Question about cave earthcaches

[+spiritwolf922]

I have been wanting to create an earthcache about caves and have researched the topic, but the location I wanted to use is a privately-owned commercial entity which would be an EXCELLENT place to learn about caves, but I have never received a response from them.  That sucks, but with some modifications to my description, I can rewrite it to be applicable to almost any cave in my area.  There happens to be a cave in a local park which supports geocaching and because of the relationship between our local organization and the county, geocachers have blanket permission to place caches in the public parks, which means that this cave would be a good place to consider placing an earthcache.

 

Here's the rub:  The cave is not 100% "natural".  It is certainly a cave.  It is certainly not man-made; it is a natural area, not bricks, for example.  However, it has been MODIFIED by man.  This is a natural area which was excavated to become a "beer cave" back in the days that brewers needed some place to keep their wares cool.

 

Given this information - that the cave is a natural stone formation, but it has been modified by man in that it was excavated for commercial purposes - would this cave still be considered a "cave" and "eligible" to be described as an earthcache?

 

Your thoughts?

[+STNolan]

Can you somehow tie the anthropological erosion to the actual geological material?

I.E. Why was this space chosen to make a cave? My guess is because the rock is softer than that of the surrounding areas... why is that rock softer? Geology!

 

That's where I'd start my research anyway. 

[+spiritwolf922]

6 minutes ago, STNolan said:

I.E. Why was this space chosen to make a cave? My guess is because the rock is softer than that of the surrounding areas... why is that rock softer? Geology!

 

 

 

Yes, the rock was chosen because it's typical of the region:  it's limestone and excellent for making a beer cave.  Many beer barons of yesteryear utilized the cave system under the city for such storage.  This particular 'created cave' happens to be outside the city limits in the county.

[+barefootjeff]

There's an Earthcache at Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney (GC65WKH). These caves are a major tourist attraction, with the access road passing through the Grand Arch and all the publicly open caves having concrete walkways, steps and lighting, but there's still a geology lesson there with the formation process.

 

[Blue Square Thing]

I've seen earth caches placed in old quarry areas. The natural rock strata which are visible in them is often much easier to teach the earth cache lesson with than a natural example.

 

I've also seen coastal earth caches that focus on using groynes and so on to teach about long shore drift. And rocks in a fountain. And a medieval wall.

 

So I don't see a problem with using the example the OP gives, so long as it's primarily a learning process related to the natural rather than the history of the cave (but, obviously, the history is interesting as well and the description should mention that).

[+hzoi]

19 hours ago, spiritwolf922 said:

the location I wanted to use is a privately-owned commercial entity which would be an EXCELLENT place to learn about caves, but I have never received a response from them

 

If you can't get permission, or if the commercial entity charges a fee, that's going to be a show stopper.

 

I'd agree that it being man-made or -enhanced is not a bar to an earthcache - remember, they can be based on statues or building material. The main thing I'd be looking to do if I was putting such a cache together is highlight what's unique and observable about the feature. Not just a general lesson on limestone, but a specific lesson about this particular feature.

[+spiritwolf922]

Is this a good forum for me to post my description for some feedback on content before I set up and submit a cache page, or is there a better place for critiques?

[+cerberus1]

On 10/12/2020 at 5:28 PM, spiritwolf922 said:

Here's the rub:  The cave is not 100% "natural".  It is certainly a cave.  It is certainly not man-made; it is a natural area, not bricks, for example.  However, it has been MODIFIED by man.  This is a natural area which was excavated to become a "beer cave" back in the days that brewers needed some place to keep their wares cool.

 

Given this information - that the cave is a natural stone formation, but it has been modified by man in that it was excavated for commercial purposes - would this cave still be considered a "cave" and "eligible" to be described as an earthcache?

 

Sounds more like it might be a Waymarking category to me.