Stone Creek Falls EarthCache
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EarthCache is located in Platte River State Park. A NE State Park Permit is required to enter the park. Day passes are currently $4.00, The park superintendent has given permission to place the EarthCache within the park.
Parking and the trailhead are located at:
N 40 59.413 W 096 13.058
Plate River State Park is situated on the southern bluffs above the Platte River on relatively steep, rolling topography. There is roughly 400 acres within the park area, most of it forested. The coordinates for the EarthCache will take you to The Stone Creek Waterfall. The waterfall is a result of fracture and collapse of the limestone layer underlying the creek. This Pennsylvanian era limestone is mined throughout the area in Cass County.
Waterfalls of this type likely were formed when the creek was young and was flowing in a narrow and deep channel. When the water reached resistant bedrock and coursed over it, erosion happened slowly on the bedrock, while downstream the erosion occurred more rapidly. As the watercourse increased its velocity at the edge of the waterfall, it plucked material from the creek bed. Whirlpools created in the turbulence as well as sand and stones carried by the watercourse increased the erosion capacity. That caused the waterfall to carve deeper into the bed of the creek and to recede upstream. Over time, the waterfall receded back to form the canyon or gorge downstream as the falls receded upstream. This is an on-going process, as the falls will continue to change over time.
Often the rock stratum just below the more resistant shelf of the falls will be of a softer type, as in the case of Stone Creek Falls. This means that undercutting due to the splash back occurred here to form a shallow cave-like formation known as a rock shelter under and behind the waterfall. Eventually, the outcropping, the more resistant cap rock, collapsed under pressure and added blocks of rocks to the base of the waterfall.
Optional: To share your experience, please post a photo of yourself or your group, somewhere in the area of the falls.
In order to log the Stone Creek Falls as a find, send the answers to the following questions to me for validation.
1) Describe what you see at coordinates N. 40 59.410 W 096 13.057
2) What is the name of the structure at N 40 59.395 W 096 13.069
3) How many layers of sedimentary rock can you count at N 40 59.413 W 096 13.060
4) What do you estimate the height of the falls at coordinates of question #3
You may go a head and log the cache, I will only respond if I feel I need to. Logs not accompanied by an e-mail, will quietly be removed.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)