****There is NO cell service at this site, Plan accordingly as a Handheld GPSr is required****
This is an EarthCache, there is NO physical container to find.
Chaco Culture was created in 1907 as Chaco Culture National Monument. It became Chaco Culture National Historical Park in 1980. In 1987, it became a World Heritage Site. The park has a loop road for access to the numerous Great Houses and other historically significant features. The Chaco people began construction here in the mid 800's. The Chacoans thrived here for over 300 years. You will find Great Houses, Kivas, Pictographs, Petroglyphs and numerous rock formations in the Park.
For directions access Chaco Culture at NPS.GOV
"Remember that the past belongs to everyone" Help preserve the World Heritage site by following Park Regulations:
• Do not remove natural or cultural features
• Do not deface, add to, or alter petroglyphs, pictographs, or rocks
• Do not walk, climb, sit, or lean on walls.
• STAY on designated trails
Have you ever wondered in your travels what causes huge boulders to fall off cliff faces? According to the National Park Service information page on ROCKFALLS: "Over long periods, water flowing through fractures decomposes the bedrock in a process called weathering. Weathering loosens bonds that hold rocks in place. Triggering mechanisms like water, ice, earthquakes and vegetation growth are among the final forces that cause unstable rocks to fall."
Nathan Hatfield Supervisory Ranger with Chaco Culture National Historical Monument stated that a recent rockfall near the Gallo Campground at the park on July 27, 2023 was caused by the intense heat experienced in New Mexico in July. According to National Park Service geomorphologist Eric Bilderback heat can speed up the spread of cracks. “The rock temperature in the area is hitting its annual high,” Bilderback wrote to the park. “There have been high rock temperatures at 10 cm depth of over 40 degrees C (104° F) this month starting on the 13th of July. Rock temperature has been daily cycling between about 25° and 40° C (77-104° F), this can certainly drive rock fracture for these kinds of exfoliation slabs.”
Threatening Rock toppled on January 22,1941. The slab of rock was Cliff House Sandstone atop the Menefee formation. Threatening Rock rested on a base of shale on the Menefee formation. Threatening Rock was 150 feet long, 100 feet high and weighed about 30,000 tons. This information was obtained from a November 1964 report in the American Journal of Science by S.A.Schumm and R. J. Chorley
To log this EarthCache please EMAIL me the answers to the following questions with the GC number and name of the cache and the names of the people in your party to receive credit. We reserve the right to delete your log for failing to fulfill the requirements below:
Use your observations at the coordinates and the above information to answer the following questions:
1) What do you think was the triggering mechanism that made Threatening Rock Fall?
2) Do you think that being at the intersection of two distinctive formations had anything to do with where Threatening Rocks base sheared off? Why?
3) Can you observe any remnants of the ancient pueblo in the rockfall at the coordinates?