LAVA HOT SPRINGS

SUNKEN GARDENS

You will be standing at the Sunken Gardens when you get to the posted coordinates.
The rock formations around the area, and exposed in great detail at the hot pools and sunken Gardens, are the result of a biological action whereas algae growing in the Portneuf River precipitate the CaCo3 to form reefs, damming the water and growing until the river shifts course and leaves the reef high and dry.
It is the action responsible for the water falls in the Portneuf River.
One of the major events that shaped the lower Portneuf valley, particularly here at this location, was the Bonneville flood.
Lake Bonneville was a large lake that at its largest extent covered about 20,000 square miles of central Utah.
Lake Bonneville was one of several large lakes that were formed in the interior regions of the Intermountain West during the Pleistocene as snow and ice melted at the end of the last ice age.
About 14,500 years ago the lake broke through its shore near Red Rock Idaho, spilling a huge volume of water north through the Portneuf Gap at the southern end of Pocatello.
This flood may have lasted for more than a year, and at its peak had a flow of as much as 33 million cubic feet per second.
Local effects of the flood can be seen in the way that the lava flows were exposed and shaped in the lower Portneuf valley and seen here in Lava Hot Springs.

HOT POOLS

The Lava Hot Pools will be just below you in the gated area.
Bubbling out of natural underground springs, the hot water is laden with Minerals, but has no sulfur and therefore no bad odor.
Over 3 million gallons a day course through the springs and are diverted into the Portneuf River keeping the springs ever changing and clean.
hese springs are produced by the very slow circulation of water to depths of 3,000 meters, where it is heated.
These waters then recirculate to the surface through various cracks and crevices in the earth's surface as hot springs.
Springs are defined as places where groundwater is discharged at a specific location.
They vary dramatically as to the amount of water they discharge.
Some of the water may have traveled great distances underground before resurfacing as a spring.
When we talk about hot or thermal springs, these are defined as springs where the temperature of water lies significantly above the mean annual air temperature of the region.
The temperature and rate of discharge of hot springs depend on factors such as the rate at which water circulates through the system of underground channelways, the amount of heat supplied at depth, and the extent of dilution of the heated water by cool ground water near the surface.

To log this EarthCache you must take a picture of yourself, or group member, holding your GPS and showing the Sunken Garden area. Also answer one of the following Questions in an email to me, do not answer in log (encrypted or not).

1. Tell me what you think caused the dark holes that are found in the lava rock in this area?
2. Tell me what you think is the range of temperature that is found in the Hot Pools here in Lava Hot Springs?