This is an earthcache and has no container. It is a virtual cache to learn something. It is located on the Glenn highway in Alaska. GZ brings you to a pullout to observe the geology around you.
Lion Head is a 2,864 ft / 873 m mountain peak in Alaska, United States. Based on peakery data, it ranks as the 1469th highest mountain in Alaska and the 37201st highest mountain in the United States. The nearest peaks are Mount Wickersham ,Sheep Mountain, Gunsight Mountain, Strelshla Mountain, Syncline Mountain and Mount Monarch. Its Athabascan name is "Tssisyu Ts'akae." Lion's Head showcases the beauty and power of the geological forces that helped shaped the magnificence of the Glenn Highway corridor.
If you stand at GZ and look toward Anchorage, you will see the root of an ancient volcano looming above the valley floor. It was a chamber of fluid magma a half mile underground 42 million years ago. It solidified due to erosion 3 million years ago to a root, or plug. The Matanuska Glacier scoured out the valley for 2 million more years and finally retreated 10,000 years ago. Yes, it was eroded by the glacier, but it was made of a hard and massive material. Today it is still present as a volcanic root or plug.
Please email the CO the answers to the following questions.
1. How many feet of glacier covered the Lion Head repeatedly over time?
2. How many ice advances and glacial erosion to the root occured?
3. What is the root composed of?
4. How does this help you to determine that it is a root volcano?
5. What does it look like to you? A lion or a sphinx or something else?
6. Finally, even though pictures are optional, please post a picture of you and your party (or of your GPS if you are caching solo) for all to enjoy. Do not include the signs at the posted coordinates in your photo.
RESOURCES:
Lion’s Head Trail
http://www.alaska.org/detail/lions-head-trail
Peakery
http://peakery.com/lion-head-alaska/#sthash.3pBKNogc.dpuf
Matanuska Glacier
http://matanuska-glacier.com/
Glenn Highway
http://www.glennhighway.org/scenic-drives/sutton-lions-head-natural-history-tour
GZ Interpretive signs