This EarthCache takes you to the edge of the limestone pavement. To get the best out of the experience, you need to be stood on grass, not rock.
The rock you can see is limestone, which is a sedimentary rock. It was formed by sediment at the bottom of a tropical sea, the sediment being lime mud and the shells of dead sea creatures. Over time, this sediment was overlaid by others, and lithification occured which eventually resulted in the limestone. However, that is not the end of the story, during the icecage, glaciers scrapped away the overlying geology, leaving a bare limestone pavement. Over time, this limestone pavement started to erode, as weathering from ice , snow and rain exploited small cracks and fissures forming what we see today.
Water falling as rain, together with carbon dioxide, formed a weak acid, which then eroded the limestone. We are here to look at a certain feature known as rinnenkarren.
So, what are rinnenkarren?
They are channels or flutes which form on slopes of limestone pavements. They tend to form on slopes which are between 30 and 90 degrees steep. They occur due to the dissolving action of water down a slope, some say they start along very small cracks or fissures and then widen and deepen as time goes on. They tend to be seperated by ridges, some of which can be sharpened due to limestone being eroded away. Due to the angle of slope, turbulent flow can cause the rinnenkarren to form and deepen. Basically, increased flow of water is meant by turbulent flow.
Now, not all rinnenkarren are alike, and there are different types of channels and ridges.
For ease of the EarthCache, these are labelled numerically.
Type One.
Type Two
Type Three
Type Four
Type Five
Type Six
Type Seven
This being an EarthCache, in order to log it, I ask that you answer the below questions. Please send them to me, and do not include them in your log. You can send them to me by using the message facility or email, both of which can be found by looking at my profile.
1. How many individual rinnenkarren can you see here?
2. Using the above information, what type of rinnenkarren is there here?
3. Please measure the angle of the slope in degrees, that the rinnenkarren are on.
4. Please have your photograph taken, or that of your device , taken next to the limestone pavement, but please do not reveal any information pertaining to the EarthCache.