{"id":727,"date":"2012-02-25T07:02:07","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T15:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/?p=727"},"modified":"2012-04-02T18:03:38","modified_gmt":"2012-04-03T02:03:38","slug":"the-marble-grotto-chichagof-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/?p=727","title":{"rendered":"The Marble Grotto"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a special place that I like to visit whenever cruising the east shoreline of Baranof and Chichagof Islands. It is a unique geologic formation and not one you would normally expect to find in Southeast Alaska unless you have some knowledge of the geological history\u00a0of the region.<\/p>\n

Of the three different geologic terranes, the Stikine, the Alexander and the Wrangellia, the Alexander terrane provides some very interesting and beautiful formations.\u00a0 The rocks of the Alexander terrane originated\u00a0from deep ocean trenches during the lower and middle Paleozoic Age that were pushed up, folded and faulted with the Wrangellia terrane\u00a0during the early Cretaceous Period.\u00a0\u00a0As a result, there\u00a0are interesting outcroppings of limestone and marble over a wide area stretching from the Juneau Icefields and Auke Bay to Eastern Admiralty Island, Kupreanof Island down through Prince of Wales Island to Gravina Island near Ketchikan.\u00a0 The Marble Grotto is one of these beautiful exposed outcroppings lying at sea level and formed by the action of both salt and fresh water.<\/p>\n

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The Marble Grotto, Chichagof Island; photo by Andrew Cooper<\/p><\/div>\n

Several precautions should be taken when exploring this little tidewater cavern.\u00a0 First, The bay is partially exposed to wind conditions in Chatham Strait and is not a desireable overnight anchorage.\u00a0 I usually schedule a quick daytime stop and anchor pretty much in the center maybe favoring the northerly shore towards the second creek.\u00a0 Timing to view the Marble Grotto is also critical.\u00a0 An incoming tide after reaching midtide is fine.\u00a0 If the tide is too low, the creek is not navigable with your shore dingy.\u00a0 Using oars or paddles inside the cavern is best.\u00a0 Also, the Grotto is a beautiful place to see, but like any limestone cavern, not to be touched.\u00a0 So please do not put people ashore, deface or damage any of the formations.<\/p>\n

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I have a special place that I like to visit whenever cruising the east shoreline of Baranof and Chichagof Islands. It is a unique geologic formation and not one you would normally expect to find in Southeast Alaska unless you … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[43,44,39],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2dWYW-bJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nordicquest.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}