EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. ... "Geocachers must complete the tasks before they log the EarthCache as found." (4.3. EarthCache logging tasks)
Enjoy the journey (learning adventure) as well as the destination (smiley earned). Remember to take only pictures and leave only footprints. To get credit for this Earthcache, complete the following tasks:
NOTE: Answers via message -and- log signature picture are required to post a find for this cache.
1. MESSAGE …. a. What is the estimated size (cubic feet) of elephant rock? ... b. Identify the type of rock.
2. MESSAGE …. a. Type of weathering that is sculpting this rock. / b. Explain your choice.
3. MESSAGE …. Give two differences between the rock in 2009 (posted picture) and the rock at the time of your visit.
4. LOG …. Post a picture of you or your signature item at or near the coordinates. Post a picture of your rock sculpture. These pictures are your log signature. No spoiler pics..
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in finding and creating this earthcache by adding A B C to your log.
A. Discover another rock sculpture in/around the ANF, Give coordinates. Name your rock sculpture. If you found your rock sculpture at a geocache/earthcache site, give name of the cache and GC number instead of cooordinates.
DISCOVERY CONTEST - Write a legend about your sculpture. ... EXAMPLE - The Fish and the Turtle by DimeDigger. If your discovery rock/photo/legend is selected, you will be given the opportunity to have it showcased here. You may then select a puzzle from my international collection.
B. JOURNEY OF THE MIND ... Science explains what we observe. Relate (in your own words) something you found interesting in the reading. This adds to your learning adventure and your log.
C. JOURNEY OF THE HEART ... Art shares our personal experience of what we see. Share something special you found on site, and why it is special to you ... prose / story / poem / picture. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
OPTIONAL HALL OF FAME
LOG. Find and Log 10 Rock Critter Earthcaches. Add the GC Numbers to your log.
MESSAGE. Where in the world are these rock critters located? ... Bird - Camel - Crocodile - Dog - Turtle - Wolf
THANK YOU LN for travelling and hiking with RT to complete this Earthcache Trail.
ROCK CRITTER EARTHCACHES - Found by RTLN
BEAR PA - GC1HGJM Beartown Rocks
BUZZARD VA - GC1JRZA The Buzzard's Roost
CLAM NY - GC13KMC Happy As A Clam
DOG KY - GC32FCJ FEeling Fine GeoDog Walk
DEER MA - GC17CFC Deerfield Basalt
GATOR PA - GC62N4M Gator Rock
PANTHER PA - GC3GT28 PANTHER ROCKS
SNAKE NY - GC1MN4W The Snake and Red and White Roadcuts
TURKEY IN - GC62DB0 Honeycomb weathering in Turkey Run Park
TURTLE NY - GC69B94 Turtle Shell
WOLF PA - GC302EQ Wolf Rocks: A creation of Erosion and Weathering
WORM VA - GC2CVY0 The Lowly Worm
ADDITIONAL CRITTERS
DINOSAUR PA - GC5ADBW Dinosaur Rock, Lebanon County
ELEPHANT NV - GC32DT0 Valley of Fire State Park - Elephant Rock
HORSE SD - GC2C5RG Crazy Horse Rocks!
HOUND MO - GC56VYC Rock Hound
MONKEY KY - GC1BQM2 Monkey Skull Rock
SHEEP NY - GC7TRKW Sheep Rock
SHEEP OR - GC16XFY Sheep Rock Unit
TURTLE NJ - GCZDDG A Turtle's Back Rock Formation
WHALE NC - GC1HM37 Whale Rocks
WHALE NY - GC2RWQK Whale Back Rock
WORM NC - GC3B5K6 Worm Rock
WEATHERING
Weathering is the breaking down of rock into smaller fragments. All rock weathers over time. Grains of sediment fall out. Cracks develop on the surface and deep inside. Weathering causes rocks to fracture, buckle, and crumble into soil and sediment. There are two types of weathering - mechanical and chemical.
Mechanical weathering breaks apart rocks without changing their chemical composition. Each fragment and particle weathered away by a mechanical process retains the same characteristics as the original rock. Mechanical weathering can be caused by growing plants, expanding ice, lightning, and expansion and contraction with heating and cooling. These physical processes create enough force to break rocks into smaller pieces.
Living organisms contribute to mechanical weathering through the growth of roots or the burrowing of animals. Tree roots grow into cracks and joints, increasing the surface area for continual weathering by plants, wind, and water. Plants give off organic acids as part of their life and decay processes. These acids help to break down rocks chemically. Decaying remains of dead animals in soil may form organic acids which, when dissolved in water, cause chemical weathering.
Chemical weathering occurs when water, air, and other substances react with the minerals in rock. In chemical weathering, the composition of the rock changes.
ROCK COMPOSITION
The variability in weathered rock is also due to its composition. Rocks are made of minerals, which vary in hardness. Hardness is the resistance to abrasion as given by Mohs' Scale. The classic scale for hardness was published in 1822 by Frederick Mohs, an Austrian mineralogist who got the basic concept from scratch tests performed routinely by miners. Since Mohs published the scale, it bears his name rather than that of the unknown genius who thought of it. The scale selects 10 minerals as standards, arranging in order of increasing hardness.
1 = Talc …. 2 = Gypsum …. 3 = Calcite …. 4 = Fluorite …. 5 = Apatite (fluorapatite)
6 = Orthoclase …. 7 = Quartz …. 8 = Topaz …. 9 = Corundum …. 10 = Diamond
ROCKS ... Rock Identification Key
The native rocks exposed at the surface are sedimentary deposited during the Paleozoic Era. They are sandstone (feels gritty), shale (smells like wet mud when moistened), conglomerate (pieces of other rocks), limestone (fizzes in vinegar).
ELEPHANT ROCK
Mechanical weathering has resulted in cracks, pits and uneven sculpting of this rock. Biological weathering is mainly due to the moss covering most of the rock surface. Texture is grainy. Gray and red are the predominant colors. Layering, indicative of deposition, is clearly visible in the red "nostrils". Classification of elephant rock is a sedimentary sandstone. This area was covered with similar, smaller rocks, but the area was bulldozed to build a pressure plant. The remnants of this structure are seen nearby.
PARABLE OF THE ELEPHANT
Once upon a time in a jungle kingdom, there arose rumors that a mysterious new beast was lurking in the dense growth outside the city walls. Because nobody had ever clearly seen the beast in the clear by the light of day, various inconsistent descriptions of the beast were circulating throughout the kingdom. Some even speculated the mysterious new beast might be the fabled “elephant” that was rumored to exist in far away lands.
Wanting to settle the rumors once and for all, the king ordered his five wisest sages to go into the jungle, find the fabled elephant, and bring back a clear and accurate description of it. The sages spent several months in the jungle searching for the elephant without any luck, and decided to abandon their search. But as they were returning back to civilization, they were overtaken by a thick fog, got separated from one another, and became lost.
That night, as the sages separately wandered through the dense jungle in the darkness, each of them came into contact with a different part of the elephant for a brief moment. One sage touched the elephant’s tusk, another it’s trunk, another its ear, another its leg, and another its side.
Eventually, each of the sages made it back to civilization, eager to give his description of the elephant to the king. But when the sages gave their reports to the king, they offered widely different descriptions of it:
“An elephant is slender and sharp like a spear,” said the sage who had touched the elephant’s tusk.
“An elephant is long, round, and flexible like a snake,” said the sage who had touched the elephant’s trunk.
“An elephant is like a leather drape,” said the sage who had touched the elephant’s ear.
“An elephant is thick, round, and solid like a tree trunk,” said the sage who had touched the elephant’s leg.
“An elephant is broad and flat like a wall,” said the sage who had touched the elephant’s side.
Upset by their conflicting descriptions of the elephant, the king erupted: “Fools! You claim to be wise men! You each claim to have found the elephant, and yet you offer me such widely different descriptions of it?! Your contradictory reports make the truth of the matter obvious! There is no such thing as an elephant!”
As the dejected sages returned home, they argued with one another about the true nature of the elephant. As they were debating, a young boy ran up to them and excitedly reported: “I’ve seen it! I’ve seen the elephant! I saw him in broad daylight! He has long and sharp tusks like a spear; a long, round, flexible nose like a snake, ears like leather drapes, legs thick and round as tree trunks, and sides as big and broad as a city wall!”
Stunned, the sages looked at the boy in silence for a moment, then looked at each other, then returned their gaze back to the boy. “Preposterous!” said one sage. “Impossible!” said another. “Liar!” “Delusional!” “Madman!” said the rest. And they scoffed, mocked, and ridiculed the boy to scorn.
Crestfallen, the young boy sheepishly turned his heels and walked home. When he arrived at his doorstep, he could still hear the sages out in the street, rancorous, seething, still arguing about what an elephant truly is.