Sherbrooke Lake, Niles Meadow and the Daly Glacier overlook are located in an area rich with geological features. While at the end of July one would expect a primetime display of wildflowers, it was actually the area beyond the meadows that grabbed me the most. Here, rocks changed every few hundred metres, making me curious as to what all we actually saw.
I just started reading Ben Gadd's Geology Road Tours about a week ago, and this is the description for waypoint TC33 just a few hundred metres west of the Wapta Lake Picnic Area trailhead.
Small pull-off at Sherbrooke Creek. Here is a chance to get out of your vehicle and examine some of the more important rock units foundin the eastern main ranges of the Canadian Rockies. This is a favorite stop for geology-class field trips. ...
From east to west, as we go "down-section"" through steeply dipping layers, the sequence of rock units gets older. First we see massive dark limestone beds at the base of the Eldon Formation (middle Cambrian), then, below the Eldon, a 50-m strip of greenish Stephen shale (also middle Cambrian), then Cathedral limestone and dolostone (again, middle Cambrina). The Cathedral is 600m thick, so it continues beyond the Kicking Horse River. ...
On the other side, in the old railway cut, we see the lower Cathedral and the underlying Mount Whyte, 40m of gray and greenish shaly rock that marks the base of the middle carbonates as well as the base of the middle Cambrian. Then we reach the old clastics: the top of the rusy-colored Gog quartzite (early Cambrian), which continues all the way to the base of the hill, across two normal faults and underneath the valley-floor almost to Field.
This was the approach to the Daly Glacier overlook:
Sherbrooke Lake with Mount Niles in distance
Mount Niles on right, unnamed peak on left
And this shows the various layers of rock in this area: (extracted from MIRAGE - see link at bottom of post)
Rather than taking the simple boulder-hopping route up to the Daly Glacier overlook, we were intrigued by unique rock formations at the base of Mount Niles. We scrambled up the talus slope to check them out.
Rather than taking the simple boulder-hopping route up to the Daly Glacier overlook, we were intrigued by unique rock formations at the base of Mount Niles. We scrambled up the talus slope to check them out.
Jagged rock on SW side of Mount Niles (basalt?)
Does anyone know what kind of rock this is, or how it was formed?
At first we thought this might be salt, but it wasn't.
'Washout' in Mount Niles. This was a few metres tall.
After scrambling across the base of Mount Niles we reached the Daly Glacier overlook.
Daly Glacier meltwater fills this lake, which in turn feeds Takkakaw Falls.
Daly Glacier, part of the Waputik Icefield
Returning from the Daly Glacier overlook, we encountered all of these different rocks as we headed back towards Niles Meadow.
Finding 'rock truffles', little dark brown rocks loosely held within larger rocks.
Does anyone know what rock this is?
Does anyone know what rock this is?
Does anyone know what rock this is? Dolomite?
Does anyone know what rock this is? I guess it needs to be formed by something alternating.
Does anyone know what rock this is? Looks shrimp-like.
Check out these links:
- Harvard Geology Field Trip (all are places we recognize around here - from Hwy 40 to Takkakaw Falls)
- Geology 101 (online course)
- Natural Resourced Canada MIRAGE Geology Maps (Sherbrooke Lake is on map 1483A)
- Mountain Nature - Landscape
- Rock Hound Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment