Just Bluff'n EarthCache
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Welcome to the Merom Bluffs. Merom is a small town in Sullivan
County and county seat from 1819-1842. Merom was an important river
port and a stop on the stage route known as The Old Harrison Trail.
Merom has two main attractions, Bluff Park overlooking the Wabash
River and the Merom Conference Center, A retreat, conference center
and summer camp of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference of the United
Church of Christ. The Merom Bluff Chautauqua , 1905-1936 was held
in the park on top of the bluffs, there is a Historical Marker that
states "Organized nationally to bring culture to rural communities.
Merom's 10 day religious and educational event featured concerts,
debates, plays, and lectures. Carrie Nation, William Jennings
Bryan, William H. Taft, Warren Harding, and Billy Sunday were among
the speakers here." The Chautauqua is still held toady but is only
3 days long.
The coords take you to the top of the bluffs on Poplar Street.
Drive down the street to the bottom and park on the side of the
road at N 39° 03.460 W 087° 34.283. Walk up the street and touch
the cliffs and use the info below to answer questions. In geology,
a cliff or bluff, is a vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure.
Cliffs are formed by erosion and weathering. Cliffs are common on
coastlines, in mountainous areas, and along rivers. Cliffs are
usually formed when rock that is resists erosion and weathering
remains after softer rock and soil is washed away. Sedimentary
Rocks that are most likely to form cliffs are sandstone, limestone,
and dolomite. Igneous rocks, like granite and basalt also form
cliffs.
There are three types of rocks:
• Igneous: A tough, frozen melt with little texture or layering;
mostly black, white and/or gray minerals; may look like lava
• Sedimentary: Hardened sediment with layers of sandy or clayey
stone; mostly brown to gray; may have fossils and water or wind
marks
• Metamorphic: Tough rock with layers (foliation) of light and
dark minerals often curved; various colors; often glittery.
To help determine what type of rock there are some factors that you
look at.
Grain Size: "Coarse" grains are visible to the naked eye (greater
than about 0.1 millimeter), and the minerals can usually be
identified using a magnifier; "fine" grains are smaller and usually
cannot be identified with a magnifier.
Hardness: Hardness (determined by the Mohs scale) meaning the
minerals rather than rocks are tested, a rock may be crumbly but
composed of hard minerals. Simply put rock that are hard scratch
glass and steel (Mohs hardness 6-7 and up); rocks that are soft
does not scratch a steel knife but will scratch fingernails (Mohs
hardness 3-5.5); rocks that are very soft will not scratch
fingernails (Mohs hardness 1-2).
Granite
Hardness: Hard
Grain: coarse
Composition: feldspar and quartz with minor mica, amphibole or
pyroxene
Usual color: light but can be wide range of color and grain size
Basalt
Hardness: Hard
Grain: fine but can be mixed
Composition: low-silica lava (has no quartz)
Usual color: dark
Sandstone
Hardness: Hard
Grain: coarse
Composition: clean quartz
Usual color: white to brown
Limestone
Hardness: soft
Grain: fine
Composition: calcite
Usual color: white to brown
Dolomite rock
Hardness: soft
Grain: fine
Composition: dolomite
Usual color: pink or pinkish and can be white, yellow, gray or even
brown
To get credit for this EC you need to answer the following
questions.
1. What is the texture of the rocks here on the side of the
road?
2. What is the color of the cliffs?
3. What type of rocks are the cliffs?
4. What is the height of the cliffs? from posted coords to end of
street.
5. Take a photo of your self and your GPSr at the sign at the
bottom of the stairs.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)