Hamilton's Artesian Well EarthCache

This cache has been archived.

Geocaching HQ Admin: It has now been over 30 days since Geocaching HQ submitted the disabled log below and, unfortunately, the cache owner has not posted an Owner maintenance log and re-enabled this geocache. As a result, we are now archiving this cache page.

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Hidden : 11/10/2009
Difficulty:
1 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: not chosen (not chosen)

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Geocache Description:

This well is located within the Mississippian (Marshal) aquifer, one of the most important and productive aquifers in the state of Michigan. The aquifer is also present in Iowa, where it underlies about 60 percent of the state and consists mainly of limestone and dolomite.

An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater that will flow upward through a well (called an artesian well) without the need for pumping. Water may reach the ground surface if the natural pressure is high enough, in which case the well is called a flowing artesian well.

An aquifer is a layer of soft rock that absorbs water from an inlet path. Porous stone is confined between impermeable rocks or clay. This keeps the pressure high so that when the water finds an outlet, it overcomes gravity and goes up instead of down. These Mississippian rocks dip and thicken in a radial pattern toward the center of the Michigan Basin and generally consist of sandstone, shale, limestone, and coal. They range from a featheredge on the outskirts to about 1,000 feet thick in the center.


The recharging of aquifers happens when the water table at its recharge zone is at a higher elevation than the head of the well. The water from this region moves from recharge areas in the northern and southern areas eastward to Saginaw Bay and westward to Lake Michigan, where the water is discharged. Wells located within this aquifer are mainly used in the southern part of the state and in the Saginaw Bay area. Elsewhere it contains water that is too salty for use due to the dense brine in the central part of the aquifer.

According to a 1990 United States Geological Survey, 45 percent of the freshwater (or about 20 million gallons per day) was used in 1985 for industrial, mining, and thermoelectric-power purposes. Public supply was the second principal use of freshwater from the Mississippian aquifer in Michigan; 34.2 percent of the total, or about 15.4 million gallons per day.



TO LOG THIS CACHE:

1) Visit this location and take a picture of you or your team and post it with your log.

2) Use a testing strip and test the pH, iron, and/or hardness levels. (Test strips can be found at pet and hardware stores.) - OR - Estimate the Gallons Per Minute (GPM) flow rate by filling a one-gallon jug while timing how many seconds it takes to fill it; then divide 60 by the number of seconds it took to get your answer.

3) Email us with the results of #2 - Please do not include the answers in your log.

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