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endreal · 4 months

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Are they, you know...

[clicks a button on my phone and bass-boosted Pacific Rim theme starts playing from speakers I've strategically hidden throughout the entire 686km of the Mammoth–Flint Ridge Cave System (longest known cave system in the world)]

...continental drift compatible?

#Drift compatible #continental drift #Pacific rim #Mammoth cave #Mammoth Flint Ridge Cave System #wordplay

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emilybeemartin · 7 months

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Inktober Days 7-9

Day 7: "Drip"

Can you believe we live in a world where the tiny drip-drip-drip of water can carve vast caves deep underground? To wander through Mammoth Cave—or any of the caves protected by the NPS—is to appreciate the power of water and time. Geologic formations aptly named flowstone and dripstone ripple, drizzle, and cascade in a mirror of the water that created them.

Touring Mammoth Cave is one of the earliest memories I have of visiting a national park. I remember squeezing through tight passages after my dad, as well as experiencing true, utter darkness for the first time when the ranger switched all the lights off.

Day 8: "Toad"

There’s something so grand about toads. Whether it’s a teeny little gentleman perched on a wet rock or a great gargantuan grandee lolloping along a muddy path, it always seems like a blessing to spy a toad. Perhaps it’s a holdover from childhood, when toads were some of the only wildlife we could get our hands on, cradling their squishy bodies and staring into their ever-grumpy faces.

Most parks in the NPS host toads, even ones where it might seem improbable. In the high, cold slopes of Rocky Mountain, the boreal toad can be found in wet meadows and ponds. It’s considered the only alpine toad in Colorado.

Because toads and other amphibians are so sensitive to their environments, they’re often considered indicator species of ecosystem health. Healthy toads mean healthy land, water, and air. Unfortunately, like many amphibians, boreal toad populations are in decline due to chytrid fungus, a disease that’s been decimating amphibian populations across the Americas, Europe, and Australia. Biologists in Rocky Mountain are carrying out important work to study and save their little high-alpine gentletoads from collapse.

Day 9: "Bounce"

Recently, when I was helping my brother move across the country, our plans went awry due to freak bad weather across the southwest. We diverted north and found ourselves in Arches National Park. It turned out to be the highlight of our whole trip. It was late winter, and the vibrant red rocks were ribbed with snow. The air was crisp, the panoramas of frosted mountains undisturbed by dust or haze. And the park was quiet, utterly so—I’ll always remember the silence of our campsite, broken only by the croaking of ravens and distant coyote song.

To cap it all off, pressed into the red sand around our site were dozens of little footprints—the hopping marks of kangaroo rats. They were like getting a postcard in the mail from a faraway friend. Hello, hello, hello. We’re out and about. Have a nice stay.

#inktober #31 days of national parks #mammoth cave #rocky mountain #arches #national parks #inktober 2023

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modern-fairy · 3 months

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