New Earthcache learning activity question

[+StarDoc]

I'm working on placing an Earthcache along a river cutbank, but I'm having difficultly come up with logging activities.

 

The cutbank is across the river from the waypoint, and shows a beautiful cross-section of the last 8,000 or so years there, from the topsoil at the top down to the glacial till at the current river bed. My first thought was to have finders post a picture of the cutbank so that local geologists and naturalists could watch long-term changes in the bank. But it sounds like that is not enough to get it listed. There are no information signs in the area.

 

My second thought was to have people estimate the amount of time it took the river to cut through the various layers based on the age of the whole cross-section (it's about 30 feet high) and the relative thickness of each layer, emailed to me. Unfortunately, this would be a problem if I was also having them post pictures as anyone could then do it at home and not even visit the area.

 

Should I have them do both of the above? Any ideas from the collected wisdom here? I'm planning several in the area showing glacial features of the land there, so maybe I could tie it in that way?

[+TerryDad2]

You can have both. The requirement for the picture would ensure they were actually there instead of just figuring it out from the last picture.

 

You could also have them describe the change in the bank from the last picture.

 

Is the bank cut on the waypoint side? If so, are the profiles the same? You could have them photo one side and do the calculation on the other.

 

If not, have them coorelate what level in the soil horzon the waypont side of the bank is related to the cut side.

[+Rev Mike]

Another idea for logging requirements would be to do a little bit of research so you can identify the stratigraphic layers and list them in order for the people attempting your earthcache. Then you could have people measure (or estimate) the width of a given layer and perhaps compare it to a different layer.

 

- Rev Mike

[+StarDoc]

Thanks to the both of you for your suggestions. I was planning on doing both a picture and something else. I will probably use both of my first ideas, plus TerryDad2's idea of determining which horizon they are currently standing on.

 

The bank is on the opposite side of the river from the waypoint, so while I like Rev Mike's idea of finders examining it and sending me their descriptions, there is no easy way to get close to it. I also thought about having people do some homework on the web and figure it out for themselves, there is almost no information on the web available, and everything I know about it I learned from the local professional geologists I know. I was going to explain the layers in my cache description anyway.

 

Thanks for the ideas!

[+Juicepig]

have them measure the depth of the river at its deepest spot, and estimate the width of the river. Have them take a sample of the river water, let it sit, and see how much suspended soil is in the water, then ask them how long it would take to build a hill 30m tall

 

of course, that might just be mean