Tracking down diamictites of the Gaskiers Formation

Saturday, December 13th found us in Florida.  No, not really!  But it was 11C when we arrived at the home of the Holyrood Yacht Club.  An unreal temperature for this time of year.

Dean, Neville, Terry and I put-in under overcast skies at the slipway of the marina with millions of dollars stored out of the water for the winter.  Their hulls won't feel water until near the end of May next year.

As we made our way into North Arm two kilometers away the combination of the warm air and the cold saltwater created a foggy haze.  It started to rain heavily.  We were unmoved and undeterred.

When we paddled north out of North Arm and out of the protection provided by Joys Point the SE breeze cleared the air.  At the 250 foot high Blow Me Down Bluff the dark volcanic rocks of the Harbour Main Group loomed overhead but ...

... as we entered Red Rock Cove we found the red, hematite stained Cambrian age sediments faulted as a block against the volcanics.

This was where a GoPro would have been an advantage.  It was still in this picture but within minutes a rogue water entered the cove and rose in the shallows threatening to envelop Neville and myself.  We saw it coming, pointed our bows towards it and paddled hard.  I cleared the crest ahead of Neville and looking over my shoulder Neville was totally airborne.  Alas, no picture.

In Harbour it again got hazy.  Neville and Terry check out a waterfall.

We decided on having lunch on the beach by a church on the west side of Harbour Main but not before having a look at this outcrop of diamictite at water level.  A diamictite is a term most often applied to poorly sorted glacial sediments.  Here, stones of various sizes can be seen as they were dropped by melting of the base of the glacier floating on water at its terminus.

These diamictites are part of the Gaskiers Formation dated between 580 - 582 million years ago and thought to be evidence of a world wide glaciation termed "Snowball Earth".

I like to tell the guys about this stuff!

Things brightened up as we ate lunch at Harbour Main.  We felt the heat of the sun on our backs as did the cold seawater causing a fine mist to form.

After lunch we headed up towards Salmon Cove Point stopping in this cave to explore.  There's an opening at the end but rarely passable.  Today it was almost but conditions were just not right.  A gentle swell at highest tide may allow passage.

So, we arrived at Salmon Cove Point hoping to paddle through the cleft.  It didn't look good as water surged through.  The largest swells piled water a minimum of three meters in the middle of the slot then ...

... ebbed some ...

... and some more exposing land on the other side of Gasters Bay until ...

... sucking out leaving a hole and exposed rocks.

But, timing is everything.  Checking the wave action at the Point and being patient allowed Terry and myself to get through unscathed.  Waves not crashing on the Point opened a window of opportunity.

We left Salmon Cove Point to paddle back to Holyrood.  The sun came out and the slight wind we had earlier stiffened making it a bit of  slog.

The only thing we didn't have from the four seasons was snow.  That is unusual as normally a blanket of snow would be blanketing everything.  That will come soon enough but Saturday was a bonus.  As is everyday!

Here are the bredcrumbs:

Finishing the circumavigation of Bell Island

After completing just over half of our circumnavigation of Bell Island at the 19 km mark we stopped at Big Cove for lunch.  We were in the shade and it was cold so we only stopped 20 minutes before we got back on the water to finish our circumnavigation.  A large sea stack dominated the the north end of the cove as we exited.

Bell Island was at one time the largest underground iron mine in the world.  There are three main oolitic hematite beds contained in the Ordovician age sediments.  The first mining was a surface operation exploiting the bed known as the "Little-Upper" bed.  Because the sediments gently dip in a westerly direction, when the iron beds were followed they terminated at the shoreline.  The darker gaping holes where the miners emerged can be seen just above sea level.

The middle bed known as "Scotia" lay some perpendicular 60 feet below and the lowest bed, "Dominion", another 250 feet below that.  Mining of those beds was underground extending out under the sea and below our hulls as we paddled northerly.

The west side of the island was cloaked in shadow.  Another huge sea stack was silhouetted against the blue sky and stuck out like a sore thumb.

Finally the west shore came to an end, we paddled along the north side and we had to turn south.

The distinctive outline of "Long Harry Point" came into view.  The sun was so bright I had to duck under the cliff to get this shot.  The sun was directly in our eyes for the next 2.5 kms requiring me to squint to see the way until we reached ...

... "The Beach" close to where the ferry terminal is located.  Even then I had to get ahead of the guys to get the sun behind the camera for a decent shot.

A short paddle from the ferry terminal we arrived at Dominion Pier, the point from where we started our circumnavigation earlier that morning, four hours previous.  We got out for a short stretch and the call of nature before beginning the 5 km crossing back to ...

... St. Philips. The GSP read 35.8 kms.

It was the first time I've paddled around in a clockwise direction.  I enjoyed it tremendously seeing it from  different perspective.  The significant feature of Bell Island are the almost unbroken vertical cliffs that circle the island making for, in my mind anyway, stunning scenery.

Dean, Terry and I washed up in the fresh water running into the harbour, got chilled but warmed up with coffee at the restaurant.  Brian went home to clean and warm up.  It was a large day.

And the breadcrumbs:

Geology of Newfoundland - a book review

Geology is a big part of our kayaking experience.  The rocks in the cliffs we paddle by have a story to tell.  Therefore, I believe, some knowledge of the subject adds to the pleasure of the activity.

"Geology of Newfoundland" by Martha Hickman Hild is a field guide to 48 interesting sites in Newfoundland with an introduction to basic geologic concepts.

Each site is explained in terms of it history and setting with pictures and GPS co-ordinates.  I recently visited two sites at Manuals River to test the layout and explanations in the book.  It was also a good opportunity to use the waypoints feature in my GPS, which up to then I had not used.  So, I entered the two waypoints into the GPS and off I went to the ...

... first outcrop (outcrop meaning rock exposure) at Manuals River in Conception Bay South.

The knobby rocks by the water are layers of volcanic ash that were belched by volcanoes in the late Pre-Cambrian and later intruded by the magma that fed the very same volcanoes.  The directions provided in the book were very accurate and the provided picture ensured that even the armchair geologist could confirm for themselves they were in the right place.

The second site features sedimentary rocks that are dissected by a mafic dyke.  Geology, such a simple science in some ways, is full of complex nomenclature.  Mafic means "dark" as in made up of dark minerals.

The dyke runs diagonally from the middle bottom upwards to the right and bounded by the obvious straight lines on either side.

Some other geology enthusiast had been at the site recently and broke off some of the rock to verify it was dark.  The dyke (a rock called rhyolite) is related to the granite further downstream.  The rhyolite, cooled quicker than the granite, formed smaller crystals, making it look dark compared to the pink granite which crystalized slower at depth.

The co-ordinates provided (N47.51282, W52.94029) put me right on the outcrop and again the provided picture verified I was in the right place.

I was happy with the directions and explanations in the book.  As I was in the area I walked downstream and below the bridge over Manuals River to check out some of the geology which wasn't included in the book.

Here, water flows over Pre-Cambrian conglomerates that were deposited on top of the eroded granites.  In a nutshell, the volcanoes and rocks overlaying the granite body that lay several kilometers underground were eroded, exposing the granite, after which sea levels rose depositing various size cobbles much like those on any beach.

This is a close-up of the conglomerate.  The cobbles are rounded indicating they were either transported over considerable distances or were worked by waves along a shoreline.

I continued down, following the river, until the rocks became black slates.  These rocks were deposited in deeper waters in the early Cambrian period just after 542 million years ago.  Some of the sedimentary beds contain trilobite fossils which places the rocks firmly in the Cambrian.

We have a kayak camping trip planned for New World Island.  The book lists several sites in the New World Island area so, based on these explanations, I expect they will be easy to find.

I believe anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of geology would find this book useful.  Its an excellent buy for the $34.95 it costs.