Should be Gardening - Would Rather Collect Rocks
May 19, 2014 5:38:26 GMT -5
Fossilman and quartz like this
Post by 150FromFundy on May 19, 2014 5:38:26 GMT -5
I really should be gardening, but I needed a break from all the drudgery of the back breaking work. So I went rock hounding, another form of back breaking work. This is about a 2 mile hike up the beach to get to an outcrop of amygdaloidal basalt known as McKay Head. The basalt here contains chalcedony, agate, jasper and a wide range of zeolites.
Wasson’s Bluff is off in the distance. The dark rock on the right is early Jurassic North Mountain Basalt. The red rock on the left is the early Jurassic McCoy Brook formation where they found bones of very early vertebrates in the mid-1980’s. However, a team was out here digging again last summer.
Clarke Head is off in the distance. You can see an obvious contact between the early Jurassic McCoy Brook formation rock on the right and the Fault Zone rock on the left. There is lots of “altered” rock here from the heat and pressure if the contact. This will be a future visit.
The first hour of the hike is to get beyond all this red sedimentary rock that forms the early Jurassic McCoy Brook formation. This rock was later capped by the amygdaloidal basalt when Pangaea rifted apart.
Some of the Five Islands are visible off in the distance. Like Two Islands, the Five Islands are early Jurassic North Mountain basalt.
We finally made it to McKay Head. The basalt cliffs are in the range of 200 feet to 300 feet along this stretch of the Bay of Fundy. Frost action breaks eroded the cliffs annually, so there is always fresh material in the rubble piles at the base of the cliffs. The green grass between the trees is the corner of a property that has a nice southwestern view over Two Islands. Talk about living the dream!
After about an hour of scavenging, it feels like there are about 20 pounds in the backpack and another 40 pounds in the bucket. It will be a slow walk back. 25 steps, switch hands, 25 steps, switch hands, etc.
Two Islands is off in the distance. This was a particularly low tide following the full moon and would have been a good day for a walk across. In less than an hour, the water will be back.
What may appear to be sedimentary rock at first glance is actually early Jurassic North Mountain Basalt. You can see the layers that built up over successive lava flows.
I’ll post some photos of the finds shortly.
Darryl.
Wasson’s Bluff is off in the distance. The dark rock on the right is early Jurassic North Mountain Basalt. The red rock on the left is the early Jurassic McCoy Brook formation where they found bones of very early vertebrates in the mid-1980’s. However, a team was out here digging again last summer.
Clarke Head is off in the distance. You can see an obvious contact between the early Jurassic McCoy Brook formation rock on the right and the Fault Zone rock on the left. There is lots of “altered” rock here from the heat and pressure if the contact. This will be a future visit.
The first hour of the hike is to get beyond all this red sedimentary rock that forms the early Jurassic McCoy Brook formation. This rock was later capped by the amygdaloidal basalt when Pangaea rifted apart.
Some of the Five Islands are visible off in the distance. Like Two Islands, the Five Islands are early Jurassic North Mountain basalt.
We finally made it to McKay Head. The basalt cliffs are in the range of 200 feet to 300 feet along this stretch of the Bay of Fundy. Frost action breaks eroded the cliffs annually, so there is always fresh material in the rubble piles at the base of the cliffs. The green grass between the trees is the corner of a property that has a nice southwestern view over Two Islands. Talk about living the dream!
After about an hour of scavenging, it feels like there are about 20 pounds in the backpack and another 40 pounds in the bucket. It will be a slow walk back. 25 steps, switch hands, 25 steps, switch hands, etc.
Two Islands is off in the distance. This was a particularly low tide following the full moon and would have been a good day for a walk across. In less than an hour, the water will be back.
What may appear to be sedimentary rock at first glance is actually early Jurassic North Mountain Basalt. You can see the layers that built up over successive lava flows.
I’ll post some photos of the finds shortly.
Darryl.
