Laid down, lifted up Earthcache EarthCache
Laid down, lifted up Earthcache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This cache is accessible on a beach, when the tide is out! There is a steepish cliff path down to the beach. Parking available at N51 43.696 W 005 12.991 cost £3.00. WARNING – don’t stand close to the base of the cliffs, because rocks fall off from time to time.
The Three Chimneys, as this Earthcache is known locally, is quite an amazing geological sight. It consists of three almost vertical pillars that rise from the beach and reach to the very top of the cliff. That in itself is remarkable, but even more so is how these “chimneys” began life. They were not vertical, as they are now, but flat! To imagine what it originally looked like you have to tip your head on to your right shoulder. These are layers of rock that began as sediment. They were once at the bottom of an ancient sea. If you take a glass of water and pour a spoonful of white sugar into it. The sugar sinks to form a flattish layer of sediment at the bottom of the glass. Now take a spoonful of brown sugar and pour it in. You get a second layer. The sediment at the bottom of the glass is building up in layers. That is what happens at the bottom of the sea. Layer upon layer upon layer of sediment is laid down. Over time, it all gets hardened into layers of rock. And that’s how the chimneys started. But how come these rocks no longer lie flat but point straight up? The answer is that these seabed sediments have been pushed sideways with tremendous force. The rock concertinaed into enormous folds, including this one. Some of the layers that form the chimneys are softer rock. This softer rock has been worn away faster by the weather than the layers on either side. And that is how the chimneys were formed. By the way – what goes up must come down. So somewhere the layers that form the chimneys fold back into the earth. And here is a question to think about – how did the top of the cliffs get flattened off?
To prove you have been there, please take a photo of the location, and answer the following question in your log
APPROXIMATELY AT WHAT ANGLE DO THE ROCKS ENTER THE GROUND?
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)