Minas Basin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Minas Basin is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy

Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...

and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin

Fundy Basin

The Fundy Basin is a sediment-filled rift basin on the Atlantic coast of southeastern Canada. It contains three sub-basins; the Fundy sub-basin, the Minas Basin and the Chignecto Basin. These arms meet at the Bay of Fundy, which is contained within the rift valley. From the Bay of Fundy, the Minas...

located in 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...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is known for its extremely high tide

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

Geography

Boundary

The Minas Basin forms the eastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits at Cape Chignecto and is delineated by the massive headland of Cape Split. The Minas Basin is split into four sections: Cobequid Bay

Cobequid Bay

Cobequid Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and the easternmost part of the Minas Basin, located in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The bay was carved by rivers flowing into the eastern end of the Bay of Fundy....

, from the mouth of the Salmon River

Salmon River, Colchester County, Nova Scotia

Salmon River is an unincorporated Canadian suburban community in central Nova Scotia's Colchester County.A suburb of the town of Truro, Salmon River is located on the south side of the Salmon River, from which it derives its name....

to a narrow point between Economy

Economy, Nova Scotia

Economy is an unincorporated rural community situated along the north shore of the Minas Basin/Cobequid Bay, at approximately 45°23'N, 63°54'W, in Colchester County, Nova Scotia...

and the Noel Shore; Central Minas Basin, from the mouth of Cobequid Bay to the narrow point between Parrsboro

Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

Parrsboro is a Canadian town located in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.The town is known for its port on the Minas Basin, the Ship's Company Theatre productions and the Fundy Geological Museum.-History:...

and Cape Blomidon

Cape Blomidon

Cape Blomidon is a headland located on the Bay of Fundy coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.Cape Blomidon is located in Kings County at the northeast edge of the Blomidon Peninsula. Its geology largely comprises sedimentary sandstone, which is unique since it is connected to the North...

; the Southern Bight, from the mouth of the Avon River

Avon River (Nova Scotia)

The Avon River is a small Canadian river in central Nova Scotia.A northerly flowing river, the Avon River flows rises on South Mountain, southwest of the town of Windsor. Its meander length is...

to the narrow point between Cape Blomidon and the Noel Shore; and the Minas Channel, from Central Minas Basin to the narrow line between Cape Chignecto and the Annapolis Valley

Annapolis Valley

The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.-Geography:...

Shore.

Several important rivers in Nova Scotia drain into the Minas Basin: Shubenacadie River

Shubenacadie River

The Shubenacadie River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada.It has a meander length of approximately 72 km from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake to its mouth at the historic seaport village of Maitland on Cobequid Bay, site of the building of the William D. Lawrence, the largest wooden ship ever...

, Cornwallis River

Cornwallis River

The Cornwallis River is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada.It has a meander length of approximately 48 km from its source on the North Mountain near Berwick to its mouth near Wolfville on the Minas Basin. The lower portion of the river is tidal and there are extensive tidal marshes in the lower...

, Avon River

Avon River (Nova Scotia)

The Avon River is a small Canadian river in central Nova Scotia.A northerly flowing river, the Avon River flows rises on South Mountain, southwest of the town of Windsor. Its meander length is...

, and the Salmon River

Salmon River (Nova Scotia)

The Salmon River is a Canadian river in central Nova Scotia's Colchester County.Rising in the Cobequid Hills in the central-northeastern part of the county, the river descends through a broad glacial valley at the head of Cobequid Bay, the eastern extremity of the Bay of Fundy...

. Lesser rivers include the Diligent River, Farrell River

Farrell River

Farrell River is a small river that flows from MacAloney's Lake into Parrsboro Harbour on the Minas Basin near the town of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia....

, and Debert River.

Along the northern edge of the Minas Basin lies a chain of intermittent high-cliffed basalt

Basalt

Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

ic bluffs and islands called the Basalt Headlands

Basalt Headlands

The Basalt Headlands are a chain of intermittent high-cliffed bluffs and islands that fringe the northern edge of the Minas Basin, Nova Scotia, Canada. Its name comes from the basaltic outcrops that formed about 200 million years ago when this region was volcanically active by continential...

Tides

Burntcoat Head

Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia

Burntcoat Head is an unincorporated Canadian community in Hants County, Nova Scotia and is known internationally as the site where it was officially recorded that the Bay of Fundy, and specifically Burntcoat, has the highest tides in the world.- Highest Tides in the World :Burntcoat Head has a...

, located on the "Noel Shore" along the south side of the Minas Basin, is the location of the highest tidal range ever recorded on the planet (during a spring tide

Tide

Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....

only) and has one of the highest average tidal ranges every day. The waters of Minas Bay exchange with the main part of the Bay of Fundy through the Minas Channel which flows between Cape Split and Cape Sharp, creating extremely strong tidal currents. The water in the Minas Basin is brown due to large amounts of suspended silt. At mid-tide, the water passing through the Minas Channel equals the combined flow of all the rivers and streams on Earth together.

Communities

Several communities border the Minas Basin or the rivers that flow into it. They include Truro

Truro, Nova Scotia

-Education:Truro has one high school, Cobequid Educational Centre. Post-secondary options include a campus of the Nova Scotia Community College, as well as the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in the neighboring town of Bible Hill.- Sports :...

, Windsor

Windsor, Nova Scotia

Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...

, Parrsboro

Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

, Great Village

Great Village, Nova Scotia

Great Village is a community of approximately 500 people located along Trunk 2 and the north shore of Cobequid Bay in Colchester County Nova Scotia...

, Bass River

Bass River, Nova Scotia

Bass River is an unincorporated rural community in western Colchester County, north-central Nova Scotia, in the Maritimes of Canada.-Location:...

, Five Islands

Five Islands, Nova Scotia

Five Islands is a rural community in Colchester County Nova Scotia with a population of 300 located on the north shore of the Minas Basin, home of the highest tides in the world...

, Economy

Economy, Nova Scotia

Economy is an unincorporated rural community situated along the north shore of the Minas Basin/Cobequid Bay, at approximately 45°23'N, 63°54'W, in Colchester County, Nova Scotia...

, Wolfville, Walton

Walton, Nova Scotia

Walton is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in the Municipal District of East Hants, which is in Hants County, Nova Scotia. The community is named after James Walton Nutting ....

, and Kingsport

Kingsport, Nova Scotia

Kingsport, is a small seaside village located in Kings County, Nova Scotia on the shores of the Minas Basin.-Geography:Kingsport is located just northeast of the mouth of the Habitant River, on the west side of Minas Basin, a few miles east of Canning at the eastern end of Route 221. It is bordered...

. Historically, Parrsboro, Wolfville, and Kingsport were connected by the MV Kipawo

MV Kipawo

MV Kipawo is a historic Canadian passenger and freight ferry.Kipawo was launched on December 5, 1924, by the St. John Drydock & Shipbuilding Co., the first ship ever built by that yard, for the Dominion Atlantic Railway and commissioned into service on April 1, 1926...

ferry, whose name was derived from the three communities.

Parks

Provincial parks at Anthony (near Truro), Five Islands, and Cape Blomidon

Blomidon Provincial Park

Blomidon Provincial Park is a camping and day-use park located at Cape Blomidon on the shores of the Minas Basin in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its hiking and spectacular views over the world's highest tides. Blomidon is located on 1,875 acres of land with 600 ft high cliffs...

allow visitors to enjoy and explore the Minas Basin. Community parks interpreting the Basin include the Kingsport

Kingsport, Nova Scotia

waterfront in Kings County

Kings County, Nova Scotia

Kings County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.Kings County is located in central Nova Scotia on the shore of the Bay of Fundy with its northeastern part also forming the western shore of the Minas Basin....

; the Walton

Walton, Nova Scotia

Lighthouse and Burntcoat Head

Burntcoat Head, Nova Scotia

Lighthouse in Hants County

Hants County, Nova Scotia

Hants County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia which was the home of Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Alden Nowlan and Noel Doiron. The county of Hants was created June 17, 1781, and consisted of the townships of Windsor, Falmouth and Newport...

and the Lookout Tower in Economy

Economy, Nova Scotia

Economy is an unincorporated rural community situated along the north shore of the Minas Basin/Cobequid Bay, at approximately 45°23'N, 63°54'W, in Colchester County, Nova Scotia...

and the Ottawa House Museum in Parrsboro

Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

in Cumberland County

Cumberland County, Nova Scotia

Cumberland County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.-History:The name Cumberland was applied by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Monckton to the captured Fort Beauséjour on June 18, 1755 in honour of the third son of King George II, William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, victor at...

Settlement

The Mi'kmaq were the first people to inhabit the area around the Minas Basin. Mi'kmaq tradition ties the god Glooscap

Glooscap

Glooscap is a mythical culture hero, and "transformer" of the Wabanaki peoples...

in with significant geographical features such as Cape Blomidon and Five Islands

Five Islands, Nova Scotia

Five Islands is a rural community in Colchester County Nova Scotia with a population of 300 located on the north shore of the Minas Basin, home of the highest tides in the world...

.

After being discovered by the European

European ethnic groups

The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....

s, the area was settled by the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

and British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

. The French, which late became the Acadians, had a particularly significant impact of the area in that they reclaimed considerable farmland through the use of dykes and aboiteaux. They founded in the area Grand Pré, Les Mines

Les Mines

Les Mines was an Acadian village in the Minas Basin, in Nova Scotia. It was destroyed along with the villages of Grand Pré, Rivière-aux-Canards, Pisiguit, Cobequid, and Beaubassin in 1755 during the Deportation of the Acadians...

, Pisiguit

Pisiguit

In the Minas Basin of Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia, the settlement of Grand-Pré grew eastward towards the Pisiquid River. This settlement became known as Pisiguit or . Pisiguit came from the Mi'kmaq term Pesaquid, meaning "Junction of Waters". It became so large that it was viewed as...

, Cobequid

Cobequid

The old name Cobequid was derived from the Mi'kmaq word "Wagobagitk" meaning "the bay runs far up", in reference to the area surrounding the easternmost inlet of the Minas Basin, a body of water called Cobequid Bay....

, Rivière-aux-Canards

Rivière-aux-Canards

Many rivers diversified in the Minas Basin. One was called rivière aux Canards, meaning river of the ducks. It was on this river that a parish was established in 1670 by the name of Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rivière-aux-Canards, later, Rivière-aux-Canards in short form...

, and Beaubassin

Beaubassin

Beaubassin was the first settlement on the Isthmus of Chignecto, Nova Scotia, which was Acadian. The area is now known as the Tantramar Marshes. Beaubassin was settled in 1672, the second Acadian village to be established after Port Royal. The village was one of the largest and most prosperous in...

. Even today, their dyke systems are still used near Truro

Truro, Nova Scotia

and Wolfville

Wolfville, Nova Scotia

Wolfville is a small town in the Annapolis Valley, Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada, located about northwest of the provincial capital, Halifax. As of 2006, the population was 3,772....

at Port Williams

Port Williams, Nova Scotia

Port Williams is a Canadian village in Kings County, Nova Scotia.It is located on the north bank of the Cornwallis River, opposite Greenwich and Wolfville.As of 2006, the population was 1,079...

and Grand Pré

Grand Pre, Nova Scotia

Grand-Pré is a Canadian rural community in Kings County, Nova Scotia. Its French name translates to "Great Meadow" and the community lies at the eastern edge of the Annapolis Valley several kilometres east of the town of Wolfville on a peninsula jutting into the Minas Basin, framed by the Gaspereau...

. In 1755, the British forcibly expelled the over 12,000 Acadia

Acadia

Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...

ns from Grand Pré, Pisiguit

Pisiguit

, Cobequid

Cobequid

, and Beaubassin

Beaubassin

, in what became known as the Grand Dérangement, or Great Expulsion.

Industry

The communities around the Minas Basin were sustained by fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

, logging

Logging

Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

, farming, mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

, boat building

Boat building

Boat building, one of the oldest branches of engineering, is concerned with constructing the hulls of boats and, for sailboats, the masts, spars and rigging.-Parts:* Bow - the front and generally sharp end of the hull...

and shipbuilding

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...

. In the late 19th Century the Basin's shipyards produced some of the highest numbers of wooden ships in Canadian history and some of the largest, including the ship William D. Lawrence
William D. Lawrence (ship)
William D. Lawrence was a full-rigged sailing ship built in Maitland, Nova Scotia along the Minas Basin and named after her builder, the merchant and politician William Dawson Lawrence ....

, the largest wooden ship built in Canada along with the giant barque

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

s Kings County
Kings County (barque)
Kings County was a four masted barque built in 1890 at Kingsport, Nova Scotia on the Minas Basin. She was named to commemorate Kings County, Nova Scotia and represented the peak of the county's shipbuilding era...

, Canada's largest four masted-barque and Hamburg

Hamburg (barque)

Hamburg was a three masted barque built in 1886 at Hantsport, Nova Scotia. She was the largest three masted barque ever built in Canada . Hamburg was one of the last of over a hundred large sailing vessels built by the Churchill family of Hantsport, led by Ezra Churchill. Her name continued the...

, Canada's largest three-masted barque. The water also provided a means of transporting commodities and there was a tide mill

Tide mill

A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes automatically when the tide...

at Walton.

Mining included gypsum

Gypsum

Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...

(several locations including Windsor and Cheverie), iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

(Londonderry), barite

Barite

Baryte, or barite, is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. The baryte group consists of baryte, celestine, anglesite and anhydrite. Baryte itself is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium...

(near Walton and the Eureka Mine at Five Islands), manganese

Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...

(several locations including Cheverie and Tennycape), and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

(the Colonial Copper Company at Cap D'Or). Today, gypsum is still shipped from Hantsport.

Nature

Marine mammal

Marine mammals, which include seals, whales, dolphins, and walruses, form a diverse group of 128 species that rely on the ocean for their existence. They do not represent a distinct biological grouping, but rather are unified by their reliance on the marine environment for feeding. The level of...

s include seals

Pinniped

Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...

and porpoise

Porpoise

Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen...

s. Fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

include bass

Bass (fish)

Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

, and flounder

Flounder

The flounder is an ocean-dwelling flatfish species that is found in coastal lagoons and estuaries of the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.-Taxonomy:There are a number of geographical and taxonomical species to which flounder belong.*Western Atlantic...

; lobster

Lobster

Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...

, crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

, mussel

Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...

, and clam

Clam

The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...

are common. Many types of seaweed

Seaweed

Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...

, sponges, worm

Worm

The term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...

s, seajellys and more are also found. Birds include sandpipers, tern

Tern

Terns are seabirds in the family Sternidae, previously considered a subfamily of the gull family Laridae . They form a lineage with the gulls and skimmers which in turn is related to skuas and auks...

s (visitors only), eagle

Eagle

Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...

s, falcon

Falcon

A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....

s, seagulls, heron

Heron

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....

s, and kingfisher

Kingfisher

Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...

s.

Fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s are found near Parrsboro

Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

, Blue Beach and other areas along the Avon River

Avon River (Nova Scotia)

The Avon River is a small Canadian river in central Nova Scotia.A northerly flowing river, the Avon River flows rises on South Mountain, southwest of the town of Windsor. Its meander length is...

. Rarely, fossils have been found at Evangeline Beach, Burntcoat Head, and other locations. These fossils include various shells (brachiopod

Brachiopod

Brachiopods are a phylum of marine animals that have hard "valves" on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection...

s, molluscs), sponges

Sea sponge

Sponges are animals of the phylum Porifera . Their bodies consist of jelly-like mesohyl sandwiched between two thin layers of cells. While all animals have unspecialized cells that can transform into specialized cells, sponges are unique in having some specialized cells, but can also have...

, tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s, fish

Fish

, amphibian

Amphibian

Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

s, reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

s, and dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s. Trace fossil

Trace fossil

Trace fossils, also called ichnofossils , are geological records of biological activity. Trace fossils may be impressions made on the substrate by an organism: for example, burrows, borings , urolites , footprints and feeding marks, and root cavities...

s include vertebrate

Vertebrate

Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...

footprints, fish fin-track

Fossil trackway

A fossil trackway is a type of trace fossil, a trackway made by an organism. Many fossil trackways were made by dinosaurs, early tetrapods, and other quadrupeds and bipeds on land...

s, invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

trackways (ex. scorpions at Blue Beach), raindrop inprints, and wave ripples. They range from the beginning of the Carboniferous

Carboniferous

The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Permian Period, about 299.0 ± 0.8 Mya . The name is derived from the Latin word for coal, carbo. Carboniferous means "coal-bearing"...

to the Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

. They were deposited when the region was warm and tropical

Tropics

The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...

, later when it was covered by a shallow sea, and later still when it was a desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

.

Mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

s include a variety zeolite

Zeolite

Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that...

s from the basalt cliffs at Cape Split, the area around Parrsboro, Five Islands and Cap D'Or. These include Nova Scotia's provincial mineral stilbite

Stilbite

Stilbite is the name of a series of tectosilicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, stilbite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a series name, with the mineral species being named:*...

, as well as heulandite

Heulandite

Heulandite is the name of a series of tecto-silicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, heulandite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a series name, with the mineral species being named:*...

, analcime, chabazite

Chabazite

Chabazite is a tectosilicate mineral of the zeolite group, closely related to gmelinite, with formula Al2Si4O12·6H2O. Recognized varieties include Chabazite-Ca, Chabazite-K, Chabazite-Na, and Chabazite-Sr, depending on the prominence of the indicated cation.Chabazite crystallizes in the triclinic...

, gmelinite

Gmelinite

Gmelinite-Na is one of the rarer zeolites but the commonest member of the gmelinite series, gmelinite-Ca, gmelinite-K and gmelinite-Na. It is closely related to the very similar mineral chabazite...

, natrolite

Natrolite

Natrolite is a tectosilicate mineral species belonging to the zeolite group. It is a hydrated sodium and aluminium silicate with the formula . The type locality is Hohentwiel, Hegau, Germany....

and thomsonite

Thomsonite

Thomsonite is the name of a series of tecto-silicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, thomsonite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a series name, with the mineral species being named...

. Other minerals found in the basalts include calcite

Calcite

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...

, magnetite

Magnetite

Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...

, copper

Copper

, and quartz

Quartz

Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...

(often as amethyst

Amethyst

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...

). Beautiful agate

Agate

Agate is a microcrystalline variety of silica, chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks and can be common in certain metamorphic rocks.-Etymology...

is also found. In the sedimentary rocks, gypsum

Gypsum

is commonly found at Blomidon, Clarke Head, and near Windsor

Windsor, Nova Scotia

in both the colorless variety (selenite) and the fibrous variety (satin spar), the latter sometimes being bright orange. Other minerals from the sedimentary rocks include pyrite

Pyrite

The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...

, calcite

Calcite

, barite

Barite

, manganite

Manganite

Manganite is a mineral. Its composition is manganese oxide-hydroxide, MnO, crystallizing in the monoclinic system . Crystals of manganite are prismatic and deeply striated parallel to their length; they are often grouped together in bundles. The color is dark steel-grey to iron-black, and the...

, and pyrolusite

Pyrolusite

Pyrolusite is a mineral consisting essentially of manganese dioxide and is important as an ore of manganese. It is a black, amorphous appearing mineral, often with a granular, fibrous or columnar structure, sometimes forming reniform crusts. It has a metallic luster, a black or bluish-black...

. Small amounts of fluorite

Fluorite

Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon...

, celestite

Celestite

Celestine or celestite is a mineral consisting of strontium sulfate. The mineral is named for its occasional delicate blue color.-Occurrence:Celestine occurs as crystals, and also in compact massive and fibrous forms...

, howlite

Howlite

Howlite, a calcium borosilicate hydroxide , is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits. Howlite was discovered near Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1868 by Henry How , a Canadian chemist, geologist, and mineralogist. How was alerted to the unknown mineral by miners in a gypsum quarry, who found it...

have also been found at Cheverie.

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