This Earthcache is located in Turkey Run State Park, Marshall, Indiana. There is no geocache container to find. In order to claim this find, you will need to visit the coordinates and email me the answers to some questions. Please observe all park rules.
Please note that in order to complete this earthcache, you will be walking down stairs and into a canyon which will likely contain water, as this is an active creekbed. This is Trail #6 and is marked as such on the park maps and along the trail. Be aware of the risks of hiking in such a location. You may wish to bring a hiking pole or two with you.
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Welcome to Turkey Run State Park! If you like to hike, this is a beautiful place to do it. With 10 well-marked trails ranging from half a mile to over four miles, there is something for everyone. This earthcache will take you to one of the shortest of these trails. Paper maps may be obtained from the Nature Center.
Begin at the parking coordinates (N39 53.047 W087 12.216) and follow the signs to Trail #6. The trail will lead down some stairs and into one of the sandstone canyons.
More than 300 million years ago, during a time known as the Pennsylvanian Period, the steep cliffs and deep gorges of Turkey Run were formed. The Pennsylvanian Period is the second major interval of the Carboniferous Period, which lasted from 323.2 million to 298.9 million years ago. The exposed bedrock in the park has been classified by geologists as belonging to the Mansfield formation, which is a coarse-grained sandstone with beds of shale, some quartz-pebble conglomerate, and thin seams of coal near the base.
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20 to 25% of all sedimentary rocks. Rock formations that are primarily composed of sandstone usually allow the percolation of water and other fluid, and are porous enough to store large quantities, making them valuable aquifers and petroleum reservoirs.
The type of sandstone in Turkey Run State Park was used in the past to make glass bottles. Due to the high iron content in the sandstone, these glass bottles were green. This same iron content causes the rusty coloring that bleeds from the cliffs today. Underground water seeps to the surface through the sandstone and leaches out the iron, which rusts when exposed to the air. While the “bleeding sandstone” can be seen in several places within the park, this is where I first noticed the feature during my visit. If you stand at the posted coordinates and look all around, you can see examples of these bleeds on almost every wall of the canyon.
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To claim this earthcache, please message me the answers to the following questions.
1. What element causes the “bleeding” you see in the cliffs at Turkey Run State Park?
2. What process causes the “bleeding” to occur?
3. Observe the “bleeding" at the posted coordinates. Estimate the height of the longest “bleed” you see.
4. While not required, I would love to see in your log some of the photos you’ve taken of the area, with either yourself or of an item showing you’ve been to this location.
Thank you for visiting my earthcache!
Sources
“Geological Story of Turkey Run State Park”, pamphlet distributed by the State of Indiana Department of Natural Resources Geologic Survey.
https://www.turkeyrunstatepark.com/turkey-run-state-park-geology/
https://turkeyrunstatepark.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/historic-1930s-park-map-turkey-run.pdf
https://www.turkeyrunstatepark.com/turkey-run-state-park-history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Run_State_Park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandstone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvanian_(geology)