Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom in 1982 was the first visit by a reigning pope. John Paul II arrived in the United Kingdom on Friday 28 May 1982, and during his time there visited several cities, delivering 16 major addresses. Among significant events were a meeting with Elizabeth II of the United_Kingdom Also a joint service alongside the then Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie was helt at Canterbury Cathedral. Masses, were held at Manchester,Glasgow and Cardiff. Following his six-day visit which took him to locations in England,Scotland and Wales, he returned to the Vatican on 2 June. This stone was placed here to commemorate his visit and the service carried out in Manchester’s Heaton Park.
This cache poses a simple question really, what type of rock is the obelisk made from?
Here is some information about types of rock to help you identify the stone.
Sandstone
Sandstone can be grey red or yellow in colour, but it will all be mostly a similar colour only altered by the different minerals present. You will be able to identify lines which run all the way through the rock, where different seasons or catastrophic events have altered the composition of the deposits for a short time. The rock will be quite durable but feel rough to the touch and small grains will come off when you rub it vigorously
Basalt
Basalt is mostly a black rock, and is very smooth, sometimes looking almost like glass. It can also be pitted, like at Giants’ causeway. It is a very common rock which can be of relatively high value depending on its location and use by humans and is used in small quantities in jewelry or features. It tends to be found in different sized outcrops and is sometimes used for buildings since it is quite hard. There are traditional houses in Iceland made of basalt, there are not many English buildings built from wholly basalt.
Granite
This is a very durable rock and will look a little like concrete, being made up of noticeably different pieces of different coloured small crystals. The smaller crystals that holds it together will be made up of much smaller pieces and this could be a completely different colour. Granite is 100% crystals, so there is no cement, just 'a matrix of different sized and mineralogy of crystals. The type of crystal found depends on either the mineralogy of the magma/crystals, or the speed of cooling (and so the rate of crystallisation), and the order in which the minerals crystallised. This then gives a matrix of different sized and shaped crystals. This rock will be quite smooth to the touch when new and polished, but will become rough as weaker elements of it wear away. The stone will not crumble to the touch like a soft sandstone might. This is very good building material since it has no linear weaknesses.
Limestone
A common building material especially in ancient times due to the decorative look of the rock. This is sometimes a white, grey or pale rock which is softer than granite. It can be very hard however, like the Yorkshire dales limestone pavements. It is however often riddled with weaknesses. When left in the open this rock will suffer from weathering and will have deep scores or fissures in the rock where the rain has run over it. Also at the bottom of this rock you would notice deposits like cement where the water has washed away and left particles of the rock behind.
Questions
Please read the descriptions of the different processes rocks can go through and answer the questions below
1) Please describe the feel and look of the rock used to make the obelisk.
2) What type of rock do you think has been used make this obelisk? How did you come to this conclusion?
3) According to the carvings on the stone what two things did pope John Paul II do here on 31st May 1982?
If you feel willing and able please post a photo of yourself, your GPS, or something interesting close to the GZ, do not include the stone in your photo.
Thanks for visiting this cache and I hope you enjoyed the park.