PLEASE USE CAUTION WHILE DOING THIS EARTHCACHE, THERE IS A VERY LOW POTENTIAL FOR FALLING ROCKS, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE, YOU CAN GATHER THE INFORMATION FROM A SAFE DISTANCE.
At the posted coordinates you will be standing near the base of a large talus slope.
A talus slope is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Generally, these slopes are very unstable and inhibit growth of vegetation, as can be seen here at this loocation.
Analysis of climate data recorded at Keremeos since 1930 revealed a high frequency of frost cycles. This suggests the importance of frost action as a mechanism of weathering along the exposed headwalls and it is thought that the occurrence of abundant and massive talus forms in the region is basically the result of frost weathering. During non-freezing weather, water flows into cracks and crevices in the rocks. When the temperature drops, the water freezes and expands forming a powerful wedge which eventually breaks out pieces of rock. This repeated cycle can lead to significant erosion.
Talus slopes are often assumed to be close to the angle of repose. This is the slope at which a pile of granular material becomes mechanically unstable. However, careful examination of talus slopes shows that only those that are either rapidly accumulating new material, or are experiencing rapid removal of material from their bases, are close to the angle of repose. Most talus slopes are less steep, and they often show a concave shape, so that the foot of the slope is less steep than the top of the slope. The angle of repose can range from 0° to 90°.
The words scree and talus are often used interchangeably. Scree often refers to rocks that are smaller than the human head while talus is used for larger rocks. Scree comes from the Old Norse term for landslide.
Additionally, the formation of talus slopes can occur on other planets or moons. For example talus slopes have been found on Mars.
To log this earthcache, message or e-mail me the answers to the following questions:
1) Estimate the "angle of repose" on this slope in degrees. (0° would be flat along the ground surface and 90° would be straight up into the sky, perpendicular to the ground).
2) What is another name for talus?
3) Include a photo of yourself (or your hand with your GPS if you are shy), with the talus slope in the background. This is MANDATORY. Logs without photos will be deleted.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_repose
https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/831/items/1.0101725