Sea Cave EarthCache EarthCache
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WARNING: Swimming and wading near this cache is not advisable due to strong wave action. Also rocks can be very slippery.
IF YOU TAKE PICTURES THE DARK COLORED ROCKS ARE VERY SLIPPERY YOU MAY NOT WANT TO GET THAT CLOSE.
This cave is called Spouting Rock. It is a small cave with a cleft (hole) in the top of it. Just before high tide water and air is forced into the cave. As the wave retreats it allows the trapped air to expand rapidly forcing water out of the hole at the top of the cave. Water can be blown up to 30 feet into the air.
Sea caves can be found in several places along the Maine coast. These caves can either be in sandstone or granite. Sea caves are formed by a mix of water, air, sand and rock eroding the rock by wearing it away over thousands of years. In order to form a cave the rock must first have a weak spot in it. In metamorphic rock (the transformation of existing rock due to heat and pressure) or igneous rock (rock formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava) this is typically either a fault (crack) or a dike (a different type of softer rock). As the waves begin to make the cracks larger the rock begins to erode faster due to the tremendous force within a confined space. Any rocks and sand in the water only help to wear away the rock faster. The walls inside of sea caves can be irregular and chunky from being fractured piece by piece or rounded and smooth from the water and sand swirling around in the cavern.
PLEASE: do not post your answers on the cache page-- email them to me or your log may have to be deleted thank you
To get credit for this cache:
1) Post the date and time of your visit.
2) Time of high tide closest to the time of your visit.
3) The approximant length of the cleft.
4) Was there a water spout while you were there?
5) What type of rock do you think is in the area, sandstone or granite?
6) Post a picture looking toward the cache or
7) If you can not post a picture, email me the last name of the family that donated the two benches closest to the cache. Do not post this in the log, not even encrypted. Please list the name of this cache when sending infomation.
If you would like more information on sea caves I used:
Wikipedia.org/seacaves,wikipedia.org/rock,bostongrotto.org/maine caves and goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave/seacave
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