Post by 150FromFundy on Oct 2, 2011 18:38:40 GMT -5
One of the most visited features at Gros Morne National Park is Western Brook Pond. Western Brook Pond is now a landlocked fiord with near vertical cliffs that rise over 600m out of a freshwater lake that is 165m deep. The rock is Middle Proterozoic granite which was metamorphosed to gneiss during the Grenville Orogeny about 1,000 million years ago. This is a really old part of the planet.
Photo 1 – Bog Hike to Western Brook Pond
The best way to see Western Brook Pond is by boat, but we’ll have to hike for about an hour to get to the boat launch. The hike in is through a bog which is a treat for the wildflower enthusiast.
Photo 2 – Arethusa or Dragon’s Mouth is an orchid that flowers in July.
Early inhabitants used the bounty of the bog to help sustain them. Cotton Grass was harvested for oil lamp wicks back when whales were harvested for lamp oil.
Photo 3 – Cotton grass
Photo 4 – Cotton Grass
We were almost late for the boat. Too many macro-zoom moments with all the wildflowers along the way. Even common iris was quite beautiful in this setting.
Photo 5 – Blue Flag Iris
Finally made it to the boat launch. Now we are off for a three hour tour back in time. Hmm … didn’t Gilligan’s Island start with a three-hour tour? These boats had to be dragged across the same bog that we just passed through. In winter, when it was frozen.
Photo 6 – Western Brook Pond boat launch
When glaciers covered the land and the weight of the ice depressed the land to a lower elevation; the fiord once had an inlet to the ocean. As the glaciers retreated and the weight was removed, the land slowly rebounded back and the fiord was cut off from the ocean. For the most part, the land was heavily glaciated. Note how the tops of the mountains have been worn flat.
Photo 7 – Western Brook Pond
In some cases, the peaks of the highest mountains protruded above the ice sheets and were not subject to the erosion of the glaciers. These glacial features are known as nunataks.
Photo 8 – Nunatak
A number of waterfalls cascade over the near vertical rock walls. The most spectacular is Pissing Mare Falls. Seriously!
Photo 9 – Pissing Mare Falls
Photo 10 – Braided falls
If you look closely into the fracture you will note it is filled with a black rock called diabase. The bedrock (granite, gneiss and schist) is 1,000 million years old. The diabase dyke is only 600 million years old and formed when molten material from deep within the earth oozed up to fill fractures formed as the continents were being ripped apart to form the Iapetus Ocean.
Photo 11 – Diabase dyke
Vertical fractures form dykes. Horizontal fractures for sills. In addition to the predominant diabase dyke, you can see a few smaller diabase sills.
Photo 12 – Diabase dykes and sills
Photo 1 – Bog Hike to Western Brook Pond
The best way to see Western Brook Pond is by boat, but we’ll have to hike for about an hour to get to the boat launch. The hike in is through a bog which is a treat for the wildflower enthusiast.
Photo 2 – Arethusa or Dragon’s Mouth is an orchid that flowers in July.
Early inhabitants used the bounty of the bog to help sustain them. Cotton Grass was harvested for oil lamp wicks back when whales were harvested for lamp oil.
Photo 3 – Cotton grass
Photo 4 – Cotton Grass
We were almost late for the boat. Too many macro-zoom moments with all the wildflowers along the way. Even common iris was quite beautiful in this setting.
Photo 5 – Blue Flag Iris
Finally made it to the boat launch. Now we are off for a three hour tour back in time. Hmm … didn’t Gilligan’s Island start with a three-hour tour? These boats had to be dragged across the same bog that we just passed through. In winter, when it was frozen.
Photo 6 – Western Brook Pond boat launch
When glaciers covered the land and the weight of the ice depressed the land to a lower elevation; the fiord once had an inlet to the ocean. As the glaciers retreated and the weight was removed, the land slowly rebounded back and the fiord was cut off from the ocean. For the most part, the land was heavily glaciated. Note how the tops of the mountains have been worn flat.
Photo 7 – Western Brook Pond
In some cases, the peaks of the highest mountains protruded above the ice sheets and were not subject to the erosion of the glaciers. These glacial features are known as nunataks.
Photo 8 – Nunatak
A number of waterfalls cascade over the near vertical rock walls. The most spectacular is Pissing Mare Falls. Seriously!
Photo 9 – Pissing Mare Falls
Photo 10 – Braided falls
If you look closely into the fracture you will note it is filled with a black rock called diabase. The bedrock (granite, gneiss and schist) is 1,000 million years old. The diabase dyke is only 600 million years old and formed when molten material from deep within the earth oozed up to fill fractures formed as the continents were being ripped apart to form the Iapetus Ocean.
Photo 11 – Diabase dyke
Vertical fractures form dykes. Horizontal fractures for sills. In addition to the predominant diabase dyke, you can see a few smaller diabase sills.
Photo 12 – Diabase dykes and sills
