Beneath Your Feet Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Geodiversity Education Foundation

Three people standing on the deck of a boat with snow falling. Text on top of the photo reads: "Geoscience Histories, Frances Wagner"

Geoscience Histories: Dr. Frances Wagner

Frances Wagner was one of Canada’s first female geologists. Her studies in micropaleontology and mapping of Canada’s microscopic fossils were groundbreaking to our understanding of the geology of the continental shelves around Canada, especially the Arctic. Frances was born in May of 1927 and grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, spending summers enjoying nature at her family’s cottage on Mary Lake. She and her brother would identify the lichens on the Canadian Shield rocks and go canoeing and exploring. Wagner studied paleontology at the University of Toronto for her undergrad and went on to complete a Master’s degree in invertebrate paleontology at UofT. She researched Ordovician fossils near Ottawa under Dr. Alice Wilson (see our blog post on Dr. Wilson). The summer before she completed her Master’s degree she was hired by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) to catalogue fossil samples from the Victoria Museum in Ottawa. She was only the third woman to work at the GSC, in a time where women were considered too weak to do field work. Frances Wagner and her colleague Dr. Helen Belyea were some of the first women to work in the field at the GSC in the summer of 1950 with the support of Dr. Alice Wilson. Wagner went on to complete her PhD in micropaleontology at Stanford University in California. Her thesis was supervised by another groundbreaking female geoscientist Dr. Myra Keen. Her thesis was on marine Pleistocene deposits in southwestern British Columbia. She studied with a Geological Survey of Canada work party on the coast of British Columbia and shipped 350 pounds of samples from British Columbia to California to complete her studies. Her PhD allowed her to pioneer the study of marine micropaleontology. In 1954 Wagner returned to Ottawa to work full time at the GSC and complete her thesis at the same time. In order to complete her PhD she travelled three days by train to Stanford and three days back for her oral exam. In 1964, Wagner’s colleague Charlotte Keen was the first woman to travel on a research ship. The next summer, Dr. Wagner joined Keen and a few other women on the CSS Hudson to map the floor of Hudson’s Bay. The CSS Hudson was the first ship to circumnavigate North America. Wagner joined the ship as it traversed the dangerous Northwest Passage. This was a particularly perlious journey, and they concluded that the Northwest Passage was unsafe for travel. Chief Scientist Dr. Bernard Pelletier wrote in the ship report that at one point, “[the ship] rode up onto a particularly hard floe and slid off one side thereby heeling to port so abruptly and steeply that her guardrail almost touched the broken sea ice.” This is just a taste of the danger that Dr. Pelletier wrote in the report. While on the CSS Hudson, Dr. Wagner studied the ecological history of the Beaufort Sea and published groundbreaking work on the topic. In 1967, Dr. Wagner moved to Nova Scotia to work for the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. She used her experience in marine micropaleontology to study the microbiota of the Arctic and Atlantic continental shelves. In 1973 Dr. Wagner was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In 1979 she co-authored a second paper on the Beaufort Shelf, this one focusing on the effects of disturbances, such as hydrocarbon drilling, on the marine ecology of the area. Outside of her career, Frances was an avid horsewoman. She owned two registered Morgan horses, Belle and Jay. She raised Jay from 5 months old and rode him for 24 years. She helped found the Nova Scotia Historical Riding Society and learned to ride sidesaddle in order to do demonstrations of traditional riding techniques at different Museum sites in Nova Scotia. She also researched and sewed traditional clothing for the Uniacke Heritage Society. Wagner was also a dog breeder. She had a kennel called Thicketwood where she bred Shetland Sheepdogs. She helped save the rare Norwegian Lundehund from extinction, importing them to Canada and breeding and showing them. Once she retired in 1984, she focused more of her time and attention on her dog breeding and horseback riding. She always had a love for the outdoors, and was an accomplished canoeist and long distance swimmer. Wagner never married or had kids. When asked about it she said, “I was a career girl.” In Wagner’s day there was a lot of prejudice against women in the workplace getting married or having families. In Canada there was a law in place that allowed employers to fire female employees if they married. This legislation was only repealed in 1955, when Wagner was already 28 years old. Dr. Wagner had an immense influence on the field of micropaleontology in Canada. You can read one of Dr. Wagner’s publications, “Fossils of Ontario: Part 2: Macroinvertebrates and vertebrates of the Champlain Sea,” published by the Royal Ontario museum. Along with her female colleagues, she defied expectations and made major contributions to her field doing work that was previously considered improper or too difficult for women. Sources: Science.ca Scientist Profile Frances Wagner Trowelblazers Frances Wagner NecroCanada Obituaries Frances Wagner Ada Lovelace Day Dr Frances Wagner Paleontology and stratigraphy of the marine Pleistocene deposits of Southwestern British Columbia. Fossils of Ontario: Part 2: Macroinvertebrates and vertebrates of the Champlain Sea Author Veronica Klassen is the Manager of the Foundation’s blog – Beneath Your Feet: A Geoscience Blog. She studied Arts and Science at McMaster University with a minor in Earth Science and has a masters in Science Communication from Laurentian University. She is passionate about making science accessible and engaging to the public.

Artists rendition of the big bang showing a sphere of light with rays of light flowing outward from the center. Text on top of the image reads: Geoscience Today. The great anthropocene explosion

The Great Anthropocene Explosion

Geodiversity Takes Centre Stage Paul Hubley, P.Geo. All the world’s a stage And all the men and women merely players, They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages… Excerpt from William Shakespeare As You Like It (spoken by Jacques) An explosion of Homeric (epic) proportions, an estimated 13.8 billion years ago, gave rise to everything physical and chemical around us today. The blast was so great that some even postulate that the early moments of our universe even had several additional dimensions compared to those we know now. And it is all still expanding. Physics tells us that explosions result in a release of energy–a reordering of matter. Chemistry tells us that they are the dismantling of something old and creation of something new. Clinical psychologists refer to explosions as a trauma after which a new awareness can be developed over time. Explosions have shaped our consciousness, informed our rituals, politics and religion, and are often expressed in parables or in oral tradition, theatre, poetry and popular culture. One thing is certain–as the curtain lowers in the aftermath of an explosion, things are not the same as they were. When we examine our world on the backdrop of explosive events, we judge some events to be acceptable or even good, whereas some we reject as bad. Some explosions play a small part in our history while others occupy centre stage. Natural or manmade, terrible or wonderful, detonation or no detonation, explosions have always been a fascination to many, including geoscientists. Whether it be meteorite strikes resulting in extinction events, or tritium detection from atomic bombs being tracked in groundwater for age-dating, some geoscientists dedicate their careers to understanding explosive events. In an excerpt of As You Like It, Shakespeare introduced seven Acts for seven ages, beginning with the iconic line “All the World’s a Stage.” Classical Latin explōdō means “to hiss a bad actor off the stage,” or “to drive an actor off the stage by making noise,” from ex- (“out“) + plaudō (“to clap; to applaud“), hence meaning “to drive out” or “to reject.” The modern meaning developed later. In Shakespeare’s time, just as with the ancient Greeks, men were the only ones allowed to be theatre actors–fortunately in theatre we’ve generally developed a more sensible sense of diversity since that time, and benefited greatly from it. Shakespeare described seven ages of a man’s life, from young to old. Our play also has seven Acts for seven ages on the World stage, but in reverse order, from oldest to youngest, with some key explosive events as the backdrop. It is presented in two parts, converging in Ontario. In Part I we encounter physical-chemical-biological explosions in the abiotic and biotic world. In Part II we implode (focus inward), in hopes of blending our natural world with our community, actions and interactions with others–an implosion of nature and culture, to see what post-play chatter we can initiate. Now we welcome our principal company of actors: geodiversity, having this basic definition: Geodiversity is the variety of earth materials, forms and processes that constitute and shape the Earth, either the whole or a specific part of it. Relevant materials include minerals, rocks, sediments, fossils, soils and water. Forms may comprise folds, faults, landforms and other expressions of morphology or relations between units of earth material. Any natural process that continues to act upon, maintain or modify either material or form (for example tectonics, sediment transport, pedogenesis) represents another aspect of geodiversity. However geodiversity is not normally defined to include the likes of landscaping, concrete or other significant human influence. At this point in our story our world is formed and the stage is set. The stage is suspended in the vastness of space. It’s a place of spectacular beauty, with a slow rotation of players. The audience is in a hushed silence, waiting for the first Act in our diversity play, ready if needed to boo bad actors off the stage… PART I Act I – All the World’s a Stage It took over 9 billion years after the initial explosion, so about 4.6 billion years ago, to get sufficient cosmic dust and rocks to agree with each other enough to form the accretion of a new celestial body, a world we here call Earth (which is one name of many). Here we find the basic building blocks for everything we know and everything we have ever known. As the world cooled sufficiently, and for billions of years, all the world’s been a stage for a slow but steady rise in geodiversity, with a few exiting the stage, and many others entering. Throughout this time there were numerous explosions, the biggest is believed to be when a Mars-sized planetoid we named Theia crashed into Earth, ejecting the material for the moon. A meteorite is generally considered to be responsible for the Sudbury Nickel Rim–this would have been an explosive event of epic proportions. No doubt there were new minerals formed as a result of these events. But generally speaking, over this vast timescale of billions of years, geodiversity was not particularly explosive. In a series of studies, Hazen et al (2008), Hazen et al (2017) and Hazen and Morrison (2022) describe geodiversity as a function of mineral diversity. The research identifies that the world stage has hosted between 5,000 and 6,000 minerals, much of it believed to be biologically-mediated (formed as a result of biological processes), even in the early days of world history. The research describes a slow increase over deep time, culminating in the Great Oxidation Event, resulting in a groundswell of new minerals due to the availability of oxygen in the atmosphere to react with other elements (relatively speaking, oxygen is highly reactive and found all sorts of ways to combine with rocks and minerals). But despite this reactivity, throughout this deep time period of billions of years there’s nothing even close to being considered an

A geologic map showing different coloured rock units. Text over the map reads: "Geoscience Today. Introductory Resources for Exploring the Geology of Ontario."

Introductory Resources for Exploring the Geology of Ontario

A note from APGOEF: Today we are publishing something a bit different than our regular blog posts! It is our primary goal at APGOEF to educate and spread awareness about geoscience, so when Ken Lyon presented us with this comprehensive list of resources, we couldn’t resist sharing it with our readers. We hope you will find this compilation useful to your exploration of earth science. APGOEF does not take responsibility for the content of the resources provided, and cannot vouch for their validity. Preface The following is written by: Ken Lyon, MSc, P.Geo, kenlyongeo@gmail.com, Peterborough, ON The impetus for this compilation of over 50 publications and internet resources came from Laura Mancini of the Ontario Geological Survey. Laura reached out to me in 2021 in my capacity as Newsletter Editor of the Kawartha Rock and Fossil Club. She had been contacted by someone who was looking to explore the geology of Ontario, and wondered if the Kawartha club might have something to help. Laura’s question fit in with a list of resources that I had started compiling for rockhounds, field naturalists and other people who like these kinds of things. Perhaps now more than ever with climate change and related issues front-and-centre, we are coming to appreciate that geoscience is hugely significant and fun to learn about and explore. In compiling this list, I have tried to offer some guidance by assigning levels to the resources ranging from Level 1 for those who know nothing or little about geology to Level 3 for those who feel comfortable with basic concepts. Resources marked with a * are particularly recommended. I have included some of my favourite books that cost money and also many good resources that are free of charge. Level 3 and beyond takes you into the worlds of serious mineral, rock and fossil collectors and people who have taken college and university courses. This is not to say that you need formal study. I am constantly learning from members of the Kawartha and other clubs who are self-taught and know more about some topics than I ever will. This compilation is a work-in-progress and I have made some minor revisions since 2021. Hopefully, you will find a few “nuggets” of information to help you get out and have some fun. Amethyst rock from Thunder Bay area, ON. Photo: Ken Lyon Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz and the official gemstone of Ontario. The reddish-brown crystals on the left are amethyst crystals coated with the iron mineral, hematite. The length of the rock shown is 40 cm. My wife bought this as a treasured addition to her rock garden. Acknowledgements While I take responsibility for selection of the resource list and comments, I would like to gratefully acknowledge review comments and encouragement provided by the following in alphabetical order: Andy Fyon, PhD, formerly of the Ontario Geological Survey; Kevin Kidd of the Kawartha Rock and Fossil Club and the Gem and Mineral Club of Scarborough; Laura Mancini, MSc, PGeo, of the Ontario Geological Survey; Bill Pearson, PhD, PGeo, and Deana Schwarz, PhD, PGeo, of the APGO Education Foundation; and Ashley Pollock of the London Gem, Mineral and Fossil Society, the Walker Mineralogical Club, and the Central Canadian Federation of Mineralogical Societies (CCFMS) Some Important Precautions and Disclaimers You are responsible for knowing where you can go, where you can park, what safety hazards may exist and what personal protective equipment you need, and what you can pick up and take back home. Parking rules change from road to road and place to place. Respect all laws and rights governing private and Crown property, and obey all rules and regulations covering any access to and from any of locations. Bedrock outcrops and other locations can pose traffic, slip-trip-fall and other hazards. The use of hammers can be dangerous and in some cases destroys the outcrop for future observation. Rock, mineral and fossil samples cannot be removed from protected areas such as parks and conservation areas or from private property without permission. If you are rockhounding, please follow the CCFMS Code of Ethics for Rockhounds (https://ccfms.ca/Copied_Field_Trips.php) and Safety for Field Trippers (https://ccfms.ca/CCFMS-Safety-Rules.php). I have not personally visited most of the sites listed and cannot vouch for the accuracy of the content of the resources. And finally, I have to disclaim any liability in connection with the use of the information presented and my annotated comments and recommendations. Great Unconformity bedrock outcrop at Galesburg just northeast of Peterborough in The Land Between. Photo: Ken Lyon Paleozoic Ordovician limestone about 450 million years old overlying Precambrian granitic mountain core about 1 billion years old; incredible time spans. Annotated List Alphabetically by Author (or source when no author is available) Resources marked * are particularly recommended. Level 1 Resources Brachiopod and bryozoa fossils in limestone near Lindsay, ON. Photo: Don McLeod used with permission. Don maintains a good nature blog at https://www.donaldmcleod.com Fossiliferous Ordovician limestone about 450 million years old. At the time we were under a warm shallow sea south of the equator. The large fossil is about 3 cm across. Other Museums, Science Centres, Geo-Parks There are many museums and other facilities across southern Ontario that feature geology exhibits. Here are a few that were recommended by my reviewers: Arkona Lions Museum – Arkona, ON Bancroft Mineral and Mining Museum, Bancroft, ON Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, ON Hooper Virtual Natural History Museum – Carleton University, Ottawa, ON Metcalfe Geoheritage Park – Almonte Miller Museum of Geology, Queens University, Kingston, ON Oil Museum of Canada, Oil Springs, ON Science North – Sudbury, ON Additional Fossil Resources Some additional fossil references recommended by my reviewers are listed below: Level 2 Resources Physiographic features of the Peterborough – Stoney Lake, ON area. Small portion of Physiography of the South Central Portion of Southern Ontario. Ont. Dept. of Mines and Northern Affairs, Map 2226. Scale 1:253,440. © Queen’s Printer for Ontario 1972. Reprinted 1984 with minor revisions. Features shown include till moraine (purple), sand plains

Pukaskwa National Park: How 2.7 billion years of geological evolution informs the park’s ecosystems

Joanna Hodge talks about her experience guiding tours and doing geoscience education as the Geologist in Residence at Pukaskwa National Park August 2023.

Landscape with mossy boulders and shrubs with a forest in the background. There is fog making the photo blurry. Text on the photo reads: "Geoscience Today. 7 Beautiful Autumn Hikes in Ontario"

7 Beautiful Autumn Hikes in Ontario

Looking to explore Ontario this fall season? Autumn is one of the best times to grab a warm drink and get outside to appreciate the colourful landscape. Here’s a list of some of the best hiking spots across Ontario. Each of these places has a unique history, geology, flora, and fauna. The fall colours in Ontario are generally best between mid-September and mid-October, but Ontario Parks also publishes a map showing the changing colours across Provincial Parks in Ontario! The fall colour map is updated weekly with current colours at each park, so make sure to check it out before you go! If you do go to any of these locations, be sure to come prepared with water, snacks, and emergency first aid. Please check the park or trail’s website before going to ensure they are open and see if you need to pre-book a parking spot. Some places close late October for the winter season, so make sure to double check that the trail is open before you leave. In order from south to north, here are the hikes to check out this fall: Point Pelee is at the southernmost point in Ontario, and is known for its diversity of ecology and wildlife. The autumn season sees visits from migrating Monarch butterflies on their way south. Visit the park from late August to mid-October in the early morning or just before sunset for a chance to view these gorgeous migrating butterflies. Point Pelee has a diverse mix of ecosystems including the Lake Erie Sand Spit Savannah – a unique mix of Red Cedar Savannah, Shoreline Savannah, and woodland. The difference between a savannah and a woodland or a forest has to do with the amount of light that reaches the undergrowth. In a savannah, less than 25% of the ground is covered by the canopy, allowing light-loving plants to grow underneath the trees. A woodland is defined by 25-50% canopy cover, and more than 50% cover is a forest. At Point Pelee you can also find a large marsh home to frogs, turtles, muskrats, snakes, insects, fish, and zooplankton; a swamp forest home to many species of birds, frogs and butterflies; and a dry forest with unique trees and wildflowers. Learn more about the ecology of Point Pelee on the Government of Canada website or on the Ontario Parks Blog. The hiking and walking trails at Point Pelee are also accessible to strollers and wheelchairs. Check out the trail maps here to plan your visit. 2. Dundas Peak Dundas Peak in Hamilton Ontario is surrounded on all sides by a gorgeous deciduous forest full of vibrant autumn colours. Standing on a large outcrop on the Niagara Escarpment, Dundas Peak overlooks the Spencer Gorge to the cliffs of the Escarpment beyond. Dundas Peak is located in the popular Spencer Gorge Conservation Area, where visitors come to see either the view from the peak or the two large waterfalls in the area. Note that entering the conservation area requires a booked appointment and a paid parking spot. Please read the Conservation Hamilton website carefully before you go, as they have recently made changes to limit the number of people on the trails. If you want to avoid the crowds, local blogger Lauren Yakiwchuk recommends the Sydenham lookout as a good alternative to Dundas Peak with almost the same view. 3. Pinery Provincial Park Pinery Provincial Park lies on the shores of Lake Huron and boasts beautiful oak trees. Due to its southern location and the moderating effect of Lake Huron, the trees at Pinery change colour later in the fall season and will be at their peak between mid-October and early-November. Pinery is also home to a very rare ecosystem – an oak savannah. Not only is the savannah rare, but the very landforms that make up Pinery Provincial Park are also unique. Pinery is situated on sand dunes formed over the last 6,000 years. Did you know that less than 0.5% of Ontario is made up of coastal sand dunes? About 7,500 years ago, most of southern Ontario was covered in one large lake called Lake Nipissing. As Lake Nipissing receded, sand and rocks were moved southward along the Eastern coast of Lake Huron from Grand Bend towards Kettle Point (see map below). Checkout the Friends of Pinery website for different hikes to try at Pinery. Creation of Dunes at Pinery Provincial Park. © King’s Printer for Ontario, 2019. 4. The Cheltenham Badlands The Cheltenham Badlands are famous for their unique geological formation. The rolling red rocks were formed 450 million years ago at the bottom of a lake. These rocks, part of the Queenston Shale Formation, were exposed over the years due to poor farming practices that eroded the topsoil. The red rocks match the red autumn leaves in the fall, adding to the magic of the landscape. There is also a 1.4 km hike in the conservation area that takes you through the forest surrounding the exposed rocks. The conservation area was previously closed to the public in order to preserve the rocks, but has since been reopened with a boardwalk over the rocks. The boardwalk is wheelchair accessible and there are educational information signs along it. You can no longer walk on the rocks in order to preserve them and prevent quick erosion of the landform. Make sure to go to the Cheltenham Badlands website to book a spot at least one day before you go. 5. Algonquin Provincial Park Algonquin is famous for its expansive forest and wildlife. Algonquin has forests of sugar maples and red maples, which turn brilliant orange and red colours in the fall. The colours will be at their best between mid-September and mid-October. There are so many walking trails that it can be hard to choose which one to do. Even if you visit Algonquin many times, there is always something new to see. The Fire Tower Trail in particular has a great lookout over the fall colours at the

A still, flat lake with evergreen trees on the opposite shore and a blue sky above. On top of the photo text reads: Geoscience Today. Crawford Lake: The Golden Spike of the Anthropocene.

Crawford Lake: The Golden Spike of the Anthropocene

Crawford Lake is a small lake near Milton Ontario, also called “Kionywarihwaen” meaning “where we have a story to tell” in the Wendat language. The lake was just designated as the “Golden Spike” for Earth’s proposed new epoch: The Anthropocene. The lake represents an extremely well preserved example of the impact humans have had on the geology and environment of the Earth in the last century. If the Anthropocene is officially accepted as a new epoch, then Crawford Lake will receive a physical golden spike in the rock to highlight the sediment layers that signal the new epoch. First, let’s back up a bit: What exactly is an epoch? And what is the Anthropocene? You may have seen a graph such as the one below that demonstrates the segments of geologic time. An epoch is one of the categories of time on the geologic time scale. From largest to smallest, the categories are: eon, era, period, epoch, and age. Each of these categories is separated by a significant event in geologic history, for example, the asteroid that finished off the dinosaurs defines the end of the Cretaceous period and the start of the Tertiary period. The Anthropocene is a potential new epoch that is proposed to have started around 1950. This epoch is defined by human impact on the Earth’s climate, environment and geology. Many geologists argue that the impacts of human development can be seen in the rock record, and mark a distinct change from the geology of the Earth pre-1950. So what does this have to do with a small lake near Milton, Ontario? Crawford Lake has a very unique ecosystem. The different levels of water in Crawford Lake do not mix together. The lake is very deep and not very wide, so the top layers of the water do not mix with the bottom layers. Lakes like this are called meromictic. Although in most meromictic lakes the bottom layer of water is oxygen-depleted, in Crawford Lake, the whole water column is oxygenated, making it especially unique. The layers of water at the bottom of the lake are virtually undisturbed by currents. The lack of sea life in the deep of the lake also ensures that the sediments are not disturbed from burrowing organisms. These unique features of Crawford Lake mean that each layer of sediment is not mixed with the last, and each yearly deposition of sediment can be distinguished from the last. There is nearly 10,000 years of layering that can be seen at the bottom of Crawford Lake. When geoscientists first recognized this, they were excited to find corn pollen preserved in layers from the Middle Ages, supporting the theory that the peoples of the time were farming corn. This also led to the discovery of a nearby Indigenous settlement with longhouses from the 15th Century. Now however, the layers are being examined again for evidence of human-related change. An increase in carbon-based particles in the 1950s reflects the increase in coal-fired steel-making in nearby Hamilton, Ontario. Nuclear testing has created an increase in plutonium in some of the layers. Additionally, nitrogen isotopes have been changed due to fertilizers and there’s evidence of acid rain. These are all further evidence that support the Anthropocene. So what happens next? The Anthropocene Working Group, part of the International Commission on Stratigraphy, is still determining whether or not the evidence supports the proposed epoch. It’s still possible that the International Commission on Stratigraphy will ultimately decide that there is not enough evidence to proclaim the start of the Anthropocene. Alternatively, they could decide that the Crawfordian age has begun, but that we are still in the Holocene epoch. Or they will accept the Anthropocene epoch and the Crawfordian era as the newest unit of geological time. If this happens, this will be the first epoch influenced by and observed by humans. It will also represent concrete evidence that humans have irreversibly changed the nature of the Earth down to even the rock record. This is a huge step forward in scientific knowledge and understanding of the interactions between humans and geology. For more information about Crawford Lake, check out this interactive illustrated article from the Washington Post. Sources: CBC Canada’s Crawford Lake chosen as ‘golden spike’ to mark proposed new epoch CBC A new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, has begun, scientists say Yale Environment: A Golden Spike Would Mark the Earth’s Next Epoch: But Where? The Washington Post: Crawford Lake shows humans started a new chapter in geologic time, scientists say Canadian Geographic: The Anthropocene is here — and tiny Crawford Lake has been chosen as the global ground zero Conservation Halton: Crawford Lake Studies International Society for Diatom Research: A small lake with a large story to tell: what does it take to represent an Epoch Veronica Klassen is the Manager of the Foundation’s blog – Beneath Your Feet: A Geoscience Blog. She studied Arts and Science at McMaster University with a minor in Earth Science and has a Master’s in Science Communication from Laurentian University. She is passionate about making science accessible and engaging to the public.

Geo Careers: Mary-Anne Hildebrandt

What is a career? Merriam-Webster defines career as “a profession for which one trains, and which is undertaken as a permanent calling.” With more workplaces embracing the idea of flexibility, the weight of words like “permanent” and “calling” evoke something else entirely. Career originates from the Latin carrus, as in a wheeled cart, which some interpret to mean chariot (Online Etymology Dictionary, n.d.). It sounds a great deal more epic than logging into a laptop for another Zoom call. Imagine you and your coworkers embarking on a journey in chariots each day. Surely, with that as your vision, nothing is out of reach. So, what do you do for a living? It’s a common question for any social gathering, and yet, my answer is met with surprise. People are surprised to learn that I am not a teacher or nurse or some other career that matches their perception of who I am. No one has ever guessed that I am a geoscientist. Why? Do I not look or sound like a geologist? This encounter is not exclusive to the public. In truth, I’ve even been mistaken for an administrative assistant when standing in my office wearing head to toe safety gear surrounded by rock samples, and that’s not to say administration staff don’t do field work. They most certainly can and do! It’s that everyone carries bias, and when no other information is available, we fill in the missing data with assumptions based on our own perceptions of the world. Even recently at PDAC, I was asked if I was there as a member of the media, and not a geologist. Who knew that you could work in an industry for 17 years and still feel at times that you don’t quite fit other people’s perceptions of your job title. Every day there are lessons, and some are only learned much later. When I left university for my first summer field position in 2006, I intended to return for a Master of Science, but looming student debt and other family obligations drove me to stay in the industry. I dreamed about continuing to hone my skills in the areas of geoscience that I enjoyed. Early on, I had a conversation with a manager of a team I wanted to join about my career aspirations, and he tried to put an end to those dreams. He explained that no company would invest their finite resources to support my development in this field because I was a woman, and at the age of 25, I was too old. In his experience, it wouldn’t be long before I would marry, have children, and pursue a different career. I left that conversation feeling devastated because this manager was someone that I truly respected. At the time, I didn’t know how to challenge the underlying beliefs and assumptions that he had conveyed about me. I questioned whether saying anything at all would make a difference. Who was he to decide what my future would hold? That evening, I resolved to not let his ignorance define me. Did you stay in Geoscience? I have had the good fortune to have worked in the field of geoscience since graduating and successfully achieved my designation as a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) in 2017. Drilling, sampling, mapping, and modelling led me to a deeper understanding of the influence of geological processes, sample bias, and error within spatial models and mineral estimates. In addition, the depth and breadth of the technical projects I have been able to work on has increased not only my technical skills but also my leadership skills. After working for several years as the person performing the annual reconciliation for Mineral Resources and co-authoring the technical report on the resource, I was appointed to carry out the duties of Competent Person (as defined in the SAMREC and the JORC codes) for the deposit I had spent years mapping and modelling. A Competent Person is responsible for preparing the technical report used for public disclosure of a Mineral Resource and Reserve. In the Canadian context, a CP would be similar to a Qualified Person or QP under the National Instrument 43-101 Standard. CPs, like QPs, are considered to be competent to sign-off because they meet or exceed the knowledge requirements and have enough time working in a particular commodity, like gold. There are other requirements, and for those working in the industry, it is best to be well-versed in the governing code or standard for your jurisdiction. It’s an incredibly important responsibility that cannot be taken lightly, and I was honoured to know that those in power trusted my capabilities to appoint me into that role. Although I enjoy the technical aspects of my work, I have found mentoring and coaching others to be equally, if not more, rewarding. My career has carried me to remote areas across Canada and even overseas to Botswana and South Africa. I am forever grateful to have been mentored and supervised by professionals who are highly respected in their field. These are the people who saw the value I could add to a team and a project, and they were instrumental in why I stayed the course. I found professionals from all disciplines were always there to lend a hand or an ear to help find a solution to the latest problem. One project that I had been assigned was to create a spatial estimate for a stockpile. This was not the norm and fell outside of our regular workflow. A stockpile is not an in-situ deposit. To use it in a business plan, my work still needed to answer similar questions that would be asked during mineral classification of an in-situ deposit. There are a number of factors involved in this work, but to keep this brief, these are the types of questions that needed to be considered: How did the mining team place the rock? Do we have confidence in the volume of the stockpile? How was the volume measured? At what frequency was the volume measured? Do

The APGOEF table at Science Rendezvous with fossils and stuffed animals. On top of the image text reads "Geoscience today: Science Rendezvous Kingston"

AGPOEF at Science Rendezvous Kingston

The APGO Education Foundation was excited to participate in Science Rendezvous in Kingston on May 13th, 2023! APGOEF has attended Science Rendezvous Kingston in previous years, and it has always been an incredible outreach event. The day started with opening ceremonies where the official town crier announced the decision to make May 13th, 2023, the official “Science Rendezvous Day.” The town crier along with the mayor opened the doors at 10am to allow the crowd of families into the Leon’s Centre on the Tragically Hip Way by Kingston’s waterfront. APGOEF collaborated with Mining Matters to create a fun table about the fossils of Kingston! Our booth was right next to the entrance to the Leon’s Centre and the crowd was instantly lining up to take a look at our fossils. We had an extensive fossil collection on display; some of which were donated to us by Bob O’Donnell. We engaged kids by handing out stickers that said “I love fossils.” The kids loved them, putting them on their hands and t-shirts or tucking them away safely into their tote bags provided by Science Rendezvous. We also brought our signature colour-changing pencils, which are always a hit at any event we go to. We showed the children how, if you rub the pencil between your hands, it will change from black to pink or blue! Everyone was obsessed with the pencils and we handed out 500 or more. We also had an interactive trace fossil activity with Play Doh. We provided an assortment of invertebrate fossils such as brachiopods, bryozoans, and corals, and encouraged people to press the fossils into the Play Doh and lift them out leaving behind a pattern. These patterns are similar to how trace fossils are made when the organism is alive, and sometimes all we have preserved of an organism is records of its behaviour in the sediment and not the animal itself! We also had some fun trace fossils on hand to surprise kids, such as footprints and coprolites (fossilized poop!) Once the kids were finished playing with the fossils and Play Doh, they moved further down the table to take a look at some cool fossil samples that could be found in the Kingston area. We explained how Kingston used to be under a massive shallow sea, and how all the sea creatures we see fossilized here used to live in the sea. We encouraged kids and parents to look around the limestones of Kingston to see some of the same fossils that were displayed here. At the end of the table we held a giveaway for three really cute fossil plushies as well as a copy of Four Billion Years and Counting, the beautifully illustrated geology textbook. We had families fill out a slip of paper answering questions about the fossils they interacted with in order to enter the giveaway. We picked three winners from the ballots the following day and mailed them their prizes. Approximately 1,300 people visited our booth during the 5 hour event. We really enjoyed talking to parents, kids, and individuals about the fossils of Kingston. A lot of the children expressed interest in fossils and some said that they had some fossils or rocks at home already. One child mentioned that he found a fossil on the way to school recently, and a few kids said that they loved dinosaurs. Although we didn’t have any dinosaurs at our table (you won’t find any dinosaur fossils in Kingston, or Ontario generally), we were still excited to connect with the kids about their passions. The other organizations at Science Rendezvous all had incredible booths! We did not have much of a chance to walk around and see the other exhibits because we were so busy, but the whole event looked like a big success. We would like to thank Science Rendezvous Kingston for having us again this year and for hosting such an incredible event. We also want to thank Bob O’Donnell for donating some of the beautiful fossils that really made our table a hit. We look forward to doing this again in the future! Veronica Klassen is the Manager of the Foundation’s blog – Beneath Your Feet: A Geoscience Blog. She studied Arts and Science at McMaster University with a minor in Earth Science and has a Master’s in Science Communication from Laurentian University. She is passionate about making science accessible and engaging to the public.

Geoscience Histories: John Tuzo Wilson

Canada’s history is full of geoscientists who have made important discoveries in the field of geoscience. Geoscientists work to help advance technology, solve problems, preserve the environment, and understand Earth’s processes. One important geologist in Canada’s history is John Tuzo Wilson, known for his contributions to the field of plate tectonics. John was born in Ottawa, in 1908, to Robert Wilson and Annie Tuzo. His father worked for the Canadian government as an engineer and his mother was an adventurous mountain-climber. Annie had a mountain peak named after her, Mount Tuzo, after she and her guide, Christian Bohren, were the first people to ascend the peak. John’s interest in geology began when he was quite young, and he used to collect rocks and fossils on family trips growing up. John studied physics and geology in his undergrad at the University of Toronto (U of T), graduating in 1930. At the time there was no geophysics program at U of T, however, John found instruction wherever he could and did a joint degree instead. He then moved to England on a Massey Fellowship to study at Cambridge. John moved to Princeton for his Ph.D., completing field work on his own in the Beartooth Mountains in Montana. After his studies, Tuzo Wilson worked for the Geological Survey of Canada as an Assistant Geologist. In 1938, John married Isabel Dickson in Ottawa. When World War II started, he joined the Royal Canadian Engineers, gaining rank to become a colonel. Isabel followed John to England to be closer to him during the war. They returned to Canada together in 1944 and he started a job as a Professor at the University of Toronto. It was here that John Wilson would spend the bulk of the rest of his career. John Tuzo Wilson via Smorris123 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons John’s research at U of T greatly influenced the field of plate tectonics. At the time, Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift was largely disputed. Wegener’s theory, published in the early 1900s, asserted that the continents move in relation to one another over long periods of time. But there were inconsistencies in his theory and a lack of evidence. John initially opposed the theory like most of his colleagues, but reconsidered his position later on. This reconsideration ultimately led to Wilson’s theory of plate tectonics. One of John’s significant contributions to the theory of plate tectonics was the idea of “hot spots.” He drew inspiration from studying the Hawaiian Islands, theorizing that the islands were created as the Pacific tectonic plate moved northwest, over a magma plume in the mantle. This created the chain of volcanoes decreasing in size and intensity to the southwest. This theory resolved some of the contradictions in Wegener’s continental drift theory. Wegner’s theory asserted that volcanoes form solely as a result of movement at the edges of tectonic plates and so was highly disputed because of the lack of explanation for volcanoes located away from plate boundaries (such as Hawaii). Wilson’s new hot spot theory provided an explanation for why there are volcanoes in other places as well as at plate boundaries. John’s second major discovery was that of transform faults. A transform fault occurs when two plates move past one another, sometimes resulting in a build-up of stress (e.g., shear stress). Transform faults may cause landforms to break and move past each other, thereby looking offset from each other in aerial view. This new theory of faults explained the topography of mid-ocean ridges and greatly contributed to the larger theory of plate tectonics. John continued to teach and research at U of T for many years, but even after he retired from the University, he continued to teach his theories, travelling to over 100 countries. He particularly loved travelling to China, and even wrote a book about his trip to China in 1958 entitled “One Chinese Moon.” He produced the tv series “Planet Earth,” and introduced many episodes, continuing his love for teaching. After Wilson retired, he became the director of the Ontario Science Centre, encouraging exploration and interest in science. He famously posted “please touch” signs on the exhibits. He wanted the centre to be a combination of artefacts and hands-on experiments, and often interacted with visitors and school groups. He also supported the introduction of travelling science exhibits in order to make science accessible to remote Ontario communities. The success of the travelling exhibits contributed to the creation of Science North in Sudbury, which Wilson supported. John Tuzo Wilson’s many discoveries led to our current theory of plate tectonics. His willingness to test the boundaries of science is what gave him great success. His passion for teaching and love for student exploration has greatly impacted the effectiveness of science centres in Ontario. Nick Eyles recently published a book about John Tuzo Wilson entitled “Tuzo: the unlikely revolutionary of plate tectonics.” It is an enlightening look at Tuzo’s life and career. APGOEF’s president Dr. Bill Pearson describes the book such: Nick has done a tremendous job pulling together a vast amount of historical information not just on the remarkable life and prodigious achievements of Tuzo Wilson but also documenting in fascinating detail the long and protracted battle between those that believed in a contracting earth versus those that believed in continental drift which eventually evolved into what we now know as plate tectonics…The book wonderfully documents the incredible technical revolution especially following WWII that revolutionized the science of geology and moved it rapidly forward…The account of his WWII service is outstanding, and Nick eloquently outlines how his experiences then gave Tuzo many lifelong skills in communication and leadership that would serve him well in future years…It is a fitting tribute to a remarkable man who is unquestionably Canada’s greatest geoscientist. Dr. Bill Pearson Check out the book at the University of Toronto Press or Amazon. Sources: Brittanica: J. Tuzo Wilson The Canadian Encyclopedia: John Tuzo Wilson The Canadian Encyclopedia: John Tuzo Wilson’s Theory

Black and white photo of Kate Rice. She stands looking into the distance dressed in a large coat and dark sunglasses. She is holding a gun and behind her is her log cabin. Beside the photo text reads: Geoscience Histories. Kate Rice.

Geoscience Histories: Kathleen Rice

Kathleen (Kate) Rice, also known as the Lady of the Lake, was an adventurer, prospector, wilderness survivalist, musher, hunter, trapper, and writer—despite living in a time where it was considered improper for middle- and upper-class women to do any of these things. She defied the expectations put on her as a single woman and lived her life in the wilderness of Northern Manitoba. She consistently chose nature over civilization and became proficient in the skills necessary to make a life for herself as a mineral prospector. Born in St. Mary’s Ontario, Kate’s parents taught her a love of nature growing up. Her dad showed her how to canoe and camp and told her stories of pioneering and exploration. Kate’s dad wanted to be an explorer himself, but instead took a more practical job teaching. Her father’s dreams and aspirations were possibly part of the reason that Kate became an explorer herself. Kate Rice studied mathematics, physics and astronomy in the early 1900s at the University of Toronto. She was awarded the prestigious Edward Blake scholarship twice and became a math teacher once she graduated. She was smart and gifted, but it wasn’t all easy going for her. When talking about teaching in a very male-dominated subject, she described that she was “constantly up against a feeling that [she] ought not to be there” (CIM Magazine). Maybe it was this feeling that drove Rice to live alone in the woods, or maybe it was simply the call of nature. In 1911, Rice moved near the Rocky Mountains for a teaching job and decided to take up mountaineering. She explored the Cascade Mountains and joined the Alpine Club of Canada, falling in love with a life outdoors. After only 5 years of teaching, she decided to give up her job and move up North to start a homestead. The Canadian government at the time was encouraging European settlers to explore the “new frontier”—Canada’s North. Of course, northern areas of Canada were not in fact new or unexplored, as Indigenous peoples had lived and travelled there since time immemorial. Kate moved up North as a colonial settler, which makes it difficult to decipher the true nature of Kate’s relationship with Indigenous people. We do know that she forged friendships with local Cree people, learned to speak Cree, and learned many life skills from her friends. However, the colonial nature of Canadian exploration adds complexity to her relationship with the Cree people which we cannot discount. Although the Canadian government wanted settlers to move up North, Kate was not legally allowed to buy land. Women weren’t considered people in Canada until 1929, so she enlisted her brother to buy a piece of land for her in his name. She bought a piece of land north of The Pas in Manitoba and she moved there in 1913. She started gardening, farming, fishing and writing, but there were many skills that she had to learn in order to survive on her own in Northern Manitoba. It was around this time that there was a gold rush near Beaver Lake. Rice decided to teach herself everything she could about geology and prospecting in the hopes of staking a claim for gold. In 1914, she hired a Cree guide to take her by dogsled to Beaver Lake. She continued from there by canoe to Brochet where she tried her hand at prospecting. She found some zinc and vanadium at Reindeer Lake, but she decided not to stake a claim there because it was inaccessible due to the lack of a railway. The following year, she hired “Old Isaac,” a local Cree elder, to take her back to Beaver Lake. She learned from Old Isaac how to shoot, hunt, trap, and mush dogs. It’s said that he called her “Mooniasquao,” or white woman. It was on this trip that she staked her first claims for gold and base metals near Beaver Lake. In 1916, she entered a prospecting partnership with Richard “Dick” Woosey. Dick had moved from England to Canada at age 25 with his wife, but his wife strongly disliked life in the bush and returned to England soon after. Dick and Kate connected and worked as prospectors together. She moved into his cabin on Chisel Lake, but despite rumours that they were romantically involved, Kate always made clear that their relationship was strictly a business partnership and friendship, nothing else. Almost 10 years later, Rice and Woosey built a cabin together on Assessment Island in Wekusko Lake. The island would later get renamed Rice Island for the 16 different prospecting claims that they made there. Woosey and Rice created the Rice Island Nickel Company in 1928 and attempted to sell their claims for $1 million. They were offered $500 000 but held out for a better offer. Instead of getting the payoff they had hoped, Kate and Dick ended up selling the claims to INCO for $20,000 many years later. Although they may not have seen much payment for the claims, Rice and Dick’s discoveries of copper and nickel were the reason that INCO originally came to Northern Manitoba, eventually turning Thompson into an important mining hub. At around 60 years old, Dick Woosey passed away, leaving Kate alone on the island. She continued to write, garden, fish, mush, and trap— taking care of the homestead for another 20 years after his death. She took her small 12ft canoe called “Duckling” on prospecting trips all over Manitoba and beyond. Kate was a skilled musher, becoming known for her ability to raise and train sled dogs, as well as mush without using a whip. She became somewhat of a local celebrity in Toronto where the rest of her family lived. Whenever she came to visit them, she would be hounded by papers wanting to write about her adventures. Although Kate never catered to the journalists, she did write several articles and scientific papers. A main topic for her writing was the Aurora Borealis because, after all, she