WHEN? Saturday, June 13, 2015
WHO? Twenty-five Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN) members, led by Dr. Allan Donaldson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University.
MVFN members arrived at Metcalfe Geoheritage Park in Almonte by car, on foot, and on their bicycles.
WHAT ? This was a full day geoheritage tour to examine and reflect on the geoheritage of our area.
In this postcard image (an artist’s interpretation of our local environment during the lower Ordovician period) one can see that about 470 million years ago a tropical ocean teeming with marine life covered our region.
The fossil remains of ancient Ordovician sea life can be seen in the area’s limestone bedrock.
WHERE? Metcalfe Geoheritage Park & two additional sites: The group gathered at this very picturesque location in Almonte: Canada’s first municipal geoheritage park; this park is new and nearing completion.
The local metamorphic, sedimentary, and igneous rocks on display at Metcalfe Geoheritage Park in Almonte tell a story of towering mountains, ocean depths, colliding continents, and a landscape locked in ice over the past 1.2 billion years.
The group continued the tour after lunch, traveling via car-pool to two additional sites of interest.
The ancient geology of the Canadian Shield in the Carp area was examined at the 2nd tour site.
At the third site, the glacially sculpted contours and fossils of recently exposed limestone bedrock invited close inspection.
NOTE: Photos and [most] text by MVFN founding and current member Neil Carleton
