rock of ages

On my last day in Nova Scotia, I toured Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a UNESCO world heritage site on the north side of the Bay of Fundy. Between high tide and low tide was a difference of 33 feet, and the tour began at low tide, when the waters were receding. Exposed were rocks and fossils from 300 million years ago.  

 The first thing you notice is the angle of the layers.

Our guide had worked as a mining engineer in Alberta, and he explained that for every kilometer north toward Cape Breton, we were going back in time a million years. Forward toward Halifax, forward a million years.

The ridge you see along the beach is a natural seam along the floor of the Bay of Fundy, being exposed by erosion.

 The smooth straight lines above were lycopsid, tall plants, their outlines preserved for 300 million years.

This site, like the rest of the Appalachian mountains continuing south, included a thick seam of coal. In the 20th century, it was a mined underground, with wharf bringing the coal out to seat (at high tide). The mine closed in the 1960s. Some angry workers set it on fire, and those fires burned for years.

 As we walked around looking for fossils, we noticed the tide beginning to come back in.

Layers of history, record of time.

Rocks on this beach came from all over the world: granite, mica, quartz.

The patterns on some of the rocks resemble topographic rocks. Each is a layer of time, being peeled away.

These kids were great fossil hunters.

This rock was surprisingly heavy. Perhaps 20 pounds. At the time this layer was exposed, 300 million years ago, the Appalachians were the tallest mountain range on earth. Today they are smoothed and low.

The continents converged in a single continent called Pangaea. The present day Bay of Fundy lay on the equator, next to Casablanca! Whereas today it is roughly midway between the equator and the North Pole.

map by Massimo

Animal or plant life? More info on Biodiversity in the Joggins Fossil Cliffs is here. 

This is a tree fossil preserved.

I liked this composite rock, with pieces from all over that had melded

I found this fossil, with a tree and an air pocket.

This fossil shows a giant millipede. How giant? Arthropleura could be 8 feet long!

The cliffs themselves are fascinating. 

The "black pepper" on this fossil is algae, preserved.

 What do you see?

Can you spot the tree trunk?

This is a record of a horseshoe crab: one of the few species from the coal age that still survives today.

 Elegant cracks.

Wait, have I stumbled into a Wes Anderson movie?

With the powerful tides, the cliffs are unstable, and pieces of them broke off as we were standing on the beach.

 Fish scales!

And then it was time to hop in my Escape and head for the airport. The tides were ready to wash over our beach soon anyway. Five hours later, I landed in Boston, ready for my next adventure.