This cache will take you to the statue of Gerald Forsberg, who swam across the bay many times.
Born in Canada in 1912, Commander Gerald Forsberg RN was awarded the OBE in 1954. As well as breaking the England-France cross Channel record in 1957 at the age of 45, Commander Forsberg was the first person to make a two-way crossing of Morecambe Bay the following year. His love of open water swimming and the area saw him swim across the bay 29 times.
The statue is made from marble, and you can see a little about how marble is formed by having a closer look.
1) Describe the stone of the statue - What colours can you see? Can you make out individual grains? How does it feel?
2) There's an obvious band of impurities - most easily seen at the back of the statue on the right hand side (sea behind you, statue in front of you, looking towards the prom) - what colour is it?
3) What mineral do you think made the impurities appear this colour?
4) Why do you think marble was used for this statue?
5) Please add a photograph or identifying item such as your GPS, please don't include the statue in the photo so as not to reveal the answers.
Please use the messaging facility to send your answers to me. Once you have sent your answers, you don't need to wait for a response before logging the cache.
Initially, limestone, primarily composed of calcium carbonate sediment deposited on ancient ocean floors, undergoes profound geological forces. Tectonic movements thrust the limestone deep beneath the Earth's crust, subjecting it to immense pressure from overlying rock layers and heat from the planet's interior. Under these conditions, the calcium carbonate crystals within the limestone recrystallize, forming the tightly interlocking structure characteristic of marble.
The marble on the left has green and orange impurtities formed during metamorphism. The marble on the right has no impuritues.
In the process of marble formation, impurities play a significant role in imbuing the stone with varying colors. These impurities, which are comprised of minerals such as clay, silt, sand, and iron oxides, infiltrate the limestone during its metamorphic transformation under immense pressure and heat. They introduce pigments that manifest as different colours within the marble. For instance, the presence of iron oxides may produce shades ranging from red to orange, other minerals can cause the colours below.
Iron Oxide - Red or Orange
Iron and Feldspar - Pink or Red
Serpentine - Green
Chlorite - Green
Graphite - Black/Grey
Muscovite - Specks of silver
Biotite - Specks of black
Being composed of calcite, marble has a hardness of three on the Mohs hardness scale. As a result, marble is easy to carve, and that makes it useful for producing sculptures and ornamental objects. The translucence of marble makes it especially attractive for many types of sculptures.
