This is an Earthcache located at the small village of Hutton-le-Hole in The North Yorkshire Moors National Park.
To the north of the village are heather covered moorlands, the largest in England. Since the late 19th Century the moorland has been managed for grouse shooting and sheep grazing. Its diverse habitats support a wide range of plants, insects, animals and birds. It is designated nationally and internationally for its biodiversity importance, with potential to become even more abundant and varied.
Some of the key characteristics of the moorland are
• Underlying geology of Jurassic deltaic sandstones, overlain by peat.
• Topography forms an elevated, undulating plateau, with ridges extending outwards
• Bogs, mires, wet flushes and springs on the moorland, with streams in V-shaped valleys
Jurassic rocks include sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks which were were formed 199.6 million to 145.5 million years ago. This area of Yorkshire mainly consists of sedimentary rocks - sandstones, mudstones and ironstone. These sedimentary rocks can be slightly acidic dependant upon the content of silica in their composition.
In nearby Rosedale, ironstone was mined in the 19th and early 20th Century, today remains of derelict blast furnaces can still be seen in the Rosedale valley.
The moorland plays a vital role in the water cycle, absorbing rainwater like a giant sponge, and slowly releasing it into streams and rivers. By slowing the amount of time it takes for rainwater to get into rivers, moorland helps to reduce the risk of flooding downstream. Even in driest of summers Hutton Beck still has water flowing down it from the moors.
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors or muskegs. Soils consisting primarily of peat are known as histosols and must have at least 40 cms of organic soil material starting with 40 cms of the soil surface. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding or stagnant water obstructs the flow of oxygen from the atmosphere, slowing the rate of decomposition.
Peat soils store carbon, preventing its release into the atmosphere and thereby helping to prevent climate change.
As plants die, instead of decomposing, the organic matter is laid down, and slowly accumulates as peat because of the starvation of oxygen in bogs. This therefore traps the CO2 within the peat so helps combat the growth of CO2 in the atmosphere. (Peat is a young fossil fuel, storing around double the carbon that is stored in all the world’s forests).
The water in the beck can be classed as 'fresh'. The water as some point in time will have fallen to the surface of the earth as rain.
Rain. Is rainwater 100% pure? No. Water is an excellent solvent and rain always contains dissolved gases from the atmosphere. Even in a remote, pollution-free region, rainwater will still be slightly acidic because carbon dioxide in the air reacts with water to form carbonic acid. Normal, clean rain has a pH value of in the region of 5.6. However, when rain combines with sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxides—produced from power plants, heavy industry and motor vehicles—the rain becomes much more acidic. Typical acid rain has a pH value of 4.0.
Weathering is the wearing down or breaking of rocks while they are in place. Weathering can be biological, chemical or physical.
Biological weathering is caused by the movements of plants and animals. For example, a rabbit can burrow into a crack in a rock making it bigger and eventually splitting the rock, or a plant may grow in a crack in a rock and, as its roots grow, cause the crack to widen.
Chemical weathering describes the process of chemicals in rainwater making changes to the minerals in a rock. Carbon dioxide from the air is dissolved in rainwater, making it slightly acidic. A reaction can occur when the rainwater comes into contact with minerals in the rock, causing weathering.
Physical weathering occurs when physical processes affect the rock, such as changes in temperature or when the rock is exposed to the effects of wind, rain and waves. Water can get into cracks in a rock and, if it freezes, the ice will expand and push the cracks apart.
How to claim this Earthcache
What you need-
- An empty, see through, 500ml bottle
- pH Test strips (You can buy these very cheap of the internet (around 99p) or from your local chemist)
What we would like you to do to claim this Earthcache is to walk down to the bank of the beck and collect a 500ml sample of the water (the standard size of a small bottle of water), please take care whilst getting collecting the water sample. You are finding this Earthcache at your own risk and safety.
You should then send the answers to the questions for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 (shown below) by email or via the Message Centre.
- From the bottle, what colour does the water appear and what do you see floating around in it? (Quick Tip: let the water settle a little before making your observations, the matter should sink to the bottom of the bottle so you can see it more clearly)
- Using the pH test paper, test the pH of the water, what is the pH reading of the water sample?
- Using your answer to task 2, explain whether you think the older bedrock and/or the younger peat layers have had an influence on the pH of the stream water here'.
- Do you think the pH number you have record today is higher or lower than it would have been if you had taken a water sample from the beck 100 years ago. Please explain your answer.
- Describe the bedrock over which the river flows at this location.
- Has weathering influenced the pH value of your water sample? Please explain your answer and state which type(s) of weathering tou believe have taken place
- Optional - Add a photograph to your log of yourself standing in the beck while taking the water sample
If you fail to send these within 1 week of logging (unless there is a reason), your log shall be deleted.
Good luck!
A special mention must be given to The wiggly's who created the original earthcache in the village and provided the inspiration for this earthcache.