As you look out on the what is technically Lake Texoma at certain times of the year you might look at the water and see a river near red as blood and if you drank it anytime of the year it would be salty like the Sea. Why?
If you had stood on this spot a hundred years ago you would be staring down at the meandering Red River that was prone to swelling or flooding in the spring. The part you couldn’t see is the source of its color and taste. The sources are the watershed that still feed the Red River as it becomes a lake, Lake Texoma before returning to its journey along as the Red River finally flowing into the Mississippi River.
The Red River's watershed covers 65,590 square miles (169,900 km2) and is the southernmost major river system in the Great Plain Tributaries include the Little Red River, Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River, Salt Fork Red River, North Fork Red River, Pease River, Washita River, Kiamichi River, Wichita River, Little Wichita River, Little River, Sulphur River, Loggy Bayou (through Lake Bistineau and Dorcheat Bayou) as well as the Ouachita River also known as the Black River at that point. The Red River a part of the Mississippi drainage basin and is one of two Red Rivers in the USA. It is the second longest river associated with Texas. Its name comes from its color, which in turn comes from the fact that the river carries large quantities of red soil from it tributaries more so in flood period of spring and early summer.
Red clay derives its color from iron oxide, and is usually created through the breakdown of rocks in lower substrates. Red clay is technically a subsoil, and it is usually found only where true topsoil has erode The most abundant form of iron is Ferric Oxide (Fe2O3) which gives soil a red color, the same reason Mars is called the Red Planet. Mars has lots of iron minerals in the Martian soil that oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.
Unfortunately, Ferric Oxide is not very soluble in ground water. Thankfully in East Texas, as the soil pH decreases, the level of water-soluble Ferric Hydroxide (FeHO2) increased.
The Red River is salty through input of dissolved salt mineral dissolving into tributaries above Lake Texoma. The saltiness is caused by a natural phenomenon that dates back to ancient times. About 250 million years ago, an inland sea blanketed parts of what is now those states. As time passed, that sea evaporated, leaving salt deposits – mostly sodium chloride. Sodium chloride, also known as table salt, is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. Rock and silt eventually buried the deposits, but the salt continues to leach through natural seeps in tributaries above Lake Texoma, sending as much as 3,450 tons of salt per day flowing down the Red River.
So the muddy waters of the Red river are the mixture of two levels of the soils the clay elements under the topsoil and the long buried salts of a long forgotten sea that covered most of Texas and Oklahoma and left us with the sea salt. The Red passes through the southwestern Oklahoma plains, with its short native grasses and scrubs, an area suitable for ranching and wheat farming. As the river cuts into gypsum, copper, granite, and red clay formations, the water acquires a red tint and a bitter taste. However it is the salt also leached into the water which allow the Striper fish to live and support ongoing spawn as in the sea in Lake Texoma. That ocean bed is also why Texas is so very flat but that is a boring story perhaps for another time.
Note this earth cache is located in a car park. If you linger there is a park fee if you park in the boat ramp area. If you are in your car during the time for the cache or you park outside of the boat ramp area you should be fine. Please read the signs as they are updated and may have changed post this initial posting.
LOGGING THIS EARTHCACHE: This earth cache was designed so it could be answered without referencing outside research.
To log this earth cache, message or email us and copy and paste these questions, along with your answers. Please do not post the answers in your log, even if encrypted. There's no need to wait for confirmation from us before you log, but we will email you back if you include your email address in the message. Group answers are fine; just let us know who was with you
1. The name of this earth cache: And the River ran Red & Salty ABEC #2
2. Observe: Describe the water color today. What, if any, evidence do you see of erosion in the water?
3. Touch/smell/taste Dip your hand in the water. Does it feel salty or smell salty to you? (Optional, does it taste salty?) What impact do you think the salt level has on the use of that water as a resource?
4. Observe: Compare the makeup of the near and far banks of the river. Why do you think they are so different??
In the Log area
Send a picture of the lake or your favorite part of the area. You are not required but you may be in the photos also to log this cache.
Sources
Tyson, Carl N. The Red River in Southwestern History. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1981
U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 170-97". USGS. 1997
Texas State Historical Association
https://www.tshaonline.org/
The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
https://www.okhistory.org/