12 Geology

"Canada is vast, with an area of almost 10 million square kilometres and a coastline of over 202 000 kilometres - the longest of any nation.  These are well celebrated facts.  Less celebrated, but perhaps worthy of greater wonder, is Canada's trove of geological treasures.  Canada's geological story spans 4 billion years or more, from Earth's oldest-known rocks to those being created today on the sea floor off British Columbia.  Surprises abound: few people know, for example, that Canada once had the largest lake ever known, or that its rocks have yielded the oldest evidence of sexual reproduction, the remains of some of the first animals, and the bones of the earliest reptile.  In recent decades, geologists have come to the amazing conclusions that some 1.9 billion (or 1 900 million) years ago, parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba were separated by a huge ocean;  that 500 million years ago, parts of Nova Scotia were attached to what is now Africa;  that about 450 million years ago, Revelstoke in British Columbia's interior was located near the edge of the continental shelf;  that a mere 45 million years ago, a dawn-redwood forest thrived on Axel Heiberg Island, then as now in the high arctic;  and that 10 000 years ago (barely a blink of the eye in geological terms), the site on which Ottawa now stands was largely submerged by the sea.  Such evidence from Canadian rocks and fossils demonstrates that our planet's surface is constantly changing - and has been doing so for a long time."

(Four Billion Years and Counting: Canada's Geological Heritage, Nimbus Publishing and Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences, 2014)

GEOLOGY 12

(ACADEMIC credit) (Provincial Course Code: 0011211)
Geology 12 is designed to introduce students to the dynamic processes that have shaped and continue to shape our earth. From the origin of the Universe to the asphalt under your feet, this course makes students aware of the connections and importance of Geology in their everyday lives. This course is recommended for students who intend to pursue a career in Geology, and is a course that emphasizes field and lab activities, relying on cooperation and observations. It is therefore also a good general interest course that does not require an extensive science or math background. Some of the topics include Plate Tectonics, Earth’s Interior, Mineralogy, The Rock Cycle, Forces and Structures, Geological Time, and Mapping.

We will be moving through the curriculum by studying these 6 units:

• Unit 1 - The Nature of Geology

• Unit 2 - Earth Materials

• Unit 3 - Internal Processes

• Unit 4 - Surface Processes

• Unit 5 - Historical Geology

• Unit 6 - Environmental Geology