Waterfall on top of the world EarthCache
Waterfall on top of the world
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(other)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Having trekked up the Annapurna trail, you are almost at the birthplace of sedimentary bedrock. Here you can witness the process that creates rock sediments and transports them hundreds and thousands of miles, to form bedrock in marine basins.
Because the Himalayas are so young (approximately 40 million years) they are still a huge mountain range. Most of the world’s largest mountains are in this belt, weighing in at over 8000 meters above sea level. When the Indian continental plate collided with the Asian plate, the collision zone was forced upwards, crumpling like a rucked carpet, pushing the crust into the sky and forming the mountains. But with the summit of these peaks 5 miles up, in the jet stream, they undergo severe weathering and erosion.
The rivers that form from melt water and runoff desperately want to find equilibrium, and cut downwards at an alarming rate. They form steep-sided incised valleys, and some of the deepest gorges in the world. The rivers and streams cut hanging valleys and waterfalls, as they flow fast and hard carrying the rocks and boulders that have fallen from the peaks in frost shattering events. The rivers join, and flow downwards towards low lying land until they find equilibrium at sea level. As the power drops, the bigger boulders cease being carried, but the smaller sediments are carried out to sea, where they finally drop from suspension, and settle on the basin floor. Here they are compacted into new continental bedrock on the edge of the continent.
To claim this cache you need to:
1. Take a picture of you and your GPS in front of the waterfall.
2. Answer the following two questions: What is the name of the main river carrying the sediments down, which the new bridge crossed and which this waterfall joins? What direction is it flowing?
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Jngresnyy vapvfvat vagb n vapvfrq inyyrl