The Aspy Fault is a strike-slip fault that runs through 40 km of Cape Breton

Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia

Cape Breton County, officially, County Cape Breton, is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island.Taking its name from Cape Breton, the most easterly point of the island which was called after the Bretons of Brittany, this municipality has what is probably the oldest...

, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 and is often thought to be a part of the Cabot Fault/ Great Glen Fault

Great Glen Fault

The Great Glen Fault is a long strike-slip fault that runs through its namesake the Great Glen in Scotland. However, the fault is actually much longer and over 400 million years old.-Location:...

 system of Avalonia

Avalonia

Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era. Crustal fragments of this former microcontinent underlie south-west Great Britain, and the eastern coast of North America. It is the source of many of the older rocks of Western Europe, Atlantic Canada, and parts of the coastal United States...

. Part of the fault runs through Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Cape Breton Highlands National Park is located on northern Cape Breton Island in the province of Nova Scotia. One-third of the Cabot Trail passes through the park featuring spectacular ocean and mountain views. The park was the first National Park in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and covers an...

. This fault runs southward from Cape North through the Margaree Valley. The Aspy River

Aspy River

The Aspy River is a river on northeastern Cape Breton Island which rises in the Cape Breton Highlands and empties into Aspy Bay. The river valley follows the ancient Aspy Fault which extends for 40 km inland from the coast and extends along the upper section of the northeast Margaree River...

 and the upper section of the Margaree River

Margaree River

The Margaree River is a river on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. The northeast branch of the river derives from the watershed of the Cape Breton Highlands, while the Southwest Margaree flows northeast from Lake Ainslie. The two branches join at Margaree Forks...

 follows the trace of the fault. Evidence shows movement in this fault dating back to the Ordovician period when it was probably created when two continental plates collided and pushed the seafloor upwards, also creating the Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...

. Erosion and the presence of this fault have created much of the scenery known today as the Cape Breton Highlands

Cape Breton Highlands

The Cape Breton Highlands, commonly called the Highlands, refer to a highland or mountainous plateau of ancient rock across the northern part of Cape Breton Island in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia....

.