Ground Zero for this EarthCache is a pleasant hike from the parking area. It is not overly difficult but you will want to bring water. It can get a bit warm depending on the time of the year. You will never need to leave the trail or go near the edge of any cliff.
From the coordinates you will be standing on one formation and be able to see another. Your job will to be to identify that formation - but don't worry we have some information to help you out.
Now that you have arrived, you may have already figured out that you are standing on a mesa. Wait, don't get excited yet - that is not the question. Look back to the northwest. You shuold be able to see a formation that stands out form the ground you are standing on. there is a name for that funny lookoing formation.
Hoodoos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins and “broken” lands. Hoodoos are most commonly found in the High Plateaus region of the Colorado Plateau and in the Badlands regions of the Northern Great Plains. Hoodoos, which may range from 1.5 to 45 metres (4.9 to 147.6 ft), typically consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They generally form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations.
Hoodoos are found mainly in the desert in dry, hot areas. In common usage, the difference between hoodoos and pinnacles (or spires) is that hoodoos have a variable thickness often described as having a “totem pole-shaped body”. A spire, on the other hand, has a smoother profile or uniform thickness that tapers from the ground upward.
A stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast. Stacks are formed when part of a headland is eroded, leaving a small island. They also form when a natural arch collapses due to sub-aerial processes and gravity. A stack may collapse or be eroded leaving a stump. Stacks form most commonly on chalk cliffs, because of the medium resistance to erosion. Cliffs with weaker rock, such as clay tend to slump and erode too quickly to form stacks, while harder rocks, such as granite erode in different ways.
Resources:
- http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Stack_(geology)
- http://www.geologypage.com/2016/07/what-is-hoodoo-how-it-formed.html
- https://www.livescience.com/38485-american-west-geological-formations-images.html
- http://geographymonkey.com/coastal-landforms--processes-diagrams.html
Questions:
- Based on your location, does it appear that there is evidence of water or wind erosion?
- Can you see any evidence of past volcanic activity in the region?
- Would you classify this formation as a hoodoo, a spire or a stack?
- Take a photo of yourself or a proxy at GZ (no spoilers please).
- OPTIONAL: What shape does the top formation remind you of?