For over a decade the geology department at Carleton University and the Ottawa-Gatineau Geoheritage Project have held an annual Geoheritage Day celebrating the geoheritage of Ottawa and surrounding areas. This year those of us in Eastern Ontario will also be joining in celebrating International Geodiversity Day, a worldwide celebration, bringing people together on October 6 each year, to promote the many aspects of geodiversity. International Geodiversity Day was proclaimed by UNESCO at the 41st General Conference in 2021 and this year will be celebrated at various locations in Europe, Asia, South America, North America and Zealandia [See https://www.geodiversityday.org/ ].
In Ottawa the Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, in partnership with Ingenium (Canada’s Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Science and Technology Museum), presents “Celebrating Geodiversity: The Critical Foundation for Diverse Ecosystems on a Changing Planet. ” This event will be held at the Canada Science and Technology Museum from 6:00 to 9:00pm, on Thursday, October 6th as well as on zoom, and will feature a talk by Carleton Earth Sciences Professor Emeritus Dr. Claudia Schröder-Adams about her research in Canada’s High Arctic. Following that talk, Beth McLarty Halfkenny will be moderating a discussion with Dr. Claudia Schröder-Adams and other panelists with expertise in biodiversity, local ecosystems, and water and mineral resources, to make connections between Canada’s landscapes, ecosystems, and human societies. For registration information for this free event in-person or virtually on Zoom visit: Geodiversity Symposium: The Foundation for Diverse Ecosystems on a Changing Planet | Faculty of Science (carleton.ca) [ https://science.carleton.ca/geodiversity-symposium/ ]
Another online Geodiversity Day Zoom Presentation in Canada is on the Geodiversity of Percé UNESCO Global Geopark, Gaspé, Quebec. Max Deck-Leger will give an online presentation about the evolution of life through the Geopark, as visible in the fossils found in our five distinct geological formations covering over 500 million years. The event takes place on Thursday, October 6, 2022, starting at 17:30 (GMT -5:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada). For more information: https://www.facebook.com/GeoparcdePerce/ or https://geoparcdeperce.com/
In person Geodiversity Day celebrations are also being held in Newfoundland on October 6th.
Selected Worldwide Geodiversity Day Zoom Presentations
The web site https://www.geodiversityday.org/ shows the location of many international Geodiversity Day events, including the following two zoom presentations that I found of interest.
The South Wales Geologists' Association in Cardiff, Wales is presenting an online talk by Duncan Hawley, describing William Smith's trips to South Wales before creating his geological map of Britain in 1815. This was the first geologic map of Britain. The talk looks at the locations William Smith visited and considers “why he interpreted the local limestones so wrongly.” The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 6, 2022, 19:30 (GMT) Western Europe Time, London, U.K, which I believe is about 4:30 pm in Eastern Ontario. The event is open to the public. For more information see register@swga.org.uk
The Charnwood Forest Geopark is presenting an online event with the description: Join us for an online extravaganza, linking amazing sites and people from around the world to celebrate all that geodiversity has to offer. The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 6, 2022, at 14:00 (GMT) Western Europe Time, London, U.K., which I believe is 9 am in Eastern Ontario. For more information: facebook.com/CharnwoodForestGeopark
GEOHERITAGE DAY
October 8, 10 am 3 pm in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec
The 16th annual Geoheritage Day will take place on October 8th, 2022, with volunteers hosting a number of geological sites around the National Capital region. Details can be found at:
https://earthsci.carleton.ca/outreach/explore-geoheritage-day
Other Geoheritage Resources
Beth McLarty Halfkenny, Curator, Outreach Coordinator, Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton University, gave a talk on September 23, 2022 entitled “ Geoheritage of the National Capital Region; what’s here and why care” that can be watched on YouTube at
https://youtu.be/M6y6msgKMNg This is a 38 minute presentation followed by seven minutes of questions
Carleton University has web site entitled at https://geoheritageday.carleton.ca which provides a map showing the location of over 30 Geoheritage sites across Canada with a brief description and web links to web pages providing information on the sites. The links work, but have to be pasted into a browser, as merely clicking on the link results in a blank Redirect Notice.
The Ottawa-Gatineau Geoheritage Project maintains a web site with descriptions of twenty-six Geoheritage sites in and around Ottawa at:
https://www.ottawagatineaugeoheritage.ca . Also available on the site, under the link ‘Field Trips’, are [A] a brochure entitled “Introduction to the Geodiversity of Perth”, a self-guided tour of rocks on display at the Crystal Palace, Tay Basin, Perth, Ontario; [B] Geology of the Ottawa Area, a self-guided field trip that takes you to rock exposures in the Ottawa area that show geologic features typical of the local Precambrian and Paleozoic rock; and [C] One Billion Years of Geology, a self-guided field trip that takes you to rock exposures in the Ottawa area, plus to the Mer Bleue bog (a former channel of the Ottawa River) and to the Lemieux Landslide.
The Metcalfe Geoheritage Park in Almonte Ontario has 20 permanent rocks and one guest rocks on display. See: http://metcalfegeoheritagepark.com/specimens/
Christopher Brett
Ottawa, Ontario
