The listed coords are for this lovely Whitstable Station building.
The learning element for this EarthCache is identifying Sandstone and its susceptibility to weathering.
Firstly a bit about the station:
Whitstable has been served by five different stations on two different routes. The route between Faversham and Whitstable was opened by the Margate Railway on 1 August 1860, and was extended to Herne Bay on 13 July 1861. The first station on that line to serve Whitstable was in Oxford Street, and had latterly been known as Whitstable Town; it closed after the last train on 31 December 1914. The current station which is 700 yards from the original opened 1st January 1915.
About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found on the SideTracked Series website at www.sidetrackedseries.info https://www.sidetrackedseries.info
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock made of sand grains that are cemented together. It's one of the most common sedimentary rocks on Earth.
Formation
- Sandstone can contain organic particles like shell debris
- Rivers, waves, or wind carry sand grains to sedimentary basins
- Minerals from groundwater cement the grains together
Properties
- Sandstone is hard and durable. Although Sandstone is hard and used as a building material.... it is not as hard as Granite. On the Mohs Hardness Scale, sandstone is rated as having a hardness between 6 and 7. Sandstone can be susceptible to weathering. In building construction using Sandstone if two blocks of stone with differeing hardness are placed next to each other ... one may weather quicker than the other.
- It's porous, allowing fluids like water and oil to pass through
- It comes in a variety of colours and grain sizes
Weathering
Weathering is the wearing down or breaking of rocks while they are in place.
- There are three types of weathering: biological, chemical, and mechanical
- Rain is actually mildly acidic, and therefore slowly eats away at rocks - this is an example of chemical weathering. In the UK Low-pressure systems containing lots of rainfall form over the Atlantic Ocean and approach the UK from the west
- Plants and animals also cause rocks to erode - this is an example of biological weathering. Lichens and other growths can also damage sandstone, as they produce chemicals that break down the stone. It can also cause more cracks and holes to appear.
- Water can seep into the cracks of rocks, as the temperature cools and this water freezes and forms Ice crystallization, also known as ‘ice wedging’ or ‘frost wedging’, is a process that occurs when water is allowed to seep into a pore or crack in the sandstone where it freezes (as water expands when frozen, this could actually fracture the stone). this causes rocks to break away - this is mechanical weathering.
Questions:
Please message me the answers to the following questions. You can log immediately after doing so. I will contact you if you have failed to send them or your answers are poor.
1. Does Sandstone contain grains or Crystals? And in this case what colour is the stone?
2. Counting from the left, which number blocks on rows 1-4 are the most weathered?
3. Which end of the building has the most weathering? West or East? Please give a reason for why this may be?
4. When studying the Sandstone blocks you may notice a random block on its own that is highly weathered. Give a reason why this may be?
5. Finally take a picture of yourself (no face required) or a piece of paper with the date and your caching name next to the door pictured below:
Thanks for visiting and happy Caching