Canada on the Move : Discovering the Natural History of Georgian Bay

Abstract

We live on the surface of a dynamic planet undergoing rapid environmental change. We need to be able to monitor and analyse these changes if we are to manage impacts. Knowledge is key and training a new generation of Canadian geoscientists to tackle environmental issues relies on educating them about the Earth’s past. Nowhere in Canada can the lessons of Earth’s past be better exemplified than at Georgian Bay where the meeting of landscapes, cultures, biomes, and geologies creates a microcosm of the effects of the natural history of environmental change.

The Bay is a major tourist attraction with many recreational opportunities, close to the densest population centre in Canada, and as a result is constantly affected by the ongoing growth of urbanized areas. Great swathes of land are recognized and protected for their exceptional ecological diversity by local and international interest groups. However, the geological diversity created by 2.5 billion years of climate change, which underpins the origins of this environment, are not currently highlighted to the public. Recently, a new type of conservation, called “geoconservation” seeking to promote and protect the geological heritage of a region through the establishment of internationally recognized UNESCO Geoparks has emerged, for which Georgian Bay is an ideal candidate.

A jewel of Canadian geology, Georgian Bay is the sixth and smallest Great Lake, but it's shoreline exposes the most diverse geology found anywhere in North America. Its geological diversity reflects its location astride the boundary of the Precambrian Canadian Shield where rocks are as old as 2.4 billion years old, and much younger Paleozoic fossiliferous sedimentary rocks to the south that are some 400 million years in age. These opposing shores afford great contrasts in landscape from the Thirty Thousand Island area where white pines grow out of the ancient Precambrian rocks so beloved of the Group of Seven, to the bold promontory and limestone plains of the Bruce Peninsula where the Niagara Escarpment falls dramatically into deep water. The waters of Georgian Bay are a gift of successive Ice Ages when continental ice sheets as much as 3 km thick covered Canada much like Antarctica today. Postglacial sediments on the margins and floors of the Bay preserve a record of recent dramatic lake level fluctuations, which were witnessed by indigenous people living on the dynamic shorelines. Such landscapes help inform geologists of what might lie in store in the future in a warming world.

This course consists of 8 lessons with lectures, self-guided interactive learning assessments, discussion topics, and quizzes, designed to capture the natural history of Georgian Bay. Foundational geologic knowledge is used to interpret the rock and sediment record and illustrate how it can be used to inform us about events in Earth’s past. By understanding this geological heritage, we can understand how to manage our natural resources going forward.