Welcome to Flint Banding in East Syracuse Earthcache! An Earthcache is a special type of geocache where there is no container to find - instead you are looking for a unique geological feature of the area and need to answer questions, as well as posting a picture, in order to claim the find.
As with all of my ECs, I am not looking for PhD thesis level responses, but I am hoping that you take some time to enjoy the area and learn something new. Please include a list of all cachers with your answer, if answering for more than one caching name. There is no need to send individual answers.
To claim a 'find' for this Earthcache you must answer the following questions and send your answers in a message or email to the owner using the link at the top of the page. You can log your find with a photo at GZ. Send your answers to the tasks. I will be in contact if there is a problem, no need to wait for a response as long as the required photo is included in your log.
To log this cache
At the posted coordinates, you will find three large boulders at the end of the road. Each of these three boulders (less than 20 feet away from each other) contain flint bands and fragments. You tasks will involve measuring the flint bands (bring a ruler with you, for good measure) and answering the following questions about the flint, as well as posting a photo of yourself, your GPS or your signature item at GZ. Please do not include spoiler photos in your log.
Do not post the answers in your log.
1. MANDATORY - Post a photo of yourself, your signature item, your GPS, at or near the posted coordinates. Bonus points if you show the boulders in the background. You do not need to show your face if you are shy. You may include this photo in your log, or send it with your answers but it must be provided as proof that you visited the area.
2. Find the largeest flint band in each off the 3 rocks at GZ - which one is largest (if facing the tree, left, center or right)? How wide is the band (in inchees or cm)?
3. Look closely at the flint bands. Do you see any fossils contained in the flint? Does this support the hypothesis in the text below about how flint is produced?
4. Describe the colouration of the flint - do you see multiple colours, or does the flint appear to be all one colour?
5. What percentage of the boulders appear to be flint?
EARTHCACHE INFORMATION
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of quartz, categorized as the variety of chert (hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz) that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint is widely used to make stone tools and start fires.
Flint occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey or black, green, white, or brown in colour, and has a glassy or waxy appearance. A thin, oxidised layer on the outside of the nodules is usually white in colour and rough in texture.
Flint breaks and chips into sharp-edged pieces, making it useful in constructing a variety of cutting tools, such as knife blades and scrapers. The use of flint to make stone tools dates back more than three million years; flint's extreme durability has made it possible to accurately date its use over this time.
The exact mode of formation of flint is not yet clear, but it is thought that it occurs as a result of chemical changes in compressed sedimentary rock formations during the process of diagenesis - the way that sedimentary rocks can change from one form to another. One hypothesis is that a gelatinous material fills cavities in the sediment, such as holes bored by crustaceans or molluscs and that have become silicified. The source of dissolved silica in the porous media could from silicious sponges (demosponges). Certain types of flint contain trapped fossilised marine flora. Pieces of coral and vegetation have been found preserved inside the flint similar to insects and plant parts within amber.
Flint can be coloured: sandy brown, medium to dark grey, black, reddish brown or an off-white grey. Flint is highly resistant to weathering and is often found as pebbles or cobbles along streams and beaches. Early people who used flint to make tools often prospected these areas to find nicely shaped pieces of flint for making specific tools.
