The bronze statue of Big Ben and Ian Millar in Stewart Park in Perth, Ontario will be familiar to all who live in Lanark County. Located opposite Code’s Mill on Wilson Street in Perth it is a tourist draw for all those who are fans of equestrian events. What is not so well known is that the thick slabs of rock at the base of the statue were quarried from Tackaberry’s quarry on Highway 7 north of Perth and, more importantly, are Ediacaran rocks from the quarry and contain examples of the concentric, circular Ediacaran fossil Aspidella.
Below are photographs of a few of the concentric circular structures in the rock slabs at the base of the statue.
The circular structures are the Ediacaran fossil Aspidella. The first photo shows two circular structures. The second and third photos show closeups of single circular structures. The fourth photo shows at least ten circular structures. The circular structures are about two centimeters in diameter. (They are easier to spot on the slabs than in the photos.)
The tops of at least five of the large slabs that function as retaining walls bear the circular structures.
Other blocks and slabs of Ediacaran rock can be found at various places in Perth. Some are used as steps for buildings, benches in parks and patio stones. Some exhibit microbially induced sedimentary structures.
I have included photographs of Aspidella specimens in rock at two of Tackaberry's quarries in Lanark County in previous blog postings.
Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario
References and Suggested Reading
Anonymous
Big Ben & Ian Millar. https://www.beautifulperth.com/bigben.html
Brett, C. P., 2019a
Concentric Structures in the Sedimentary Rocks of Lanark County, Ontario that are identical to the Ediacaran Holdfast Aspidella. Blog posting dated March 8, 2019
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2019/03/holdfasts-in-lower-ordovician-march.html
Brett, C. P., 2019b
Possible Fossil Microbial Mat Structures in Rocks Near Perth, Ontario. Blog posting dated March 28, 2019. http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2019/03/possible-fossil-microbial-mat.html
Brett, C. P., 2019c
A Selection of Fossils from the ‘March Formation’ in Lanark County, Ontario - A Correction. Blog posting dated March 24, 2019
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-selection-of-fossils-from-march.html
Brett, C. P., 2019d
If the Ediacaran discoid holdfast Aspidella, why not Ediacaran Stalks, Spindles and Fronds in Lanark County? Blog posting dated March 29, 2019
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2019/03/if-ediacaran-discoid-holdfast-aspidella.html
Brett, C. P., 2019e
Photographs of GSC 221, one of Alexander Murray’s specimens of Aspidella terranovica, Billings 1872. Blog posting dated Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Brett, C. P., 2019f
A Chronology of References to Aspidella terranovica from its Discovery by Murray, Naming in 1872 by Billings, Through the Initial Period when it was Recognized as a Fossil, Through the Decades when it was Dismissed as an Inorganic Concretion or Gas Escape Structure, to its Resurrection in the late 20th Century, and Crowning in 2000 as the First Named Ediacaran Body Fossil. Blog posting dated Sunday, June 30, 2019
Brett, C. P., 2020
Dave Forsyth’s Photographs of Aspidella from the Richmond Quarry, Lanark County
Blog posting dated Thursday, August 27, 2020
http://fossilslanark.blogspot.com/2020/08/dave-forsyths-photographs-of-aspidella.html
Burzynski, Greg, T. Alexander Dececchi, Guy M. Narbonne & Robert W. Dalrymple, 2020
Cryogenian Aspidella from northwestern Canada. Precambrian Research. Volume 336, January 2020, 105507 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2019.105507
Liu, A.G., Tindal, B.H., 2021
Ediacaran macrofossils prior to the ~580 Ma Gaskiers glaciation in Newfoundland, Canada
Lethaia, Volume54, Issue2 April 2021 Pages 260-270
https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12401
Schwid, M.F., Xiao, S., Nolan, M.R., An, Z., 2021
Differential Weathering of Diagenetic Concretions and the Formation of Neoproterozoic Annulated Discoidal Structures PALAIOS (2021) 36 (1): 15–27.
https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2020.018
Segessenman, Daniel C. And Shanan E. Peters, 2022
Macrostratigraphy of the Ediacaran System in North America. In Geological Society of America special publication entitled Laurentia: An Evolving Continent GSA Memoir.
https://eartharxiv.org/repository/list/?page=2
Tarhan, Lidya G., Mary L.Droser, James G.Gehling & Matthew P.Dzaugis, 2015
Taphonomy and morphology of the Ediacara form genus Aspidella
Precambrian Research. Volume 257, February 2015, Pages 124-136
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2014.11.026
