**NOTE** You can log this cache from below on the trail along Del Dios Highway. This is for the safety of you and others.
Tor
The definition of a tor is, landforms created by the weathering and erosion of rocks.
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Mt Israel is a large and beautiful mountain that is a great place to hike in Southern California. It has Lake Hodges and the main part of Del Dios to its east. These tors are toward the middle of the mountain. This shows the age of the tors, as most tors are created towards the top of mountains but not exactly at the top as they could be placed below the summit of a mountain by a few hundred feet.
The tors are very wide and they wrap around a bit of the mountain. This could have been caused by thaw weathering which is when rocks get water into pores that they have and then the water freezes which could then cause the rocks to stick together sort of like a glue. They are also caused by many series of chemical and weathering processes. The reason for this is, these rocks are granite which is also one the types of rock that is mainly susceptible to becoming a tor because they have a high chance of weathering and chemical reactions as chemical reactions are caused by reactions between water and mineral grains which often create clay and soluble salts.
Chemical reactions effect rocks like tors all around. Most chemical reactions are caused when water gets into small spaces in rocks and slowly deteriorate certain parts of the rock. Considering the placement of these rocks which is surrounded by plants and the fact that parts of the rocks are in the mountain they are very prone to moisture. This is also acked up by the fact that these rocks are so old so they are even more likely to experience a chemical reaction like this
These tors are a pretty average height for tors of around 50 feet each and they are between a third and halfway up the mountain. This would mean they have been there for halfway to two-thirds of the mountain’s life.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(rock_formation)#:~:text=A%20tor%2C%20which%20is%20also,hill%20summit%20or%20ridge%20crest.
https://www.britannica.com/science/tor-geology
Sending Answers:
Please log the cache as soon as you submit your answers. We will look over them and provide feedback as necessary.
- Submit a picture of yourself or an object that symbolizes you with the tor in the background.
- Based on what you know about tors, are these tors relatively old tors or a younger tors and why?
- By looking at the tors how many rocks are connected to each other per tor?
- If the tors were caused by thaw weathering what would this tell you about the mountain’s surroundings roughly a third to halfway through its lifespan?
5. If the tors were caused by chemical reactions what would this tell you about the richness or the amount of minerals at roughly a third to halfway through its lifespan?