For those inclined toward trace fossils… …This is from Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. I saw it on the trail to Consolation Lakes from Moraine Lake. I do not recall rock type – could be dolostone, could be Gog quartzite. It’s float (loose; not in situ), but I infer the photographed surface is the underside … Read more
The Friday fold returns to Canada, looking at Neoproterozoic slate and quartzite at the southern terminus of the Icefields Parkway. Bonus features include ripple marks, graded beds, cross-bedding, cleavage, and boudinage.
Esteemed readership, I’ve got a mystery for you. What are these white lines, inclined consistently at a high angle to bedding? I picked up this sample below the “Wall of Death,” on the trail from Wapta Lake below Mount Wapta, en route to the Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale. The “zebra-striped” rock is of … Read more
I saw this large, chunky stylolite this summer somewhere along the trail from Takkakaw Falls to the Walcott Quarry of the Burgess Shale (in Yoho National Park, British Columbia). I like the way weathering has highlighted its form.
Today, I thought I would share some images of lovely “textbook” glacial striations from rocks I saw in the Canadian Rockies this summer…
Driving west from Calgary, your first evidence of entering the Canadian Rockies’ Front Ranges is the startling sheer cliff of Yamnuska, north of the Trans-Canada Highway: Yamnuska’s shape is a function of differential weathering of the two rock units that make up the mountain: Cambrian Eldon Formation limestone, and Cretaceous shales of the Brazeau Formation. … Read more
Good afternoon! Here are a few photos, both plain and annotated, showing the relationship between primary sedimentary bedding and tectonic cleavage in the “tectonised Stephen” Formation atop the Cathedral Escarpment (in Yoho National Park), just northeast of the Walcott Quarry where the (thicker, basinward) Stephen Formation hosts the Burgess Shale. Weathering exploits both these planes … Read more
Remember our examination of buckle folding versus passive folding in the Chancellor Slate (cleaved limy mudrock) of eastern British Columbia? Well, here’s another example: There’s so much awesomeness going on in that image, it’s hard to know where to start. The prominent black thin layers are buckled in a very boxy, asymmetric way. In places, … Read more
Here’s an outcrop of Miette Group slate, seen at the intersection of the Icefields Parkway with the Trans-Canada Highway, just north of Lake Louise, Alberta: There’s a lovely anticline just to the right of Zack, who obligingly provided a sense of scale. Also note how cleavage which is subparallel to bedding on the far left … Read more
Callan’s Rockies field course students document faulting and jointing in Red Rock Canyon, Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta.
The Friday fold is found in Cretaceous rocks of eastern Alberta – but far beyond the tectonic influence of the Canadian Rockies. So what’s responsible for the folding?
In July, I found a dinosaur bone in Dinosaur Provincial Park! It was lying in a wash coming off a small mesa, and sure enough, when the students and I walked up the little draw, we came to in situ bones poking out of the cliff above. After showing it to the students, I put … Read more
An expert on the deltaic depositional setting of eastern Alberta’s Horseshoe Canyon Formation shares field evidence and expertise with Callan’s students.
In addition to the projects I linked to last week, here are a few more: Jessica H. made a Prezi about the Kananaskis Trail outcrops, with a bonus trip up to Peyto Lake. Sean D. made a PowerPoint tour of the sedimentary features we saw in the Great Plains. James focused on the Cougar Creek … Read more
The Friday fold is an outcrop in Yoho National Park that showcases differences between buckle folding and passive folding.
I’ve got some student work to share with you today. Like yesterday’s guest post on deltas growing into Canadian Rockies glacial lakes, my Rockies students are turning in their final projects – digital products that aim to serve the world at large by introducing key places in the Canadian Rockies to a wider audience. The … Read more
One of Callan’s “Canadian Rockies” field course students supplies a guest post about deltas that build out into glacial lakes.
I’ve had a great three weeks in the Canadian Rockies, but now I’m heading out. It’s been an honor and a privilege to teach in these fine mountains, among amazing rocks with talented colleagues and thoughtful students, and I’ve really enjoyed the past week of GigaPanning with my colleague Aaron Barth. Yesterday, Aaron and I … Read more
Greetings from the field… here’s a scene I contemplated yesterday…
A final guest Friday fold from reader Howard Allen, who I’m pleased to be meeting up with in Banff late next week… Howard writes the following in describing this lovely scene: Warspite Anticline, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Alberta. Photo is a telephoto shot (hence the strong blue alpine haze–the colour cast is an accurate rendition … Read more