Maligne Lake EarthCache

During our stay in the Canadian West in 2012, we saw many picturesque lakes, majestic mountains, beautiful animals or just an impressive nature.
Our route took us from Calgary to the Rockies, we crossed from south to north. From there we travelled to Mount Robson and Kamloops to the West Coast with her Olympic resort Whistler and therafter to Vancouver. After two exciting days in this Pacific city we continued to Manning Provincial Park and the orchards and vineyards of the Okanagan region. Finally we reached again the Rockies with the fascinating national parks Galcier, Yoho, Kootenay and Banff.

An unforgettable memory us two majestic lakes namely the one described here "Maligne Lake" and the location near Lake Louise "Moraine Lake" with its "Ten Peaks" => were simply indescribably beautiful!

Here, at Maligne Lake we rent a canoe and paddled across the lake. After this we walked to this notice board and sat there for a long time on the shore and enjoyed this beautiful view.

Here are some information about the geology of Maligne Lake:

Different rock, different mountains,different ecosystems

Anyone standing on the shore of Maligne Lake and enjoying the view could not help but notice how different the landscape looks on each side of the lake, especially the mountains near this end of the lake.

To the left (east), the peaks are mainly gray, with big cliffs.

To the right (west) the peaks are mainly brown,and they are gentler.

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The reason is geological.

A fault runs along the Maligne Valley. Named the Pyramid Thrust for Pyramid Mountain near Jasper, this major break divides mainly Paleozoic limestone and shale on the eastern side from older rock on the western side that is quite different:

Proterozoic and Cambrian gritstone (a kind of coarse sandstone), slate (metamorphosed shale) and quartzite (very hard sandstone). Overall, the rock on the west side of fault is easier to erode than the rock on the east side.

The Pyramid Thrust continues south from Maligne Lake, but not down the middle of the lake. It is found to the right (west) of the big two-summitted peak, Mt. Charlton (3217 m) and Mt. Unwin (3268 m). They are both on the limestone-and-shale side of the fault.

Much of the landscape you see on the west side of the fault has been carved in gritstone and slate. The topography beside the lake is rolling and the summits are not very high.

There are few cliffs. The slope exposure is to the northeast, so the sun hits the surface at a low angle, spreading its energy over a wide area. Lower sun angle means cooler soil. So the ecosystem on the right (west) side of the lake is cooler, with a thick forest of moisture-loving trees such as Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir.

The snowpack is over a metre thick there in winter, attracting animals that can survive in deep snow — moose and caribou — while the wolves that would otherwise prey on them avoid snow that deep. On the left (east) side, the rock resists erosion better and forms cliffs. The slopes face southwest, so the sun strikes at a high angle, practically straight-on. The energy is more concentrated, so the soil is warmer. More moisture evaporates, so the slopes are drier. The ecosystem here is thus grassier and more open, with drought-tolerant trees such as lodgepole pine. This is good habitat for mountain goats. You may see them in open places at and above the treeline. Look for white dots on the green slopes. The prevailing winds blow from the southwest. In winter the wind removes much of the snow, allowing mountain goats to reach the low-growing grasses and wildflowers they eat. Also, mountain goats need cliffs to climb where they can escape the grizzly bears, wolves and wolverines that prey on them. The geology on the east side of the fault provides escape terrain for them.

For further informations, please take a look at:

http://www.earthsciencescanada.com/geovista/PDFs_en/vistas7_ml.pdf

In order to log this cache please email the cache owner the answers to the following questions:

Because we are so fascinated of this lake, we would like to see him in different seasons and want to ask you for a picture of the lake on your visit. It`s not neccessary to upload a picture for logging this cache but it would be nice for us!

Thanks a lot and always happy hunting desire

Die Horhal`s

Deutsche Beschreibung:

Während unseres Aufenthaltes im kanadischen Westen im Jahre 2012, sahen wir viele malerische Seen, majestätische Berge, herrliche Tiere oder einfach nur eine beeindruckende Natur.

Unser Weg führte uns von Calgary in die Rockies, die wir von Süden nach Norden durchquerten. Von dort aus fuhren wir über den Mt. Robson und Kamloops an die Westküste mit ihrem Olympiaort Whistler nach Vancouver. Nach zwei interessanten Tagen in der Pazifikstadt ging`s weiter in den Manning Provincial Park und der Obst- und Weinbauregion um Okanagan. Zum Abschluß erreichten wir wieder die Rockies mit den faszinierenden Nationalparks Galcier, Yoho, Kootenay und Banff.

In unvergesslicher Erinnerung blieben uns zwei majestätische Seen und zwar zum Einen der hier beschriebene "Maligne Lake" und der nahe Lake Louise gelegene "Moraine Lake" mit seinen "Ten Peaks" => einfach unbeschreiblich schön!!!

Detaillierte Informationen zu dieser Gegend findet ihr unter:

http://www.earthsciencescanada.com/geovista/PDFs_en/vistas7_ml.pdf

Um diesen Cache loggen zu können, sende bitte eine Mail an die Owner mit den Antworten auf die folgenden drei Fragen:

1) Bitte erläutere die Farbe des Sees und erkläre wie diese zustande kommt!

Da uns dieser See so fasziniert hatte, würden wir ihn gerne zu den verschiedenen Jahreszeiten sehen und möchten euch bitten ein Bild bei eurem Besuch einzustellen.

Vielen Dank dafür sagen die Horhal`s.