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Misery Bay
Misery Bay is a freshwater bay on Manitoulin Island in Ontario. It is noted for its alvars and large dolomite pavements ground flat by glaciers. It also contains grykes and ecologically significant wetlands. History Misery Bay was covered by the Laurentide Ice Sheet 20,000 years ago. It was only exposed 10,000 years ago, with most of the area being inundated with glacial lake water 4,000 years later. The land has been slowly rising since then as it is no longer weighed down by the glacier. The land surrounding Misery Bay was privately owned, purchased by the Sifferd family in 1959. A visitor's centre was built in 1982, and the land was donated to Ontario Parks Ontario Parks is a branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in Ontario, Canada, that protects significant natural and cultural resources in a system of parks and protected areas that is sustainable and provides opportuni ... in 1989. Provincial park In 1989, Ontario created a provincia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island ( ) is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia (bioregion), Laurentia. With an area of , it is the Lake island#Naturally occurring lake islands by area, largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 lakes itself. In addition to the historic Anishinaabe and European settlement of the island, archaeological discoveries at Sheguiandah have demonstrated Paleo-Indian and Archaic period in the Americas, Archaic cultures dating from 10,000 BC to 2,000 BC.Lee, Thomas E. (1954). "The First Sheguiandah Expedition, Manitoulin Island, Ontario" ''American Antiquity'' 20:2, p. 101, accessed 13 Apr 2010 The current name of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ontario Parks
Ontario Parks is a branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in Ontario, Canada, that protects significant natural and cultural resources in a system of parks and protected areas that is sustainable and provides opportunities for inspiration, enjoyment and education. The Ontario Parks system covers over , which is about 10 per cent of the province's surface area or the equivalent of an area approximately equal to New Brunswick. It falls under the responsibility and mandate of the province's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. It was formerly under the mandate of the Ministry of Natural Resources, under the Department of Lands and Forests. The Ontario Parks system has been used as a model for other parks systems in North America. This can be attributed to its delicate balance of recreation, preservation and conservation. Many parks in Ontario also offer a Natural Heritage Education program (also called interpretive services or visitor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it is home to 38.5% of the country's population, and is the second-largest province by total area (after Quebec). Ontario is Canada's fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area of all the Canadian provinces and territories. It is home to the nation's capital, Ottawa, and its list of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city, Toronto, which is Ontario's provincial capital. Ontario is bordered by the province of Manitoba to the west, Hudson Bay and James Bay to the north, and Quebec to the east and northeast. To the south, it is bordered by the U.S. states of (from west to east) Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York (state), New York. Almost all of Ontario's border with the United States follows riv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvar
An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie-like plants. Most alvars occur either in northern Europe or around the Great Lakes in North America. This stressed habitat supports a community of rare plants and animals, including species more commonly found on prairie grasslands. Lichen and mosses are common species. Trees and bushes are absent or severely stunted. The primary cause of alvars is the shallow exposed bedrock. Flooding and drought, as noted, add to the stress of the site and prevent many species from growing. Disturbance may also play a role. In Europe, grazing is frequent, while in North America, there is some evidence that fire may also prevent encroachment by forest. The habitat also has strong competition gradients, with better competitors occupying the deeper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolomite (rock)
Dolomite (also known as dolomite rock, dolostone or dolomitic rock) is a sedimentary rock, sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral Dolomite (mineral), dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. It occurs widely, often in association with limestone and evaporites, though it is less abundant than limestone and rare in Cenozoic rock beds (beds less than about 66 million years in age). One of the first geologists to distinguish dolomite from limestone was Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu, a French mineralogist and geologist after whom it is named. He recognized and described the distinct characteristics of dolomite in the late 18th century, differentiating it from limestone. Most dolomite was formed as a magnesium replacement of limestone or of Lime (mineral), lime mud before lithification. The geological process of conversion of calcite to dolomite is known as dolomitization and any intermediate product is known as dolomitic limestone. The "dolomite problem" refers to the v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limestone Pavement
A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial Sidewalk, pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have developed distinctive surface patterning resembling paving blocks. Similar landforms in other parts of the world are known as alvars. Formation of a limestone pavement Conditions for limestone pavements are created when an advancing glacier scrapes away overburden and exposes horizontally Bedding (geology), bedded limestone, with subsequent glacial retreat leaving behind a flat, bare surface. Limestone is slightly soluble in water and especially in acid rain, so corrosive drainage along joints and cracks in the limestone can produce slabs called ''clints'' isolated by deep fissures called ''grikes'' or ''grykes'' (terms derived from a English language in northern England, northern English dialect). If the grykes are fairly straight and the clin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glacier
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as crevasses and seracs, as it slowly flows and deforms under stresses induced by its weight. As it moves, it abrades rock and debris from its substrate to create landforms such as cirques, moraines, or fjords. Although a glacier may flow into a body of water, it forms only on land“Glacier, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Accessed 25 Jan. 2025. and is distinct from the much thinner sea ice and lake ice that form on the surface of bodies of water. On Earth, 99% of glacial ice is contained within vast ice sheets (also known as "continental glaciers") in the polar regions, but glaciers may be found in mountain ranges on ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gryke
A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have developed distinctive surface patterning resembling paving blocks. Similar landforms in other parts of the world are known as alvars. Formation of a limestone pavement Conditions for limestone pavements are created when an advancing glacier scrapes away overburden and exposes horizontally bedded limestone, with subsequent glacial retreat leaving behind a flat, bare surface. Limestone is slightly soluble in water and especially in acid rain, so corrosive drainage along joints and cracks in the limestone can produce slabs called ''clints'' isolated by deep fissures called ''grikes'' or ''grykes'' (terms derived from a northern English dialect). If the grykes are fairly straight and the clints are uniform in size, the resemblance to man-made paving ston ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wetlands
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially in the soils. Wetlands form a transitional zone between waterbodies and dry lands, and are different from other terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems due to their vegetation's roots having adapted to oxygen-poor waterlogged soils. They are considered among the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as habitats to a wide range of aquatic and semi-aquatic plants and animals, with often improved water quality due to plant removal of excess nutrients such as nitrates and phosphorus. Wetlands exist on every continent, except Antarctica. The water in wetlands is either freshwater, brackish or saltwater. The main types of wetland are defined based on the dominant plants and the source of the water. For example, ''marshes'' are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glacial Lake
A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago, glaciers began to retreat. A retreating glacier often left behind large deposits of ice in hollows between drumlins or hills. As the ice age ended, these melted to create lakes. These lakes are often surrounded by drumlins, along with other evidence of the glacier such as moraines, eskers and erosional features such as glacial striations, striations and chatter marks. These lakes are clearly visible in aerial photos of landforms in regions that were glaciated during the last ice age. The formation and characteristics of glacial lakes vary between location and can be classified into glacial erosion lake, ice-blocked lake, moraine-dammed lake, other glacial lake, supraglacial lake, and subglacial lake. Glacial lakes and chan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
