POQ 52: How to Build a Backyard on the Bay EarthCache
POQ 52: How to Build a Backyard on the Bay
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The coordinates for this earthcache bring you precisely to the City of Poquoson Benchmark Station 52. Please don't park directly on the coordinates because you'll need to access the benchmark to answer questions. Station 52 is on a cul-de-sac that terminates at an inlet off the Chesapeake.
Warning: As STF notes below, GZ is a hole in the ground, so be careful walking around the area!
FTF: GrandpaGene!
This cache is intended to point out man-made changes to the earth when we reclaim land from the sea. So... How do you build a backyard on the bay?
A. Start with some marshland by the shore.
B. Build something to keep your yard from falling into the water.
Look across the inlet to the backyards straight across from GZ. You will see two kinds of bank reinforcement.
Q1. Describe the two kinds of bank reinforcement you see.
C. Plant something to keep your yard from falling into the water.
Walk to the edge of the bank you're standing on and look down along the slope to the water.
Q2. What do you think is holding the bank where you are standing in place?
Q3. How can a tree help reinforce a bank?
Q3a. (Bonus - for the overachiever - not needed to claim the cache) How could a tree destabilize a bank?
D. Fill in your yard with soil, as needed.
All around the inlet, including where you are standing and the backyards across the inlet, the ground is covered in the "udorthents" soil type. Udorthents are non-native soils, brought in as fill to grade out areas being developed or, as in this case, reclaimed from wetlands. The udorthent soil used here is loamy, a mix of sand, silt, clay, and plant matter. Walk back to GZ and look for a 5-inch depression in the ground. Clear out any leaves or grass at the bottom to expose Poquoson Benchmark Station 52. As you cleared out the depression, you exposed some of the udorthents soil.
Q4. What color is the soil?
E. Monitor for maintenance and change.
The location of the dot inside the triangle of the benchmark station is precisely known - latitude, longitude, and altitude. The City of Poquoson has its location mapped into its geographic information system.
Q5. Considering the landscape and the use of the land around the inlet, what would be one use of knowing the exact location of the benchmark?
To claim your cache, please send me answers to Q1 through Q5.
To see more about Poquoson soil coverage, view page 197 of the 340 page City of Poquoson comprehensive plan found here: (visit link)
To learn more about bank stabilization methods, visit: (visit link)
Additional Hints
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