Fossils at this site are from about 51.7 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch. At that time, this area was a large fish bearing lake surrounded by a diversity of plant and insect life. It was warm, temperate and wet with active volcanoes in the vicinity. Mud, silt and volcanic ash settled over the remains of plants and animals as they settled to the bottom of the lake and they were preserved as fossils.
Over time a river, now Driftwood Creek, carved a canyon through the ancient lakebed exposing the fossils in the walls of shale and siltstone that you see today. Erosion of the fossil beds continues today due to high water levels in the creek during spring and the continual freezing and thawing of the shale in late winter.
Fossils found at the site so far include 29 genera of plants, 21 families of insects as well as unique fish, bird and mammalian fossils. The fossils are extraordinarily well preserved with great clarity allowing detailed study by scientists.
The oldest known species of salmon in the world, Eosalmo driftwoodensis, was discovered at, and named for, this site in 1977. In July 2014, scientists published work on two mammalian fossils which had been discovered in 2012. The fossils are an early tapir and a previously unknown and undescribed prehistoric hedgehog. Prior to these finds, mammal fossils from the Eocene Epoch had never been discovered anywhere in Canada below the Arctic.
This area was designated a provincial park in 1967. There is a day-use/picnic area located beside Driftwood Creek complete with parking, picnic tables, fire pits, toilets, garbage facilities and a wheelchair accessible (in summer) interpretive trail.
It is unlawful to excavate for or remove fossils from the area.
To log this earthcache please email me with the answers to the following questions (please do NOT post your answers in your log).
1. What did the research on Eosalmo driftwoodensis reveal about the life cycle of ancient salmon that is different from salmon today?
2. In 1970, German visitors Margret and Albrecht Klockner found a 'remarkable' bird fossil in Driftwood Canyon. What was so "extraordinary" about this fossil?
3. Fossils of the plant genus Gingko have been found at this site. This plant is known as a 'living fossil' because it no longer exists in the wild but has been preserved through the years in Chinese and Japanese gardens. Why is it now being planted in major cities throughout the world?
4. Who was the first park interpreter at this site?