This Dance is between Land and River EarthCache
This Dance is between Land and River
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This is not a typical Geocache. There is no container to find and no physical log to sign at the coordinates. This Earthcache is located along the hike and bike trail in Kent’s Fred Fuller Park. Here you will be able to enjoy and learn about an important geological feature of Northeast Ohio. To log this Earthcache, you must email me the answers to the questions asked at the bottom of the page. If you do not send me the correct answers within a week of logging this cache, I will have to delete your log, as per Earthcache rules.
A riparian corridor is a place where land and river meet. The sign before you describes this meeting as a dance because the dynamic between the two is a lively one. The riparian corridor’s most important job is as a buffer that keeps a river healthy. A healthy corridor filters rain water to keep out nitrogen and other elements that deplete oxygen, stabilizes the banks to prevent erosion, and provides shade to regulate water temperature (another key to healthy oxygen levels).
Riparian corridors have three zones. The first is streamside and needs to be at least 25 feet wide to prevent erosion. Undisturbed forest is best here, with human interaction limited to footpaths if the bank’s integrity is to be protected.
The middle zone should be 50 to 100 feet wide and separates the streamside from the outer zone, lessening the impact of floods. Bike paths do no damage to the function of the middle zone, and a managed forest of bushes and trees get the job done.
The furthest edge of the middle zone is usually the widest extent for possible flooding, and thus it is best to keep the building of homes, businesses, and other structures limited to the outer zone that begins at least 75 feet away from the river’s banks. The soil of the outer zone does most of the filtering of rainwater and requires grass in abundance.
In addition to providing spaces for people to enjoy the river, healthy riparian corridors are the favored nesting spots for birds, and downed trees provide homes for fish, turtles, and amphibians, as well as nutrients for microbes and bottom dwellers.
In order to claim credit for this EarthCache, look out at the river from the observation deck and answer the following questions:
1. Do you see all three zones at this part of the river’s course?
2. Do they look to be wide enough to do the job?
3. Does the corridor look like a healthy one? Why or why not?
4. It's completely optional, but I'd love it if you posted a pic of yourself and/or your GPS with the river to build a nice photo gallery of the river at all seasons.
Thanks for visiting my Earthcache! I look forward to your email!
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)