Cattaraugus County
Enjoy the wonders that abound within these Enchanted Mountains.
EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS
Each cacher must send his/her own answers BEFORE logging a find. 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:
1. MESSAGE …. Explain how the glaciers were responsible for creating the Zoar River Valley.
2. MESSAGE …. Enjoy the trail leading to the Overlook. Describe the cliffs you see.
3. MESSAGE …. Compare what you see here with the picture of the nearby Gowanda Interstadial Site. Both are views of the Zoar Valley cliffs.
4. MESSAGE …. Explain (scientific or creative) why the interstadial till layers are not visible along the length of the gorge, but are only visible in one small section.
5. LOG …. Post a picture at or near the coordinates. This picture is your log signature.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in creating this earthcache by adding A and B to your log.
A. 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.
B. 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. This is a memorable addition to your log and will make other hearts smile.
THANK YOU David Paradowski for permission to share this learning adventure.
ZOAR VALLEY
The Zoar Valley area is a very unique river valley because it was formed as a result of glacial melting and deposition of sediments that the glacier carried. There were a series of glaciers that covered and exposed the Cattaraugus County area. These glaciations include the Wisconsin Glaciation, the Olean Glaciation, and the Kent Glaciation. The first glaciation began about 65,000 years ago. Sediments, known as glacial till, built up as the glacier began to retreat creating a wall, known as a moraine. As the glacier melted, large amounts of water began to flow east along the moraine and the glacier, towards Lake Erie, following a natural dip in bedrock as well as an ancient river valley. This process eventually led to the formation of the Cattaraugus Creek, which formed Zoar Valley.
The rock underlying the glacier was shale, which is very brittle and easily eroded. The power of the water flowing cut through the glacial till and bedrock and eroded at the head of the stream, backwards, in a process known as headward erosion. The Cattaraugus Creek cut through the shale at a rate of 15 to 18 feet per thousand years and formed the valley walls we see today over a period of 14 to 15 thousand years.
At one point there were glaciers covering most of New York State. These glaciers melted and refroze several times. As the glaciers would melt away all that water had to go somewhere. What path would this water have taken? Here you will find magnificent cliffs at each side of the river bed - the answer to that question.
GLACIATION PERIODS
Stadials and interstadials are phases dividing the Quaternary period, the last 2.6 million years. Stadials are colder periods and endure for a thousand years or less. Interstadials are warmer periods and endure for less than ten thousand years. Interglacials endure for more than ten thousand years. Glacials endure for about one hundred thousand years.
GLACIAL TILL
Glacial till is unsorted sediment deposited directly by glacial ice. It is soft rock identified by large angular rock fragments on the surface and within the soil. Because of their huge mass, ice sheets flow outward as if they were huge piles of peanut butter.
OPTIONAL - GOWANDA INTERSTADIAL SITE
NOTE - Coords by Enchanted Mountains. We tried to find this site several times but were unsuccessful. If you find it, kindly post coords and pictures. Good Luck!
GOWANDA INERSTADIAL SITE - Till layers topped by soil
Parking on road: 42.495225, -78.928279 ... Site 42.494872, -78.930729
Gowanda is one of only two known places in New York to have preserved till layers from the first three glacier movements (of four) during the Pleistocene Ice Age. It shows the till layers dropped by each retreat. Both sites have till layers that look similar and seem to be deposited at the same time by the same glaciation.
OPTIONAL - OTTO STADIAL SITE
NOTE - Coords by Enchanted Mountains. We tried to find this site several times but were unsuccessful. If you find it, kindly post coords and pictures. Good Luck!
OTTO STADIAL SITE - Striations on rock and Two adjacent till layers
Parking 42.351040, -78.838304 ... Site 42.352458, -78.832138
Otto is one of only two known places in New York to have preserved till layers from the first three glacier movements (of four) during the Pleistocene Ice Age. The till was deposited by the Wisconsin glacial event that occurred about 64,000 years before present to about 12,300 years before present, during the Pleistocene Epoch and covered almost all of New York. Each layer was deposited by a different advancement of the glacier (caused by cooling and warming). These are called stadials and interstadials respectively. Evidence of glacial activity is seen in the rock patterns along the creek bottom, different colors of each till layer (because they are made up of different types of soils and bedrock sediments), striations on rocks (scratches from the glacier moving over the rocks), compacted masses of till (which means it was not sorted by size of particles), and angular rocks (rocks are rounded when moved by a stream but not when moved by a glacier).
RESOURCES
Cattaraugus County Geology Trail ... http://enchantedmountains.com/book/export/html/3313
GEOLOGY OF THE ZOAR VALLEY GORGE OF CATTARAUGUS CREEK CATTARAUGUS AND ERIE COUNTIES, NEW YORK by MICHAEL J. MEYERS ... pdf
Zoar Valley MUA ... http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/zoarump.pdf
Zoar Valley MUA ... http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/36931.html
Zoar Valley MUA - The 3,014-acre Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area is one of the most scenic and ecologically diverse environmental areas in Western New York. It is known for the spectacular scenery created by its deep gorge, sheer cliffs, flowing waterfalls, and dense forests.
CACHER NOTE - "The conclusion of the Geologist at UB was that we do not know how the Zoar Gorge was formed, glacier flows do not match the theory!"