ALLEGANY STATE PARK – Topography
NOTE … A permit is required to place this cache in Allegany State Park. Call to get the form. Coordinates must be 0.25 mi from any existing caches regardless of type. The Reviewer Notes detail why this cache did not pass review so was not published.
Coordinates for Parking at the Administration Building … N 42° 06.025 W 078° 44.980
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:
NOTE: Answers via message -and- log signature pictures are required to post a find for this cache.
1. MESSAGE…. Observe the surrounding topography. Are you looking at a plateau or a dissected plateau? Explain.
2. MESSAGE…. What landscape feature is visible today, but not in 1927?
3. MESSAGE…. Beginning at the Administration Building, travel around the lake observing the landscape features. Describe what you observe as compared to the 1927 illustrated cyclorama.
4. LOG … Take a picture of you or your signature item at the Administration Building. This picture is your log signature.
OPTIONAL – Please respect the time and effort involved in finding and 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 … prose / story / poem / picture. 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 Allegany State Park for permission to share this learning adventure.
CYCLORAMA
In the book published 1927, if the visitor “chooses a spot exactly east of the pump he will find himself at the very center of the cyclorama.” By turning 360° the various landscape features of the park are observable.
LANDSCAPE FEATURES 360°
KNOLL – small hill or mound
Three Sisters – rounded knolls
The top is knoll-like due to the resistant Oswayo formation. It is more resistant to weathering and erosion than the underlying Cattaraugus shales.
MOUNTS – Generally speaking mounts are less steep and not as high as mountains
Mounts – Seneca / Onondaga / Cayuga / Redjacket
The region of Allegany State Park was an extensive flat-topped plateau with flowing rivers eroding valleys. This region is now maturely dissected resulting in the various mounts.
BENCH – long, relatively narrow strip of level or gently inclined land that is bounded by steeper slopes above and below it
The Salamanca Bench is a distinct platform on the flanks of the mounts resulting from differential erosion of the sedimentary rock layers.
LAKE – a large body of water surrounded by land
Red House Lake is a 110 acre man-made lake created in 1929 by the damming of Red House Brook.
BENCHMARK – survey markers indicating elevation above sea level
Benchmark at Headquarters in 1927 – Elevation 1475′ and is the uppermost limit reached by the lake waters which covered lower Quaker Run Valley. NOTE: We did not find this benchmark nor is it listed under “nearby benchmarks”.
TOPOGRAPHY
Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps.
PLATEAU and DISSECTED PLATEAU
A plateau is a flat, elevated landform that rises sharply above surrounding area on at least one side.
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been uplifted, then severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. These older uplifts have been eroded by creeks and rivers to develop steep relief not immediately distinguishable from mountains. One can stand on a high “mountain” and note that all the other tops are at the same height, which represents the original plain before uplift.
RESOURCES
A Popular Guide to the Geology and Physiography of Allegany State Park by A. K. Lobeck Published 1927
http://www.summitpost.org/is-it-a-peak-mount-or-mountain/606421
SP Sizerville Dissected Plateau / Allegany Plateau / ASP Cycloramic View
MY ANSWERS
1. Dissected Plateau – shows lots of erosion
2. Red House Lake
3. The mounts are more pronounced than shown in the diagram. This is probably due to increased deepening of the valleys over time.
There are intermittent flatter portions observed – Salamanca Bench.
The Three Sisters stand out as distinct knolls not much higher than the mounts. Similar to diagram.
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 #2: What is the significance of the manmade lake relative to the Earth Science lesson you are teaching with this EarthCache (plateau, dissected plateau, benches, knolls, and mounts)? Is this task here to serve as proof of visiting the site in addition to the required photos?
- Logging task #3: You defined “bench” in the body of the EarthCache text, so you could ask the visitor to identify the Salamanca Bench in the context of the Earth Science lesson you are trying to teach.
- Logging task #3: Do you really think the plateau has been significantly eroded since the cyclorama was drawn or is it a matter of the artist’s depiction on a two-dimensional space that differs from the three-dimensional view?