Stairway to Heaven EarthCache

This earth cache is located near the halfway point of the Bohaker Trail on the Delaps Cove Wilderness Trail, with a view of Meier Point to the Northwest. Answer the following questions about the area to log this find; 1) What is the type of rock exposed and how is this type of rock formed? 2) What is the size of exposed area? 3) How many steps are present at ground zero and what caused this steps?

Located on the southern side of the Bay of Fundy lies a steep-sided ridge (cuesta) which rises to more than 225 meters at its eastern end and slopes to near sea level in the west. The Basalt ridge is composed of several basaltic lava flows which dip northwest towards the Bay of Fundy at a shallow angle. They form the southern rim of a tilted spoon-shaped trough which underlies the bay. The basalt in the lower western part eventually disappears under the water beyond Brier Island. The shore from St. Croix Cove to Cape Split provides a good area for mineral (rock) collecting because fresh rock is exposed each year after the winter storms. Wind gaps through the ridge are found at Parkers Cove and Delaps Cove. These areas have also been eroded by weather and the tidal waters of the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world. These areas represent the abandoned lower valleys of rivers that flowed northwards from central Nova Scotia into the present Bay of Fundy and were captured by the Annapolis River. This evident in the region by the deep small canyons and water falls along the coast. There are no loose rocks here just neat formations from the exposed basalt (the sea floor material). There is also evidence of faults in this area, which are shifts in the land causing smaller ridges. The number of lava flows varies along the length of the ridge. Basalt lava flows exhibit interesting features that reflect their volcanic origins: such as Amygdules: Gas bubbles trapped in the lava are filled with minerals over time, for example, agate, amethyst, jasper and zeolite minerals such as stilbite and heulandite.

http://www.trails.gov.ns.ca/shareduse/ap009.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Mountain_%28Nova_Scotia%29

http://annapoliscounty.ca/community-recreation/parks-trails/414-delaps-cove-wilderness-trail

http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nhns2/700/720.htm

http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/meb/download/mg/ofm/htm/ofm_2010-010.asp

http://www.acadiau.ca/~raeside/quizzes/quiz-7.html

http://agrg.cogs.nscc.ca/Annapolis-Valley-DEM-from-LiDAR