Geocaching gone geek: EarthCaching allows users to discover unique geographical features and learn about them at www.earthcache.org. Photo: Paul Downey, Flickr.
Geological Society of America coordinates near Sulphur, Ind. take outdoor enthusiasts to the edge of a fossil bed full of ancient inland sea inhabitants.
The society transformed the modern-day treasure hunt into an educational outdoor lesson plan.
The idea is based on the popularity of geocaching–individuals hide trinkets and treasures and then disclose the Global Positioning System coordinates to others who hunt them down.
Rather than caching treasure, EarthCachers collect earth science information about the sites they visit. Supported on a site by the society, locations exist in the United States and around the world. Sites exist in all the Great Lakes states, too.
Among the Great Lakes EarthCache greats: Artesian wells along the east side of the Illinois River, plants tearing up a rock in Pennsylvania, a Mastadon in Michigan and a raised, animal-shaped mound built by Native Americans in Ohio.
Here’s how it works. An EarthCacher logs onto the website, where the society has preapproved EarthCache locations and information about earth science concepts of interest. Individuals can read about those concepts, find the GPS coordinates and visit the location. They can take notes on what they observe and post them on the site with permission.
EarthCache locations encompass such topics as human impact on the landscape, why vegetation or wildlife exists there, climate, rock formations, soil types, historical sites and other disciplines.
Want to see the GPS coordinates for an EarthCache site? Gain access by creating an account with the official global GPS cache hunt site.
Then go to the EarthCache site and click on EarthCache Listings to filter sites by attraction, location and country.
Nice to see your Mastadon written about, Roger. Nice work!
I am an avid geocacher and have completed many EarthCaches. Great to see the article. FYI, the EarthCache about the mastodon in Michigan is mine. (Unless a new one was published.)