Easy access and large parking area. Stand with the road behind you, and look in front of you when you answer the questions below.
This cache is wheelchair accessible, you do not have to leave your car to find the answers.
Buttes and mesas
A butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landforms. The word butte comes from a French word meaning "small hill". Because of their distinctive shapes, buttes are frequently landmarks in plains and mountainous areas. In differentiating mesas and buttes, geographers use the rule of thumb that a mesa has a top that is wider than its height, while a butte has a top that is narrower than its height.
How they are formed
Buttes and mesas often consists of sedimentary rock, and have been shaped by weather and water, through erosion. Some buttes have been created by eroding mesas. Constant erosion can change mesas into buttes, and buttes into nothing.
Questions
To log this cache you must submit answers to the questions below. You can send the answers by using the contact feature on my profile page. You do not have to wait for a response before logging, just go ahead and log your find once you've submitted the email.
I will only reply if your answers are not accepted.
You have to send the mail no later than one hour after logging. If you do not have the ability to send email immediately, please wait with the logging. The answers must be given in English.
- Estimate the width and height of the structure to the left - based on your estimates, is this a butte or a mesa?
- Estimate the width and height of the structure to the right, in front - based on your estimates, is this a butte or a mesa?
- Estimate the width and height of the structure to the right, behind - based on your estimates, is this a butte or a mesa?
- How many different layers of stone are visible? What color are they?
- Could the three structures once have been a part of something bigger? If yes, was it a butte or mesa then and why isn't it a part of it anymore? (look around, and compare the geology)
You are also required to upload a picture of you at the site with your log (if you don't want to be in the picture yourself, include your GPSr, a piece of paper with your geocaching name on it or any other personal item you may see fit - you don't have to be in the photo, but it have to be your photo). Do not send me the picture, attach it to your log. Do not upload pictures showing the geology!
Information gathered from Wikipedia
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