EARTHCACHE REQUIREMENTS ... You will need a thermometer and a magnifying glass.
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:
BENNETT BEACH (posted) ... MESSAGE answers.
1. Based on the reading ... Where does this sand come from?
2. What is the color of the sand?
3. What is the temperature of the sand?
4. What is the texture of the sand?
5. What is something unique found at this beach, but not at Wendt Beach?
WENDT BEACH (waypoint) ... MESSAGE answers.
1. Based on the reading ... Where does this sand come from?
2. What is the color of the sand?
3. What is the temperature of the sand?
4. What is the texture of the sand?
5. What is something unique found at this beach, but not at Bennett Beach?
BEACH COMPARISON ... MESSAGE answer.
Which beach do you prefer? Explain your choice.
LOG ... Post a picture of you or your signature item at the sign for each beach. These pictures are your log signature.
OPTIONAL - Please respect the time and effort involved in finding and creating this earthcache by adding the following to your log.
A. BENNETT BEACH - MINI GLACIER ... If you see the Park Ranger, ask him to relate the story of the stacking of huge slabs of ice in March that looked and acted like a glacier.
B. WENDT BEACH - MERMAID'S TABLE ... Most of the shale you see is in horizontal layers. Circular shale formations found here are not found at beaches to the north (Hamburg Town Beach) and south (Bennett Beach). Explain (scientific or creative) what you think caused the circular formation of Mermaid’s Table.
C. 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.
D. 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.
Journeys of Heart and Mind ...
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
LAKE ERIE
The Lake Erie Basin is composed of two types of bedrock. This is the reason you will encounter one type of sand at Bennett Beach -and- another type of sand at Wendt Beach. The tasks (color / temperature / texture) will show you how different these two sands are, even though the beaches are only a few miles apart.
BENNETT BEACH
This beach is composed of post-glacial sorted silica sand deposited on the downwind side of the lake. This sand is a result of glacial grinding of carbonate bedrock (dolomite and limestone), and imported along the shoreline via lake currents. Wind stacks the sand creating dunes relatively free of vegetation.
WENDT BEACH
This beach is mainly composed of weathered shale bedrock. The shale exposed is part of an outcrop belt of Upper Devonian Rhinestreet Shale of the West Falls Group. The Rhinestreet deposition extends to the south at deepening subsurface levels until it is more than 1100m below ground level at the New York – Pennsylvania border.
RESOURCES
-Park Staff
-Mermaid's Table GC1HKWX
-http://www2.erie.gov/parks/index.php?q=bennett-beach
-Grabeau, Amadeus, Geology and Palaeontology of Eighteen Mile Creek and the Lake Shore Section, of Erie County, New York. Originally published in two volumes by the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 1898-1899. Facsimile Edition published by the Hamburg Natural History Society (Hamburg, N.Y.), 1994.
-https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/greatlakes/erie/RP3/lakefloorgeomorphologyoflakeerie.pdf
-http://www.avonhistory.org/hist/lakes1.htm