Additional Geological Field Trip Guides for Eastern Ontario That Are Available Online

My last blog posting reported on a new geological field trip guide that is a 40 kilometer bike tour that starts in Perth.   There are a number of additional geological field trip guides for Eastern Ontario that are available online, including the ones mentioned below.   The first two guides were posted to the internet this year, as was a guide to the Kingston area.

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MADAWASKA TO MACNAMARA TRAIL AND MACNAMARA TRAIL GEOTOURS, ARNPRIOR
by Dave and Mary Forsyth, 2013. Macnamara Field Naturalists Club. 

http://www.mfnc.ca/images/images_frontend/pdf/arnpriorgeotour.pdf

This provides two geological field trip guides:   the first is along the Madawaska to the  Macnamara Trail; the second is along the Macnamara Trail.   Both trails are in Arnprior, Ontario and fall within the Nopiming Game Sanctuary,  a Crown Game Preserve solely on private land.

The Macnamara Nature Trail is an interpretive trail that is maintained by the Macnamara Field Naturalists Club in Arnprior.   The trail is approximately four kilometres long with an optional one kilometre branch. The main trail is marked with blue-and-white hiking symbols.     A guide to the nature and features at the 19 numbered stops along the trail can be downloaded from:

http://www.mfnc.ca/images/images_frontend/pdf/macnamaratrailguide.pdf

Where to park your car is set out at  http://www.mfnc.ca/macnamaratrail.html

Dave and Mary Forsyth’s geological guide supplements the nature guide.

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A GEOLOGY PRIMER FOR THE MORRIS ISLAND CONSERVATION AREA 
by Dave and Mary Forsyth, 2013.  Macnamara Field Naturalists Club. 

http://www.mfnc.ca/images/images_frontend/pdf/morrisislandconversationarea_geology.pdf

This guide has 11 stops along trails through the Morris Island Conservation Area

The Morris Island Conservation Area is located along the Ottawa River just west of the community of Fitzroy Harbour.  This 47 hectare site consists of forested woodlands and wetlands.  The Mississippi Valley Conservation manages this site for day-use recreational activities such as hiking, picnicking, canoeing, fishing and natural interpretation. Morris Island Conservation Area is open to the public year round and is jointly owned by Ontario Power Generation and the City of Ottawa.  See:

http://ontarioconservationareas.ca/component/mtree/conservation-authorities-of-ontario/mississippi-valley/morris-island-conservation-area

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OTTAWA-GATINEAU GEOLOGICAL FIELD TRIPS
From Professor Allan Donaldson's course in the Learning in Retirement Seminars at Carleton University.

http://http-server.carleton.ca/~jadonald/fieldtrips.html

This guide contains six trips, including to the outcrop of Stromatolites on the Quebec side of the Champlain Bridge (which are best viewed when the Ottawa River is low).

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GEOLOGY OF THE OTTAWA AREA
Ottawa-Gatineau Geoheritage Project Field Trip
Compiled by Quentin Gall
November, 2010

http://www.ottawagatineaugeoheritage.ca/downloads/Geology%20Of%20The%20Ottawa%20Area.pdf

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FIELD TRIPPING: GEOLOGY OF THE KINGSTON AREA
By H.H. Helmstaedt,  W.A. Gorman & S.L. McBride, Department of Geological Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6,
1987

www.whaton.uwaterloo.ca/waton/s906.html

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FIELD TRIP GUIDE: GEOLOGY OF THE KINGSTON AREA
80th Meeting of Eastern Section of the Seismological Society of America at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, October 5, 2008

Field Trip Leader: Laurent Godin
Field Trip Guide prepared by H. Helmstaedt and L. Godin
Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6

http://geol.queensu.ca/ESSSA2008/field_trip_manual.pdf

Five stops, including the Holleford Crater.

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GEOLOGY OF THE KINGSTON AREA: 1.1 BILLION YEARS OF EARTH HISTORY
GeoEngineering Centre Field Trip 2013
Miller Museum of Geology
Miller Hall, Queen’s University

http://www.geoeng.ca/GeoEngCentre_fieldtrip2013_fullDescription%5B1%5D.pdf
   
Six stops, including the Abbey Dawn roadcut (a good example of an unconformity).

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GEOTOUR  OF  FRONTENAC  ARCH  BIOSPHERE  RESERVE
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Geological Notes Prepared by Allan Donaldson & Chris Findlay,
Friends of Canadian Geoheritage

http://www.explorethearch.ca/sites/explorethearch.ca/files/GeoTour_Guidebook_2008_reduced_0.pdf

Ten Stops, starting at the Lyn Valley Conservation Part, and returning to Brockville.  Aimed at field naturalists.

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FALL GEOLOGY/ECOLOGY BOAT TOUR - ST LAWRENCE RIVER  1000  ISLANDS
October 17, 2010
Geology/Ecology Tour Guides: Al Donaldson, Dave Forsyth, Chris Findlay and Bud Andress,

http://www.frontenacarchbiosphere.ca/explore/fab-education/geology/st-lawrence-river-thousand-islands-geology-boat-tour

This tour starts at Mallorytown Landing and proceeds along the St. Lawrence River to Gananoque.  It visits 8 sites that illustrate the major geological components of the region. At each stop the descriptions in the guide discuss the rock types and  geological features.   Looks to be a great tour for a summer’s day, if you have a boat.

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DEGLACIATION OF THE CHAMPLAIN SEA BASIN, EASTERN ONTARIO

By Hazen A. J. Russell and Don I. Cummings (field-trip leaders)
Geological Survey of Canada
With contributions from  Jan Aylsworth, Greg Brooks, Jean-Pierre Guilbault, Marc Hinton, André Pugin, Susan Pullan, and  David Sharpe

http://www.geology.um.maine.edu/friends/pdf/FOP2009Guide.pdf

Abstract:  The Champlain Sea was an inland arm of the Atlantic Ocean that invaded the St. Lawrence Lowland  following retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. This field trip reviews a number of aspects of the deglacial landforms and deposits of the area, discusses the Champlain Sea deposits and reviews the societal  implications of the deposits from a geotechnical and hydrogeological perspective. Day one of the two day trip is spent on the Vars - Winchester esker which provides an opportunity to discuss esker and Champlain Sea deposits and to highlight the geotechnical and hydrogeological issues associated with these deposits. Day  two of the trip visits the Cantley quarry and discusses the evidence for and against subglacial meltwater erosion for the sculpted forms at the site.

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TECTONIC HISTORY OF THE GRENVILLE PROVINCE, ONTARIO
Field Trip Guidebook A5, Precambrian ‘95
Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 3142
By A. Davidson, 1995

http://ftp2.cits.rncan.gc.ca/pub/geott/ess_pubs/205/205286/of_3142.pdf

This six day field trip is for geologists with a serious interest in the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield,  rather than field naturalists, but does provide the location of some outcrops that will be of interest to field naturalists.

Day 5: Bancroft to Sharbot Lake.  Stop 5-10 is a photogenic outcrop of pillowed basalts at the junction of County Roads  41 and 506  south of Bon Echo Provincial Park  (see:
http://naturallyrichfrontenacs.com/bedrock.html )
Day 6: Sharbot Lake to Gananoque

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Christopher Brett
Perth, Ontario

Murphys Point Bike Loop: A Geological Interpretation, by Bradley S. Wilson

This fall saw the release of a new geological field trip guide that covers part of Lanark County. Entitled  Murphys Point Bike Loop: A Geological Interpretation, the twenty-four page brochure was written by Brad Wilson a consulting geologist based in Kingston, Ontario.  It was prepared with the financial support of Ontario’s  Highlands Tourism Organization Recreational Geology Project.

Free paper copies of the brochure can be obtained from the tourism office in the Perth Museum,  Matheson House, at 11 Gore Street East in Perth, and from the  tourism office in the Perth & District Chamber of Commerce office in the Old Fire Hall with Hose Tower, at 34 Herriott Street in Perth.   A pdf copy of the brochure can be downloaded from:

http://sgraycomm.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/murphys-point-bike-loop-aug5-13-final-download-small.pdf

The geological guide covers a 40 kilometer bike loop from Perth to Murphys Point Provincial Park and back along flat country roads.  The author estimates this to be a three hour bike ride.  The route starts in Perth, goes south-east along Rideau Ferry Road (County Road 1), south along Elm Grove Road (County Road 21) which becomes Lally Road, north along Narrows Lock Road (County Road 14 ) and north-east along Scotch Line (County Road 10), returning to Perth.   Below is the map from the brochure.

The guide is clearly written and will likely be enjoyed by both those with a geological background and field naturalists.  It contains numerous figures and colour photographs of outcrops, and the above map showing the location of all eighteen stops on the tour.   The first five pages of the brochure provide an introduction to the geology of Lanark County.   Highlights of the tour include outcrops where glacial striae are visible, an unconformity between rocks of the Precambrian Shield and overlying Paleozoic rocks, the type locality for Perthite, and  a visit to the Silver Queen Mica Mine. 

The best part of the brochure, besides the clear writing style of the author, is that it doesn’t try to cover all of the outcrops along the tour.   It leaves many outcrops to be discovered and explored.

While written for a bike tour, it also works as a field trip guide for those that would rather drive.  However, two points should be kept in mind if you drive.   First, there are some deep ditches beside some of shoulders of the road, and care should be taken when parking.   Second, the tour passes through Murphys Point Provincial Park, and one has to pay to park in the parking lots in the park (for example, the parking lot closest to the Silver Queen Mine, which is part of the park).

This is the second recent geological brochure for Lanark County that has been prepared with the support of Ontario’s  Highlands Tourism Organization Recreational Geology Project.   The first, released a little a year ago, is entitled Introduction to the Geodiversity of Perth: A Self-Guided Tour of Rocks on Display at the Crystal Palace, Tay Basin, Perth, Ontario and was written by Dr. Allan Donaldson, a retired professor of Earth Sciences, Carleton University.   This fourteen page brochure is a walking tour.    This is also a clearly written brochure with colour photographs.  Paper copies of this brochure can also be obtained from the tourism office in the Matheson House Museum in Perth, and from the tourism office in the Chamber of Commerce in Perth.   It can also be downloaded in pdf format from:

http://www.perthtourism.ca/uploads/1/6/1/3/16138712/perth_geohistory_booklet.pdf

If you stop at the Matheson House Museum in Perth to pick up copies of either brochure, be sure to look at the rocks, minerals and fossils on display on the top floor of the museum. 

Christopher Brett
Perth, Ontario

Addendum (October 6, 2016)

Introduction to the Geodiversity of Perth: A Self-Guided Tour of Rocks on Display at the Crystal Palace, Tay Basin, Perth, Ontario, by Dr. J Allan Donaldson

This brochure can now be downloaded in pdf format from the Stephanie Gray’s web site at:

https://sgraycomm.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/perth-geohistory-booklet-sept20-small.pdf