EBBING AND FLOWING SPRING
Ebbing and Flowing Spring is a spring located in Hawkins County, Tennessee, near Rogersville, this is one of only two known springs in the world to exhibit tidal characteristics.
The spring is located on land that belonged to the father-in-law of Rogersville's founder, Joseph Rogers, named Colonel Thomas Amis.
The spring was called Sinking Spring in a land grant given to Amis by the General Assembly of North Carolina for his service in the American Revolution. Amis settled the area around 1780, and his fort-like house sits only a few tenths of a mile away from where the spring is today.
After the spring's peculiar behavior began to become more widely known, it was renamed Ebbing and Flowing Spring, which precisely describes the phenomenon that the spring exhibits.
Ebbing and Flowing Spring is one of only two known springs in the world to exhibit tidal characteristics with a predictable regularity.
During a period of 2 hours and 47 minutes, the spring's flow ranges from an indiscernible trickle to 500 gallons per minute. Unlike thermal springs that produce warm water, the water in Ebbing and Flowing Spring maintains a constant temperature.
This phenomenon is not understood, but has it generated much speculation. The spring was credited with having extraordinary powers in matters of the heart by the citizens of nearby Rogersville.
Townspeople claimed that any couple drinking from the spring at the peak of its flow would marry within the year. Some legends suggest that the spring's power was first discovered by Rogersville founder Joseph Rogers, who was said to have drunk from the spring with his beloved, Mary Amis, who soon after became -- despite her father's initial disapproval -- Mary Rogers.
The spring is privately owned by descendants of Thomas Amis (pronounced Amy), but it is open to the public. Access has been granted to the spring but the No Tresspassing signs pertain to the building. Local tourism agencies maintain directions and brochures about the spring.
TO LOG THIS EARTHCACHE
Email the cache owner the answers to the following questions and ALSO post a photo with your find log of you and/or your group with your GPSr and yourself in the picture and the springs in the background.
1. What is the temperature of the water in degrees Fahrenheit. (Bring a thermometer to take the temperature.)
2. After the spring water comes out of the ground it flows_____________.
A. over a waterfall.
B. under a small bridge.
C. under a building.
3. Where does the water flow next, _______________.
A. into a stream.
B. over a small waterfall.
C. into the street.
I request that you email your answers to me on the same day that you log your “found it” log. (This does not have to be the day you visit, just the day you log the find on the computer.) I also request that you do not log a “found it” log unless you have actually visited the site of the earthcache and sent the answers to me. The only person who really benefits from your visit is YOU.
Each cacher is required to send the required information and not rely on another cacher to provide it. Failure to follow this procedure will result in a deleted log. It is not my job to keep track of your group.
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We became Platinum Earthcache Masters on September 17, 2007.
We were the first to request and receive on July 2, 2011 the Emerald Discovery Award for finding 500 or more Earthcaches.
We received the Diamond Discovery Award on June 17, 2012 for finding 1,000 or more Earthcaches.
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