Connection to the Earth Science Curriculum

Essential Lessons:

      1.      How do you think the potholes in the Eagle River formed?

      2.      What is the significance of the red sandstone? *HINT – What makes iron rust orange-red?

3.      How has man altered the flow of Eagle River at this site?

Earth Science Literacy Principles-

 
Big Idea 1: Earth Scientists use repeatable observations and testable ideas to understand and explain our planet. 

Big Idea 3: Earth is a complex system of interacting rock, water, air, and life.

Big Idea 4: Earth is continuously changing.

Common misconceptions 

Glaciers were the only significant geological events to take place in Michigan.

Flooding only occurs after heavy rain.

The atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere do not cause changes in one another; these systems operate independently on Earth.

 Michigan State Science Content Expectations Addressed:

High School:

E1.2C Develop an understanding of a scientific concept by accessing information from multiple sources. Evaluate the scientific accuracy and significance of the information.

E2.1B Analyze the interactions between the major systems (geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere) that make up the Earth.

E4.p3A Describe how glaciers have affected the Michigan landscape and how the resulting landforms impact our state economy. (prerequisite)

Eagle River Bridge EarthCache

Short Description:
This EarthCache will take you to a pedestrian bridge overlooking the Eagle River in the Keweenaw Peninsula not far from Great Sand Bay.  The site has several geological features of interest: a waterfall, a geological contact, and several potholes.

Coordinates:
Latitude:   47° 24.746'N        Longitude:    88° 17.807'W

Key Earth Science Vocabulary Words:

Potholes: A circular hole in the bed of a river produced by abrasion.

Geological Contact: The surface along which one rock touches another.  They may be either Depositional, Intrusive, of Fault contacts.

Waterfall: A steep fall or flow of water in a watercourse from a height, as over a precipice; cascade.

Glacier: A thick mass of ice that forms on land from an accumulation of snow significant enough to persist through the summer and grow year by year.

Sandstone: A sedimentary rock composed of sand-sized particles (1/16 to 2 millimeters in diameter).

Basalt: A dark-colored fine-grained extrusive igneous rock. It is formed when lava cools quickly on the surface.

Conglomerate: A sedimentary rock that contains large (greater than two millimeters in diameter) rounded particles. The space between the pebbles is generally filled with smaller particles and/or a chemical cement that binds the rock together.

Escarpment: A long cliff or steep slope separating two comparatively level or more gently sloping surfaces and resulting from erosion or faulting.

Content Explanation:

This site at Eagle River is full of interesting geological features. The waterfall flows down a rather wide escarpment composed of a hard dark colored basalt rock. Basalt is formed when lava cools quickly on the surface. This area was once the site of over 400 lava flows during the Precambrian over 1 billion years ago! (W. Rose, personal communication, July 11, 2011). Covering the basalt was a layer of red sandstone. The sandstones red color tells us that oxygen was present in the atmosphere when the sandstone was made. (W. Rose, personal communication, July 11, 2011) .The sandstone is more easily eroded than the basalt and therefore much of it has been eroded by the action of the river.

If you look closely at the bottom of the escarpment you can see where the basalt and the sandstone layers meet. This area is called a geological contact. Geological contacts are areas where rocks of different formation and age come in contact with each other. On the other side of the bridge you can see another area of geological contact between the basalt rock layer and a conglomerate rock layer. The rock layers are tilted towards the lake. This is a result of the Mid-continent rift that happened about 1.1 to 1.0 billion years ago and caused the lava flows that formed the basalt rock. (W. Rose, personal communication, July 11, 2011) 

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Figure 1: Midcontinental rift system

Perhaps the most interesting formation at this site are the potholes found all over the escarpment. The formation of these cylindrical holes in the basalt is still under debate by members of the geological community. Two major hypotheses about the pothole formations have been proposed: 1. Bubble Cavitation and 2. Stone Scouring. (W. Rose, personal communication, July 11, 2011). The bubble hypothesis proposes that fast moving water contains bubbles in a vortex that smashes into the rock forming the pothole. The stone scouring hypothesis proposes that the water used hard rocks to scour the potholes in the parent material much like a chemist’s mortar and pestle. Regardless of the exact method of formation it appears that fast flowing water (most likely from glacial melt water) played a critical role.   

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Figure 2: Pothole in Coquille River Falls, Oregon

Logging Questions:

Q1: How many potholes do you see that are larger than 10ft in diameter?

Q2: Standing on the pedestrian bridge is the waterfall southeast or northwest?

Q3: What prevents the waterfall from flowing down the middle of the escarpment?

Access Information:

This site is publicly accessible. Parking is adjacent to the site in the Houghton Township Center Parking Lot.

References and Citations:

Dictionary.com (n.d.) retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com

Geology.com (n.d.) retrieved from http://geology.com/geology-dictionary.shtml

Hydrodynamics, Vortex, Bubble, Cavitation (n.d.) retrieved from http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-852140142330854418&ei=PhAvStGsAZa0-gHmjZmqCQ&q=bubble+cavitation&hl=en

Miller, M. (2010, March 31). Geological Contacts.  Retrieved from        http://pages.uoregon.edu/millerm/Srcontacts.html

Ojakangas, R.W., G. B. Morey, J. C. Green.  2001.  The Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System, Lake Superior Region, U.S.A.: Sedimentary Geology, v. 141-142, p. 421-442.  Cited in MinnesotaStuff.com ( http://www.minnesotastuff.com/Places_Maps.htm).

Rose, W. (n.d.) retrieved from http://www.geo.mtu.edu/~raman/SilverI/MiTEP_ESI-1/Potholes.html

(Untitled photograph of pothole in coquille river falls). Retrieved August 11, 2011, from:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/rogue-siskiyou/recreation/geology/waterfalls.shtml

Woodbury, K. (2008, Spring) Lake Superior and Keweenawan Rift. retrieved from http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/student/woodbury2/rift2.html

Date Visited: June 6th, 2011