EarthCache™

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To have an EarthCache published on geocaching.com, you will need to adhere to the following guidelines. Your submission will be processed by one of the EarthCache Team reviewers (geoaware) to ensure that the site is appropriate and meets the educational standards and logging requirements. The review process can take up to a week and even longer if your submission requires adjustments. For more information on EarthCaches, please read the following:

Help Center EarthCache FAQs

Help Center has articles on EarthCaches (hosted by Geocaching.com)

Guidelines

1. EarthCaches must provide an earth science lesson.

2. EarthCaches must be educational. They should provide accurate but non-technical explanations of what visitors will experience at the site. The cache page, including the description and logging tasks, must assume only a basic knowledge of geology.

3. EarthCaches must highlight a unique feature. EarthCaches that duplicate existing EarthCaches or related sites may be rejected. EarthCaches must be developed to provide a unique experience to the location's visitors, and to teach a unique lesson about the feature at the site. Multiple EarthCaches on the same feature should be avoided. Content, rather than proximity, will be the guiding principle for EarthCache reviewers.

4. EarthCaches must be placed in locations where geocachers are allowed to enter. In sensitive areas, the reviewer may ask for details of land manager permission to ensure they are aware of the EarthCache.

5. An EarthCache can be single site or multiple sites. You must have visited the site(s) recently (within two months) to make current, first-hand observations. You must provide accurate coordinates for each site where visitors are to perform the logging tasks and ensure these areas are accessible to the public. You are responsible for taking appropriate actions if conditions change regarding access, permission, or other concerns.

6. Logging an EarthCache requires visitors to undertake site-specific tasks that provide a learning opportunity related to the topic. Visitors will use the information from the cache page along with their on-site observations to perform some type of analysis. Their task-solution logs will serve as proof that cachers have visited the site. Questions that only serve to prove that someone visited the site but do not relate to the site's geology are not permitted. Photo requirements are permitted, but can only be included as an addition to well-developed logging tasks . Visitors must be able to send their answers to logging tasks via the cache owner's profile. The answers to these logging tasks must be included in a Reviewer Note when you are submitting your site for approval.

7. The EarthCache text and logging tasks must be submitted in the local language. Additional languages are encouraged, but the local language must be listed first. You may be requested to provide text in a language understandable to your reviewer to assist with the reviewing process.

8. Respect trademarks and copyright information and only use text, images, or logos if you have permission. EarthCaches with information that is copied from other sources, plagiarized, or used without proper attribution will not be published. Limited amounts of text may be quoted, but must be properly attributed. Visit the Help Center for more information.

9. EarthCache sites adhere to the principles and ethics of geocaching and Leave No Trace. In addition, use waypoints to ensure cachers take appropriate pathways and use established trails only. Damage to the site is unacceptable. Please be mindful of fragile ecosystems. EarthCache sites will highlight the principle of collecting memories — not samples. Furthermore, no physical cache, or other items, can be left at the site.

10. EarthCaches are submitted through geocaching.com and must meet these guidelines and adhere to the Geocache Listing Requirements/Guidelines and the geocaching.com terms of use agreement. The Geological Society of America and the EarthCache team retain the right to edit, modify, reject, or archive any EarthCache that does not adhere to these guidelines, or for any other purpose that the team deems appropriate.