At the top of the Driftless Area
The Driftless Area is a region at the SouthWest of Wisconsin where
glaciers never came through. The name comes from the fact that no
drift, e.g., glacial till and material, was ever found here
by geologists. In comparison, glaciers covered nearby regions and
left behind many deposits.
The Driftless Area formed trough differential erosion by water,
wind, and the annual frost cycle over millions of years. You are
today standing at the highest point of the Driftless Area (1716
feet), but it did not use to be always like this: before being
eroded, once laid here and all over most of Wisconsin a rocky
plateau made of Silurian dolomite. However, proofs of its existence
can only be found today in the Niagara escarpment in East Wisconsin
and at the very top of several mounds in the SouthWest, including
Blue Mounds.
Such a mount is also designated as an
inselberg or monadnock by geologists: they are
formed where elements eroded softer rocks exposing the most
resistant ones in the surrounding landscape. Without their cap of
hard dolomite, the mounds you see would not exist, and we would be
standing at the same level as the lands you can see in front of you.
Questions:
1. How many individual monadnocks (or mounds) can be viewed from here?
How many groups of mounds are there in total? (Bonus points if you name
them and indicate which ones are on the Landmark Locator)
2. What is the geologic period and corresponding time during which the
rocks in these mounds were formed?
3. According to the explanations of the listing, deduce how is Blue
Mounds related to Niagara Falls.
4. A picture of you or of a personal item with the view would be
appreciated.
Reminder about EarthCaches: There is no
container or logbook at the posted coordinates. Just visit the site and
answer the questions by e-mail or by the Message Center. There is no need to
wait for my reply, feel free to log immediately after. If the answers are
incorrect, I will let you know. Happy EarthCaching!
Note: The Geocache Notification Form has
been submitted to Kevin Swenson, Property Manager – Blue Mounds State Park.
Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources managed lands
require permission by means of a notification form. The DNR Notification
Form and land manager information can be obtained at:
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/rules/geocache