|
About this cache:
Contrary to popular belief, Indiana has more than just
corn and bean fields. The chosen location of this cache
demonstrates some of the rich history and geological wonders of the
19th state. If you study a topographical map of the region, you may
observe that almost everything north of the cache is flat (all the
way to Lake Michigan) and that everything south of the cache (to
the Ohio river) is hilly.
According to the Indiana Geological Survey: The 30-mile section
of State Road 37 from Waverly to Bloomington crosses several
geologic terrains that formed under widely varying climate
conditions and by glacial and coastal processes that are separated
by 300 million years of time.
The large, nearby ridge that you can see just southwest
of the cache is the remnant of a large outwash fan deposited by an
ice sheet of Illinoian age, around 300,000 years ago.
For several miles to the north of the cache, the highway
traverses rolling to hummocky topography that flanks the flat
valley of the White River just to the west. This topography
reflects the most recent ice sheet to invade this area, during the
Wisconsin age, some 21,000 years ago.
The cuts along the highway about 25 miles south of the cache
near Bloomington reveal limestone and siltstone that accumulated in
Indiana about 340 million years ago. At this time, Indiana was
about 10 to 15 degrees south of the equator in the equatorial
tropics. The siltstones are part of a large delta that spread
sediment westward into a shallow sea from rivers in the east and
northeast part of the state.
About two miles down river from the cache is the site of Scotts
Ferry (1820-1840). John Scott also ran one of Indiana’s earliest
horse racing tracks near the ferry crossing at the same time.
Five miles north of the cache is the birthplace of the
Indiana state flag. Designed by Mooresville, artist Paul Hadley,
the outer circle of stars represents the original thirteen
colonies. The inner circle of stars represents the next five states
admitted to the union and the largest star represents Indiana.
So you see, even though when you find this cache you are out
standing in a field, you are in the midst of a timeline of history,
on a ride through time from the age of dinosaurs to the present.
There are dozens of caches scattered about the nearby landscapes;
only 10 miles south of this cache, in Morgan Monroe State forest,
you can search for some excellent caches on the “rugged side” of
the state.
|