Holey Rocks on the Border EarthCache
Holey Rocks on the Border
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This Earthcache is located just north of the Utah/Wyoming border within Richards Gap. Parking is at a small pulloff on the west side of the road at N 41 00.365 W 109 13.488. While walking to the final coordinates, stop off at the rock at N 41 00.383 W 109 13.471 for a great closeup of this type of weathering.
The rocks at this location are covered with deep cavities or hollows called tafoni. To reach this state, they have undergone a process called cavernous weathering. Though not well understood, this is thought to occur mainly through a form of wind and water erosion.
In one hypothesis of how tafoni are created, moisture through the form of dew or precipitation enters these rocks and dissolves some of the harder minerals. These are leached to the surface, where the water evaporates leaving a coating or crust on the parent material. Some time later a piece of this outer crust breaks or weathers off and wind erosion begins to eat away at the softer material below. The rock eventually weathers to the form which you see here.
The sandstone which is at this site is from the Blair Sandstone of the Mesaverde Group. Tafoni is usually found to be associated with sedimentary rocks, such as sandstones.
To log this earthcache:
1.) Count the number of tafoni on the west side (side facing the road) of the large boulder at the site of the coordinates. Send me an email with this number.
Please consider posting photos of yourself, or the local geology, when you log this EarthCache. Photos can be an additional rewarding part of your journey, but posting them is not a requirement for logging this EarthCache, and is strictly optional.
The above information was compiled from the following sources:
Chronic. H. 1990. Roadside Geology of Utah.
Tafoni: (visit link)
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