The Cobequid Mountains,Geographical Names Board of Canada - Cobequid Mountains
/ref> also sometimes referred to as the Cobequid Hills, is a Canadian

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

located in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

in the mainland portion of the province.

Geologic history

Geologically, the Cobequid Mountains are considered part of the

Appalachians The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. The range stretches from

Cape Chignecto Cape Chignecto is a headland located on the Bay of Fundy coast of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Cape Chignecto is located at the westernmost tip of Cumberland County and is the western limit of the Cobequid Hills, a low mountain range tha ...

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberl ...

in the west through to

Pictou County Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Further ...

in the east. The Cobequid Mountains trace their geologic history to the

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

and

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

ages; consequently the mountains are composed of a combination of sediments, granites, and volcanic rock all of which has been crushed and folded by

continental drift Continental drift is a highly supported scientific theory, originating in the early 20th century, that Earth's continents move or drift relative to each other over geologic time. The theory of continental drift has since been validated and inc ...

when this part of Nova Scotia was located at the centre of the

Pangea Pangaea or Pangea ( ) was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia (continent), Siberia during the Carboniferous period ...

supercontinent. Subsequent erosion over millions of years has resulted in the present-day low range of mountains and rolling hills. The part of northern Nova Scotia which contains the Cobequid Mountains is believed to have been linked with what is now northern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Its collision with a section from present-day northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

has resulted in the current landscape in the province; a remnant fault line from this event, the Cobequid-Chedabucto Fault, extends along the southern portion of the Cobequid Mountains, immediately north of the

Minas Basin The Minas Basin () is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides. Geography The Minas Basin forms the eastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits ...

and

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

east to Canso. Some mistakenly consider the Cobequid Mountains to extend into

Antigonish County Antigonish County is a historical county and Census divisions of Canada, census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the Municipality of the County of Antigonish, the Town of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Antigonish, and b ...

further east, however this smaller range is geologically distinct and is named the Pictou-Antigonish Highlandsbr>

Highest elevations

The highest point of the Cobequid Mountains is an unnamed peak on the eastern side of the

Wentworth Valley The Wentworth Valley is a valley in the Cobequid Mountains of northwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It comprises the lowest elevation pass through the Cobequids. It was named after the colonial governor John Wentworth (1792-1808). Physical geograp ...

(). Other high peaks include

Higgins Mountain __NOTOC__ Higgins may refer to: People and fictional characters * Higgins (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Australia * Higgins, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra dist ...

(), Nuttby Mountain (), Dalhousie Mountain (), and Mt. Thom ().

Freshwater resources

The range contains an abundance of freshwater lakes and some springs which form headwaters that flow via a number of small rivers and streams south into the

and north into

Northumberland Strait The Northumberland Strait (French: ''détroit de Northumberland'') is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada. The strait is formed by Prince Edward Island and the gulf's eastern, southern, and western sho ...

. Several

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

s associated with the

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

have been formed from fault lines, resulting in a number of waterfalls on the southern mountain slopes.

Forests and mineral resources

Forests covering the Cobequid Mountains are mainly of hardwood species

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

and

yellow birch ''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the p ...

on mountain slopes, which present spectacular displays in autumn with the changing of the colours. Steep stream and river valleys are dominated by

red spruce ''Picea rubens'', commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia, west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along the Appalachians to wester ...

stands. The lower slopes consist of

balsam fir ''Abies balsamea'' or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada (Newfoundland west to central Alberta) and the northeastern United States (Minnesota east to Maine, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to ...

black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of Newfoundland and Labrador and is tha ...

white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce (''Picea'') and may refer to: * '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Mountains of the United States and Canada * ''Picea glauca ''Picea glauca'', the whi ...

paper birch Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is drained through a fine mesh leaving ...

, and

red maple ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nati ...

. The sedimentary deposits in the Cobequid Mountains hold several

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

deposits in various basins, stretching across the northern slope of the mountains in Cumberland County (from

Joggins Joggins is a rural community located in western Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada. On July 7, 2008 a 15-km length of the coast constituting the Joggins Fossil Cliffs was officially inscribed on the World Heritage List.River Hebert to Springhill) and on the southern edge at

Debert Debert ( ; 2006 pop: 1,471) is an unincorporated farming community in Nova Scotia, Canada. Located in the central-western part of Colchester County, it is approximately west of Truro. The community has two churches ( United Baptist Church an ...

. Igneous rocks yielded iron ore at Londonderry.Ronnie Van Dommelen
Londonderry iron mining district
The Mineralogy of Nova Scotia

References

External links

Waterfalls of the Cobequid Mountains
{{Coord, 45, 31, N, 64, 05, W, region:CA_type:mountain, display=title Mountains of Nova Scotia Mountain ranges of Nova Scotia Landforms of Colchester County Landforms of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia Landforms of Pictou County Mountains of Canada under 1000 metres