*Canadian Shield*
View allAll Photos Tagged Precambrian
Drumheller
Alberta
Canada
Royal Tyrell Museum of Palaeontology
About 135 km south/east from Calgary in the Alberta Badlands lies the Royal Tyrell Museum. The museum is a centre of palaeontological research noted for his collection of more than 130.000 fossils.
The Museum is named in honour of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, a geologist who accidentally discovered the first reported dinosaur fossil in the Red Deer River valley in 1884 while searching for coal seams. The carnivorous dinosaur was later named Albertosaurus sarcophagus :-)
A view looking down into Sunlight Creek from the west side of the Sunlight Bridge on WY 296 (Chief Joseph Highway) northwest of Cody, Wyoming. The canyon is cut into Precambrian granitic gniess and granite. At 1,200 feet above Sunlight Creek, the span from which the photo was taken is the highest bridge in Wyoming. This photo was made from 6 vertical photos taken with a 85mm lens and stitched together.
Not quite Land's End. It threatning rain, but turned out to be a perfect day for a fall hike. Exposed Precambrian rock on the North Shore Rugged Hiking Trail, Parry Sound, Ontario — N° 2/6.
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Antelope Mesa (in the center of the photo) is seen in this photo from a scenic viewpoint on the Chief Joseph Highway as it desends Dead Indian Hill northeast of Cody, Wyoming. The mesa is capped by The Pilgrim Limestone Member of the Cambrian Gallatin Formation (~500 million years old) and is located on the eastern end of Sunlight Basin The Chief Joseph Highway can be seen in the photo as it passes near the west side of the mesa. To the upper left of the photo is the south end of Sugarloaf Mountain; to the upper center and riaht is the flank of the Beartooth Plateau. The Clarks Fork Canyon, which is not visible, lies to the right of the mesa. The rocks visible along the canyon area and the flank of the plateau are PreCambrian granitic gneisses and schists that are about 2.8 to 2.6 billion years old.
The end of the line for this small brook as it empties into the lake. Exposed Precambrian rock on the North Shore Rugged Hiking Trail, Parry Sound, Ontario — N° 5/6.
PLEASE: Do not post any comment graphics, they will be deleted. See info in my bio.
This pullout on the east side (Cody side) of the long tunnel on the Yellowstone Highway in Shoshone Canyon west of Cody Wyoming is for rock climbers. They come to climb the inner canyon walls which are made up of metamorphic and Igneous rocks that date to around 2.6 billion years ago. Geologist call this time period during the Precambrian the Archean Eon. These rocks represent a time when Wyoming was a separate microcontinent called the Wyoming Craton which existed 500 million years before the North American Continent formed. The layered gneissic complex in Shoshone Canyon consists of hornblende mica schist cut by granodiorite and granite pegmatites. These crystalline rocks are favored by climbers.
Wolf Peak peeks through a gap between Scotch Bonnet and Sheep Mountains. PreCambrian granite and schist make up this mountain in the Beartooth range.
Precambrian/Canadian Shield pink granite cliff face
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Boreal Shield Terrestrial Ecozone
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boreal_Shield_Ecozone_(CEC)
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Little East River, tributary of Big East River
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_East_River
www.ontariotrails.on.ca/index.php?url=trails/view/little-...
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Almaguin Highlands
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaguin_Highlands
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Parry Sound District
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A study of texture and time at Bradgate Park, Leicestershire. These jagged outcrops are part of the Charnwood Forest Precambrian formations—some of the oldest rocks in England, dating back over 500 million years. I loved the contrast between the ancient, sharp stone and the soft, russet hues of the winter bracken.
The Laurentian mountains pictured here date back to the Precambrian period and are more than 500 million years old.
Photograph taken at dusk, 4 October 2017.
Rivière/River Jacques-Cartier, Quebec, Canada
Camera: Olympus EM1 MkII
Lens: Olympus 12-40/2.8
PA040542
Precambrian block 'klippe', 9,080-foot summit - Rocky Mountain Front, Lewis Overthrust
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Mountain
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Nikon Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX
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The coastal cliffs of bare Precambrian rock called The Bastions reach up to 600 meters high on the north side of the Buchan Gulf on northern Baffin Island, Canada.
Layers maded up of Granite pegmatite and Granodiorite layers dominate this cliff in Shoshone canyon west of Cody Wyoming. Some back mica horneblend schist can be seen in the lower right of the photo. These metamorphic and Igneous rocks date to around 2.6 billion years ago. Geologist call that time period during the Precambrian the Archean Eon. These rocks represent a time when Wyoming was a separate microcontinent called the Wyoming Craton which existed 500 million years before the North American Continent formed.
Roxborough State Park, Fountain Valley Trail, Colorado
Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting. - Richard Paul Evans
While Colorado Springs has the amazing Garden of the Gods, Denver has to the Southeast its own version, Roxborough State Park, albeit slightly less dramatic but still beautiful and fascinating. Both these parks feature 300-million-year-old red sandstone Fountain Formations surrounded by deep green foliage, making for dramatic contrasts, especially at sunset. Here at Roxborough, Precambrian to Late Mesozoic hogback, monolithic and spire formations tilt at angles of up to 60 degrees on either side of lovely little Fountain Valley.
If you make it there, enjoy the beauty but stay on the trail, the signs warn of rattlesnakes. And they are not kidding, I got rattled at twice by these critters…
The shot: I rounded a curve on Fountain Valley Trail while chasing a defiantly elusive and rapidly fleeting sunset and came across this wonderful scene, where the red sandstone seemed to be reaching for any last rays the stones could possibly catch. Icing on the cake was that joyously detailed and incredibly blue sky.
Selected for FLICKR Explore January 8, 2021, # 54.
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A Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train comes out of one of 5 train tunnels that cut through Archean (Precambrian) age metamorphic and igneous rocks in Wind River Canyon between Shoshoni and Thermopolis, Wyoming, These rocks form the core of the Owl Creek Mountains which are dissected by the canyon. Most of the Precambrian rocks started out as sediments and basalts deposited in a trough on the margins of the Wyoming Craton during the Archean, about 2.9 bya. Metamorphism of these rocks occurred around 2.7 bya which resulted in black schists and amphibolites that was later intruded by white to pinkish gray quartz monzonite (Granite). Dikes of the granite intrusive can be see on the canyon wall in this photo. These rocks, some of the oldest in Wyoming, represent a time when Wyoming was a separate microcontinent (the Wyoming Craton) which existed 500 million years before the North American Continent formed.
Precambrian Belt Supergroup Mesoproterozoic sedimentary geology
blogs.agu.org/mountainbeltway/2010/08/23/rocks-of-glacier...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belt_Supergroup
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Nikon Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX
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In late winter and early spring in Wyoming ice is a good give away for the presence of low volume springs and seeps. In Wind River Canyon between Thermopolis and Shoshone Wyoming ice marks this small roadside spring. The water seems to be coming from the contact between the Precambrian Granite and The Cambrian Flathead Sandstone. The area around the springs is partially covered by colluvium and soil..
After a heavy rain, I photographed the standing stones of Callanish with just a trace of sunrise colour. Callanish I is a late Neolithic stone circle (2900-2600 BC) containing 13 standing stones composed of Precambrian metamorphic rocks. Callanish, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Viewers will be familiar with these stones from the TV series Outlander.
27/02/2023 www.allenfotowild.com
Detail from the canyon wall at the Gut Conservation Area. The Crowe River here flows over an exposed Precambrian basaltic lava ridge which is part of the Canadian Shield, then over a beautiful waterfall plunging into a gorge which is made from a fault in the ridge. The gorge is some 30 meters high and from 5 to 10 metes wide. Beyond the falls, the Crowe flows through a series of rapids and pools for about 230 meters.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gut_(geological_feature)
ontarioconservationareas.ca/component/mtree/conservation-...
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana.
View towards the Pryor Mountains (left), Dry Head Basin, Garvin Basin and the Bighorn Mountains (right). The rock layers are mainly from Precambrian (ca. 2.5 billion years old) through Pennsylvanian (300 million years old).
© 2015 Marc Haegeman. All Rights Reserved
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Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado
The Gunnison River, a tributary of the Colorado River, has a section of gorge that is extremely deep and very narrow with impressively sheer walls carved into Precambrian basement rock. It is said that certain parts of the gorge receive direct sun light for only a half hour a day, hence the name "Black Canyon".
This section of the canyon near the Painted Wall was being lit by the setting sun. The light colored streaks of rock in the canyon walls are pegmatite, a volcanic intrusion also from Precambrian times.
The middle of 3 tunnels cuts through Archean (Precambrian) age metamorphic and igneous rocks in Wind River Canyon between Shoshoni and Thermopolis, Wyoming, These rocks form the core of theOwl Creek Mountains which are dissected by the canyon. Most of the Precambrian rocks started out as sediments and basalts deposited in a trough on the margins of the Wyoming Craton during the Archean, about 2.9 bya. Metamorphism of these rocks occurred around 2.7 bya which resulted in black schists and amphibolites that was later intruded by white to pinkish gray quartz monzonite (Granite). A dike of the granite intrusive can be see on the opposite canyon wall in this photo. These rocks, some of the oldest in Wyoming, represent a time when Wyoming was a separate microcontinent (the Wyoming Craton) which existed 500 million years before the North American Continent formed.
The Tunnels in Wind River Canyon were dug when the road was first built through the Canyon in 1925. Before that time wagons then cars had to go over the top of the Owl Creek Mountains. In this nortward looking view, Tunnel #1 can be seen through tunnel #2. The railroad runs down the other side of the river. The railroad has 6 tunnels from the Dam through the Canyon.
A pegmatite intrusive cuts trough amphibolite and biotite schists in Wind River Canyon between Shoshoni and Thermopolis, Wyoming. These Archean (Precambrian) metamorphic and igneous rocks form the core of the Owl Creek Mountains which are dissected by the canyon. Most of the Precambrian rocks started out as sediments and basalts deposited in a trough on the margins of the Wyoming Craton during the Archean, about 2900 Ma. Metamorphism of these rocks occurred around 2750 Ma which resulted in black schists and amphibolites that was later intruded by white to pinkish gray quartz monzonite (Granite) and pegmatites (2730 Ma). A dike of the granite intrusive can be see on the opposite canyon wall in this photo. These rocks, some of the oldest in Wyoming, represent a time when Wyoming was a separate microcontinent (the Wyoming Craton) which existed 500 million years before the North American Continent formed. A combination of the Laramide uplift, the Boysen fault and the incision of the Wind River result in the exposure of these Archean rocks in the southern Wind River canyon.
References:
usgeologymorphology.com/wind-river-canyon-p5.html
Mueller, P. A., Peterman, Z. E., and Granath, J. W., 1985, A bimodal Archean volcanic series, Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming Journal of Geology, v. 93, p. 701-712.
Condie, K. C., 1967, Petrologic reconnaissance of the Precambrian rocks in Wind River Canyon, central Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming, Wyoming University Contributions to Geology, v. 6, no. 2, p. 123-129.
Stuckless, J.S., Miesch, A.T., Wenner, D.B., Hedge, C. E., Simmons, K.R., Nkomo, I.T., and Butt, K.A., 1986, Chemical and isotopic studies of granitic Archean rocks, Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming, USGS Professional Paper 1388-A-C, 48p.
This is a view of a chunk of Precambrian layers along the Colorado River. Mostly there are Precambrian layers in this part of the River. Metamorphic Schist (including Vishnu and Brahma) and Precambrian Granite (including Zoroaster). The Precambrian layers are over 1billion years old. I believe this is Vishnu Schist with intrusive veins of Zoroaster Granite. Any clarification or correction will be appreciated.
[edit] Additional elucidation from Mike Beauregard:
showing metamorphosed bedded black shale with injections of younger pink granite and white quartz veins, all of which is folded. [end edit]
I went on a non-motorized Raft trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon with Arizona Raft Adventures from May 16 through May 31. Four Oar rafts, a Dory, and a paddle raft.
AZRA has perfected Colorado River / Grand Canyon rafting. The guides were great, the food was great. Other than the weather, the experience was great.
I went with the idea that this was not a photo adventure. I was going to enjoy the experience and the ride. So I don't have photos of our put in at Lee's Ferry. But you know that you can't get that photo bug out of your system. I did not take my good cameras. This is a nice little Olympus TG-5. Everything takes a beating on a trip like this. It came out a little worse for wear but held up like a champion. On a trip like this you get sand in places you never knew you had places.
GRCA1919
P5230231 acd1-SharpenAI-Focus
This Group has Mood, TGHM,
Most of the rocks in northwest Queensland formed so long ago in the Precambrian era (specifically in the Proterozoic) that most of the Australian continent did not then exist, and the global configuration of continents and oceans was completely different. One view is that the Pacific Ocean had not yet opened, and Australia was situated adjacent to rocks of similar age in Canada. Nevertheless, because of their economic interest, the old rocks in the northwest have been closely studied, and an internal timetable of events sorted out. The old rocks are called the Mount Isa Inlier, and the inlier simply being a patch of old rocks surrounded by younger rocks.
The oldest rocks of the Mount Isa Inlier stem from about 1870 to 1840 million years ago, although they must have been deposited on or intruded into even older rocks that are not exposed. They make up the 'basement' to all of the subsequent sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Inlier. Seismic (geophysical) profiles of the deeper crust confirm that they are underneath all the younger rocks.
Between about 1790 and 1590 million years ago the crust in the Mount Isa Inlier periodically stretched (or 'extended') and the resulting tension allowed 'rift' valleys or basins bounded by curved faults to subside. Thick piles of sedimentary and volcanic rocks accumulated in these. In some cases, the subsidence was rapid in relatively narrow, clearly defined rifts or deep troughs, whilst at other times subsidence was slow when the crust simply sagged over a broad area. Three major periods are recognised in the time interval, and the separate basins and rifts are grouped as the Leichhardt Superbasin, the Calvert Superbasin, and the Isa Superbasin.
These basin subsidence episodes were separated by periods when no sediments were deposited, or by periods of compression. However, to the east, a deep marine basin offshore probably received sediment continuously through the Calvert and Isa Superbasin times. This is the Soldiers Cap Basin.
Finally, after a major period of deformation (the Isa Orogeny) that affected all three superbasins, sediments were deposited in a large basin to the northwest, the South Nicholson Basin..
Source: Rocks and Landscapes of Northwest Queensland by Laurie Hutton & Ian Withnall.
We live very close to the boundary line of the Canadian (Precambrian) Shield. Once you cross it, there are rocks and trees and not a whole lot of agriculture.
© AnvilcloudPhotography
About 1,800 million years (Ma) ago, a sedimentary conglomerate with round pebbles was subducted into an oceanic trench, transforming it into a metamorphic phyllite. During this process, the pebbles were flattened out into pancakes less than 0.5cm think and over 20cm in diameter. Seen here in cross section, they appear as thin streaks with tapered ends. Some of the larger pebbles (dark reddish at the upper left corner and at right) are still lens shaped with tapered corners. Size approx 20 by 30 cm. Prescott Heights AZ, Center for Natural History
This block of hard Precambrian metamorphic rock rises 600 metres from the Buchan Gulf on northern Baffin Island, Canada.
Precambrian block 'klippe', 9,080-foot summit - Rocky Mountain Front, Lewis Overthrust - on Blackfeet Indian Reservation
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Mountain
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Nikon D300 + Nikon Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX
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About 1,800 million years (Ma) ago, a sedimentary conglomerate with round pebbles was subducted into an oceanic trench, transforming it into a metamorphic phyllite. During this process, the pebbles were flattened out into lens shaped pancakes, sometimes less than 0.5cm think and over 20cm in diameter. Seen here in an outcropping, some of the larger pebbles are still lens shaped with tapered corners. Prescott Heights AZ, Center for Natural History
Precambrian schist wedged under a light colored pegmatite intrusion. Part of the Mojave province, 1.7 billion years old. Warm Springs trailhead in the Beaver Dam Mountains, Utah.
Current ripples (most likely lacustrine) along North Fork Road near Glacier Montana, about 1foot wide. 11U 709960E 5384467N (3308ft)
"The visitor to Algonquin Park will not only be impressed by
its numerous lakes, streams, forested uplands, and marshy
lowlands, but he should also be aware of two fundamentally
different materials of which these features are composed - solid bedrock and loose rock debris (soil). These materials differ greatly in age: The bedrock is part of the great Canadian Shield of ancient crystalline rocks formed during the Precambrian Era, sometime between the beginning of the Earth 4,500 million years ago and the emergence of abundant primitive life 600 million years ago; rock debris and soil capping the bedrock is the result of extensive glaciation that culminated in this region a scant 15,000 years ago. The present land surface was sculptured by the glacial ice as it flowed southward, effectively removing most traces of geologic history between the Precambrian and relatively recent times."
-- A Geological Guide to Highway 60 Algonquin Provincial Park by G. R. Guillet, 1969
(www.geologyontario.mndmf.gov.on.ca/mndmfiles/pub/data/ima...)
part of the Mojave block, accreted during the build up of Rhodinia to the Laurentia (North America). This metamorphic rock is 1.7 billion years old.
Fossilized ripples in red argillite atop an alpine ridge in Waterton indicate that this part of the Rockies was once seabed. Along the trail leading up to Goat Lake - seen here in the little hanging valley below the argillite ridge - fossil algae can be seen in limestone outcrops, once part of a reef that survived in a shallow Precambrian sea more than one billion years ago.
That helps put things in perspective. I've been bemoaning the burning of this place by a wildfire that swept through it in 2017, but really, it's the merest flash in geologic time. I should be grateful to have witnessed it in its fullness, and now - soon - will have an opportunity to see the first stages of regeneration. Working on that!
To get some idea of scale, return to yesterday's upload, a view from the shore of Goat Lake. The mountain that towers over it is merely a dark bump in this shot, made the same day. I hiked up to Goat Lake several times over the years and never could resist the final fifteen hundred feet or so to Avion Ridge, above it, for this amazing view.
Photographed in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 1994 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Long Lake is one of the glacial lakes on the Beartooth Plateau that is next to Highway US 212 in Wyoming. The top of the Hill in the photo is 9805 feet (2989 meters) ASL. On this afternoon there were several rainshowers and storms that crossed the plateau periodically bringing very dark clouds.
About 1,800 million years (Ma) ago, a sedimentary conglomerate with round pebbles was subducted into an oceanic trench, transforming it into a metamorphic phyllite. During this process, the pebbles were flattened out into lens shaped pancakes, sometimes less than 0.5cm think and over 20cm in diameter. Seen here in cross section, some of the larger pebbles are still lens shaped with tapered corners.Red pebbles are hematite in Banded Iron Formation (BIF) Size approx 3 by 4 cm. Prescott Heights AZ, Center for Natural History
The Cango Caves are located in Precambrian limestones at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudtshoorn, in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The principal cave is one of the country's finest, best known, and most popular tourist caves and attracts many visitors from overseas. Although the extensive system of tunnels and chambers go on for over 4 km (2.5 mi), only about a quarter of this is open to visitors.
Cave paintings and artifacts indicate that the caves were in use throughout prehistory over a long period during the Middle and Later Stone Ages .The caves were rediscovered in modern times in 1780 by a local farmer named Jacobus Van Zyl. The chamber he first was lowered down into was found to be as long as a football field, and is named Van Zyl Hall in his honor. Further exploration was done and a second chamber discovered in 1792. The caves soon became a popular place to visit.A.J.H. Goodwin, an archaeologist at the University of Cape Town, carried out a test excavation in the Cango Caves in 1930 which found stone artefacts and other cultural material.
The first rough survey was done in 1897, mapping out the first 26 chambers. In 1956 the South African Spelaeological Association was tasked to draw up an accurate mapping of the Cango Caves, and look for alternative entrances.
Their results indicated that the caves were 775 m (2,543 ft) long in a single line, and that they never rise nor fell more than 16 m (52 ft). These were called Cango I. The nearest point to the surface in the caves is at the top of the shaft in the Devil's Kitchen, 52.6 m (173 ft) from the floor. In 1972 James Craig-Smith, Luther Terblanche and Dart Ruiters widened an obstructed passage to discover Cango II. It stretches 270 m (890 ft) beyond the end of the Devil’s Kitchen. At the end of Cango II there is a shaft that descends 20 m (66 ft) to a chamber filled with water. This water flowed in the direction of Cango I.
In August 1975, during a symposium on cave biology, an exploration team led by Florus Koper drained the chamber of most of its water and crawled through what was previously an underwater passage. This led to the discovery of more caves, called Cango III. Altogether these caves are about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) long. The biggest of the chambers, stretches about 300 m (980 ft).
Digby Ellis and Dave Land added 290 m (950 ft) to Cango III when they discovered a crawlway in December 1977. A further 90 m (300 ft) was added in June 1978. All these extensions were surveyed in August 1978 by Dave Land, Charles Maxwell, Brian Russell and Dave Crombie.
Near Welcome Spring, precambrian metasediment. Beaver Dam Mountains, Utah, precambrian, 1.7billion years.
Migmatites are metamorphic rocks subjected to high pressure and very high heat. As a result, some components are melting (such as the whitish feldspar), whereas the more mafic components undergo ductile deformation in a solid state. Kind of subterranean toffee factory...
Beaver Dam Mountains, Utah, precambrian, 1.7billion years.
Migmatites are metamorphic rocks subjected to high pressure and very high heat. As a result, some components are melting (such as the whitish feldspar), whereas the more mafic components undergo ductile solid deformation. Kind of subterranean toffee factory...
The Precambrian bedrock of the Lower Savage Islands, Nunavut, Canada, is among the oldest rock on the earth's surface dating back up to four billion years.
Single exposure Light Art Photography, only moving lights in the darkness, no layers, no tricks.
Unser nächster Workshop findet am 4. März in Berlin statt.
The visible geology in Bradgate Park Leicestshire ranges from some of the oldest (Precambrian) rocks in England to the youngest (Quaternary). The rock outcrops were created in conditions varying from volcanos rising out of the ocean, to magma flowing deep underground and from tropical deserts to Ice sheets