High Falls EarthCache
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High Falls Earth
Cache
The High Falls (or Upper
Falls) of the Genesee River in Rochester, New York is a fine
waterfall located right in the middle of the city. This makes for a
rather interesting urban setting for the waterfall view. High
Falls, also known as Upper Falls, Genesee Falls, and the Great
Falls of the Genesee, has a height of 96 feet and a crest width of
200 feet . The falls faces to the northwest, and the entire crest
of the falls is overhung, resulting in a fantastic curtain of
falling water. The falls is at its best in the spring, when the
flow of the river is torrential. In the summer months the river
volume can be rather low. The present river valley has been
modified extensively from preglacial river valleys. The original
river had two branches. The east branch has a larger preglacial
valley. It was completely blocked by extensive terminal moraines
just south of Dansville, so most of the upper section was diverted
toward the Susquehanna River system. Now only a small creek flows
in what is left of this large valley. The west branch, which was
smaller, is now the Genesee River above Mount Morris.
That being said, the falls is certainly a good one.
The falls is visible from the pedestrian-only Pont du Rennes
bridge in the Browns Race district. It is impossible to miss it.
There is also a geocache nearby. GCYA2C
A waterfall is usually a geological formation resulting from
water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an
erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a sudden break in
elevation. Types of waterfalls are based on how the water falls or
passes through it's course, how much water is flowing, the surface
beneath it and the geological processes that created it
(geomorphology). These all together form a waterfall's unique
shape. Water as a whole, is a great tool when it comes to carving
out this great planet we live on.
Types of Waterfalls...
Block: Water descends from a relatively wide stream or
river.
Cascade: Water descends a series of rock steps.
Cataract: A large waterfall.
Fan: Water spreads horizontally as it descends while remaining in
contact with bedrock.
Horsetail: Descending water maintains some contact with
bedrock.
Plunge: Water descends vertically, losing contact with the bedrock
surface.
Punchbowl: Water descends in a constricted form, then spreads out
in a wider pool.
Segmented: Distinctly separate flows of water form as it
descends.
Tiered: Water drops in a series of distinct steps or falls.
Multi-Step: A series of waterfalls one after another of roughly
the same size each with its own sunken plunge pool.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Preglacial: An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the
temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an
expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine
glaciers.
Moraine: refers to any glacially formed accumulation of
unconsolidated glacial debris (soil and rock) which can occur in
currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those
areas acted upon by a past ice age. This debris may have been
plucked off the valley floor as a glacier advanced or fallen off
the valley walls as a result of frost wedging. Moraines may be
composed of silt like glacial flour to large boulders. The debris
is typically angular. Moraines may be on the glacier’s surface or
deposited as piles or sheets of debris where the glacier has
melted. Moraines may also occur when glacier or iceberg transported
rocks fall into the sea as the ice melts.
Waterfalls may also be artificial, and they are sometimes created
as garden and landscape ornaments.
To log this earthcache you must post a picture of you with your
GPS with the falls in the background and Email me the answers to
the following questions...
1)Approximately how high are the falls?
2) Approximately how wide are the Falls?
3) Using the above types, Tell me What type of falls this
is.
4)Give me your best guess in your own words as to how this
waterfalls was formed.
Any Logs without the required picture posted with your log or
without the emailed answers will be deleted. Pictures without a
face will be deleted. Sorry for the inconvience but we know that a
picture with your face can be took even if you are alone, a hand
with a GPS does not prove you were there... Please do not post
answers to your online log.
Additional Hints
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