Carter Caves State Park Box Canyon Trail
Coordinates … N 38° 21.337 W 083° 06.700
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- three log signature pictures are required to post a find for this cache.
BOX CANYON
1. MESSAGE …. a. What are the colors on the cliff walls? / b. What causes the colors? / c. Is there a difference in texture between the colors? / d. Why do you think this is called a box canyon?
CASCADE BRIDGE
2. MESSAGE …. There are large tubes emerging from the edge of the arch. These formed when embedded rock was twisted by the movement of earth’s tectonic plates. … a. Location of the tubes? / b. What is the average length of the tubes? / c. What is the average diameter of the tubes? / d. What is the composition of the tubes?
WIND TUNNEL
3. MESSAGE …. a. how was wind tunnel formed? / b. As you walk through the tunnel, how much room is between the walls and your shoulders? / c. When you emerge from the tunnel, what do you see? / d. Why do you think it was named wind tunnel?
LIESEGANG BANDS
4. MESSAGE …. As you walk the trail, find an example of Liesegang Bands. Identify the location either by coordinates, or reference to the waypoints (example between between Cascade Bridge and Box Canyon).
WEATHERING
5. MESSAGE …. As you walk the trail, find two different types of Weathering. Identify them (example boxwork and root wedging).
6. LOG … Take a picture of you or your signature item at anything you find especially interesting. Explain why you chose it. 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 observeWeathering.. 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.
Journeys of Heart and Mind …
Stories to Touch the Heart and Puzzles to Challenge the Mind / Rainbow Tree Story
THANK YOU Chris Perry (Park Manager) and Robert Myers (State Park Naturalist) for permission to share this learning adventure.
THANK YOU Cav Scout, Platinum Earthcache Master for discovering and sharing this location.
THANK YOU LN for helping RT negotiate this challenging terrain
THE TRAIL
Box Canyon Trail, and is one of the most scenic trails in the park. It is a .75 mile loop trail beginning at the Cascade Caves parking lot, proceeding to the head of Box Canyon, and looping back to the parking area.
Along the Trail … These include Box Canyon, Cascade Bridge, Wind Tunnel, Liesegang Bands and multiple types of Weathering.
THE VALLEY
Most of the valley floor in this canyon is underlain by the Slade Formation. Box Canyon valley is largely a dry bed, because most of the drainage enters the subsurface through the many sinks. Only during major storms would we see any streamflow, You will encounter vertical walls of sandstone known as Carter Caves Sandstone. This sandstone represents a tidal-channel deposit that formed in Late Mississippian time when the area was dominated by extensive tidal currents. The sandstone walls are over 100′ thick.
BOX CANYON
A massive joint is responsible for the formation of this valley. The canyon is a northwest–southeast-oriented karst solution valley or uvala that probably formed from a large, collapsed trunk cave. As you hike the trail, evidence of this is shown by the sink holes dotting the valley floor and the caves within the walls.
Erosion of overlying sands, shales, and limestones resulted in the exposure of the Carter Caves sandstone and the massive cliffs you see. Much of the sandstone roof has now been destroyed by erosion and collapse in the karst solution valleys or uvalas. The steep walls of the canyon are over 60 ft high. The square corners result from collapse of the sandstone along two sets of intersecting joints, at a nearly perfect 90° angle.
CASCADE BRIDGE
“This structure is not really a bridge or an arch, as it is closed off on one side. This is a collapse alcove that formed by collapse of the sandstone as supporting limestones were dissolved from under the sandstone. This “bridge” or alcove in part reflects the influence of joints in the area. The vertical surface behind the alcove, as well as the flat surface of the sandstone wall defining the head of this valley, are large vertical joints, along which weathering has proceeded.”
The sides of this bridge are very straight because the bridge formed between two parallel fractures at the top of the ridge.
WIND TUNNEL
The movement of Earth’s tectonic plates caused cracks (vertical joints) in the sandstone.
The tunnel began as one of these cracks in the sandstone cliff.
Erosion via wind and water enlarged the opening you are now walking through..
LIESEGANG BANDS
These are formed by the dissolution of iron compounds and their rhythmic precipitation as bands in the sandstone
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. 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, flowing/falling water, wind, expanding ice, lightning, and expansion and contraction with heating and cooling. These physical processes create enough force to break rocks into smaller pieces. Chemical Weathering occurs when water, air, and other substances react with the minerals in rock. In chemical weathering, the composition of the rock changes. Many descriptive names are given to the Forms of Weathering such as boxwork, cavernous, alveolar, stone lattice, beerock, honeycomb, talfoni, and root wedging.
ROCK TYPES IN THE CANYON
The rocks you will see along the trail are sandstone, shale, and conglomerate.
SANDSTONE (Cemented sand) … Sandstone is often red to brown, light gray to nearly white. Sometimes it is yellow or green. It usually is composed of rounded grains that are all of the same size; and it is usually medium grained. Some sandstones show slight color variations in layering.
SHALE (Compacted mud) … Shale may be black, gray, red, brown, dark green, or blue. It is fine grained, so particles usually can not be seen. When moistened, shale usually smells like wet mud.
CONGLOMERATE (Pieces of other rocks) … Conglomerate looks like a mixture of sand and different sizes of rounded pebbles. The pebbles are the important observation.
RESOURCES
Box Canyon / Cascade Bridge / Wind Tunnel / Geology Tour
MY ANSWERS
BOX CANYON
Predominantly reds and yellows / minerals / Gritty sandstone texture throughout / Opening only on one end with smooth, high walls, intersecting at nearly right angles.
CASCADE BRIDGE
Right hand edge of the arch / several feet / few inches / sandstone
WIND TUNNEL
Formed from a vertical joint and enlarged by erosion. / Narrow with shoulders nearly touching walls. / Open area with cliff walls surrounding you. / You can hear the wind whistling through the tunnel.
LIESEGANG BANDS and WEATHERING
Answers vary as there are multiple examples along the trail.
REVIEWER NOTES
Thank you for your EarthCache submission. A few adjustments are required to bring the EarthCache into compliance with the EarthCache guidelines posted at http://www.geosociety.org/GSA/fieldexp/EarthCache/guidelines/home.aspx. Additional information may be found in the Groundspeak Knowledge Books at https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=51.
- Logging task #1: What is the significance/cause of the observed colors? It seems there could be an interesting earth science lesson around which minerals cause which colors when exposed to air and water.
- Logging task #2: What is the significance of the tubes? Was there a unique mechanism that formed them or was it a variation in how the original substrate was laid down or both?
- Logging task #4: Recommend expanding the explanation of “liesegang bands” so visiting cachers know what they are looking for. Without visiting the site, I imagine visitors will be looking for reddish brown bands or rings in sandstone, depending upon orientation.