strata.
RESOURCE ... https://sites.google.com/site/earthscienceinmaine/erosion-and-deposition-by-flowing-water