NOTE: Expect to spend some time doing this EC. If you don't have at least an hour, you might want to wait until you do have the time. PLEASE: DO NOT POST A FIND UNTIL YOU SUBMIT AND RECEIVE A REPLY TO YOUR RESPONSES. DON'T WORRY, I'M USUALLY VERY QUICK WITH THIS. If you are going to be delayed in sending responses, please post a note instead. I will delete any finds posted where complete answers haven't been sent. Thanks.
The Ontario Legislature (seat of government) is based at Queen's Park. The building you see before you officially opened "for business" in 1893. Today, politicians, advocates and protesters from across the province gather to debate the issues of the day.
Please note that you cannot enter Queen's Park (the building) without an appointment. Luckily for you, this EarthCache is done completely in the outdoors!
I read all logs and responses, and will respond. Generally if the answers are mostly correct, with a "thanks"; if there's real issue, I'll identify what that is.
So...the stones that built Queen's Park....The following information will help you in your quest to complete this EarthCache. Have fun!
Types of Rock
The three main classes of rock are sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous. Sedimentary rock is formed from particles of sand, shells, pebbles and other fragments of materials. These particles (sediments) were compressed over time and formed layers of rock. These sediments are often visible in the rock, and sedimentary rock is typically the only type to contain fossils. Common examples include conglomerates, limestone and sandstone.
Metamorphic rocks are formed under heat and pressure. The rocks that result from these processes often have ribbon-like layers, and may have shiny crystals formed by superficial mineral growth. Examples of this rock include gneiss, marble and schist.
Igneous rock is formed when magma from deep within the Earth cools and hardens. Igneous rock that erupts from the Earth is known as lava. If igneous rock cools quickly, no crystals form and the rock looks shiny and glasslike (a good example would be obsidian). If the igneous rock cools slowly, gas bubbles can become trapped forming hollows and holes in the rock (e.g. scoria). Other examples of igneous rocks include: granite, pegmatite, pumice and gabbro.
Granite: a builder's favourite
Granite originated 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous Period, a time of active mountain-building as the supercontinent Pangaea came together. Unlike sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks do not contain any fossils. This is because any fossils in the original rock will have melted when the magma formed.
The word "granite" comes from the Latin "granum", grain, in reference to the structure of the rock. Granite mainly consists of lighter coloured feldspar and quartz, with smaller amounts of darker mica and amphibole minerals. These form an interlocking matrix of feldspar and quartz with scattered darker biotite mica and amphibole peppering the lighter colour minerals.
Granite is nearly always massive (lacking any internal structures), hard and tough, and therefore it has gained widespread use as a construction stone. The average density of granite is between 2.65 and 2.75 g/cm3, with a melting temperature of 1215-1260 °C.
Common Minerals
Rocks are composed of minerals, and the following are the most common, particularly in igneous rocks. While rocks consist of aggregates of minerals, minerals themselves are made up of one or a number of chemical elements with a definite chemical composition. Minerals cannot be broken down into smaller units with different chemical compositions in the way that rocks can. More than 2,300 different types of minerals have been identified. Luckily many are rare, and the common rocks are made up of a relatively small number of minerals. Minerals can be distinguished using various physical and/or chemical characteristics, but, since chemistry cannot be determined readily in the field, geologists us the physical properties of minerals to identify them. These physical properties include colour, streak, form, hardness and lustre. For the purposes of this Earthcache, you'll be relying on your powers of observation to determine colour. Quartz: a hard white or colourless mineral consisting of silicon dioxide, found widely in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. It is often coloured by impurities (as in amethyst, citrine, and cairngorm). Feldspar: any of a group of minerals, principally aluminosilicates of potassium, sodium, and calcium, characterized by two cleavages at nearly right angles: one of the most important constituents of igneous rocks. Mica: a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure, found as minute scales in granite and other rocks, or as crystals. Olivine: an olive-green, gray-green, or brown mineral occurring widely in basalt, peridotite, and other basic igneous rocks. It is a silicate containing varying proportions of magnesium, iron, and other elements. Amphibole: minerals of either igneous or metamorphic origin; in the former case occurring as constituents (hornblende) of igneous rocks, such as granite, diorite, andesite and others. Calcium is sometimes a constituent of naturally occurring amphiboles. Those of metamorphic origin include examples such as those developed in limestones by contact metamorphism (tremolite) and those formed by the alteration of other ferromagnesian minerals (hornblende). Pyroxine: the most common pyroxene mineral is augite. Augite is generally dark green to black in colour and forms short, stubby crystals which, if you look at an end-on section, have square or rectangular cross-sections.
The Vocabulary of Geology
Inclusion: a solid fragment, liquid globule, or pocket of gas enclosed in a mineral or rock; an inclusion is older than the rock in which it's found and is a method of relative dating. Vein: a distinct sheet-like body of crystallized minerals within a rock. Extrusive igneous rock: formed when hot magma flows out of the Earth or is violently erupted. Intrusive igneous rock: formed within the Earth's crust (magma does not reach the Earth's surface. Flagstone: a generic sedimentary rock used for paving, comprised of feldspar and quartz with silica, calcite or iron oxide as binding (cementing) agents. Colour: colour observed in a mineral sample in white light. With experience, colour can be one of the most valuable of diagnostic properties. Streak: the colour of the powdered mineral, which may differ from the body colour of the unpowdered mineral. Usually determined by drawing the mineral across a piece of unglazed, white porcelain known as a streak plate. Hardness: the ability of a mineral to resist abrasion or scratching. Measured on a relative scale from 1 - 10 known as Mohs' Scale in which minerals of higher number scratch those of lower numbers. For simple field determinations, a fingernail has an hardness of about 2.5 and the blade of a penknife about 5 - 5.5. Lustre: the characteristic appearance of a mineral in reflected light, e.g., metallic, pearly, earthy, greasy, etc. Form: the external appearance of a mineral or aggregates of the mineral, e.g., crystalline, fibrous, stalactitic, dendritic (plant-like), etc. Cleavage and Fracture: the way that the mineral breaks; if it breaks along planar surfaces related to the crystal structure it is said to show cleavage, but if it breaks irregularly is said to show fracture. Weathering: the disintegration of rocks on the Earth's surface by the action of rain, frost, heat, wind, etc.
Fossils
As noted above, igneous rocks do not contain fossils; however, sedimentary rocks do. Fossilization can occur through a variety of methods such as: permineralization (mineral deposits form internal casts of the organism), casts and molds, authigenic mineralization, replacement and recrystalization, adpression (pressed close or lying flat against something), carbonization (conversion of organic material into carbon), and bioimmuration (a skeletal organism overgrows or otherwise subsumes another organism, preserving the latter, or an impression of it, within the skeleton). Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are from around 3.48 - 4.1 billion years old. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils (the order in which fossils relate to each other without calculating an actual age/date). The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolute ages of rocks and the fossils they host.
Crinoids inhabited shallow water and grew in dense clusters, sometimes called 'crinoid gardens' because of their resemblance to plants. Long stems were anchored to the sea bed, and held aloft a globose, cup-like structure with radiating arms. The whole animal is formed of many individual plates that usually become scattered when the creature dies. The stem plates are common fossils and the main constituent of crinoidal limestone. Corals: like modern-day coral reefs, the abundant remains of fossil corals in Carboniferous limestone suggest the former existence of warm, clear, shallow and well-lit tropical seas. Corals have a variety of branching and encrusting shapes that provide homes for other creatures and act as a baffle to trap sediment. Different kinds of fossil corals occur at different levels in the limestone, allowing geologists to distinguish between older and younger beds. Brachiopods have become all but extinct in modern seas and oceans, but in the geological past they flourished at the shallow margins of oceans, especially in the Carboniferous. At first they appear little different from familiar modern-day sea shells, but they are in fact quite distinct, with different shell and soft part anatomy. Many brachiopods lived openly on the sea bed, although some lived in seabeds. Two important groups of brachiopods in the Carboniferous are strongly radially ribbed forms, called spiriferids, and large, less strongly ribbed forms with relatively plano-convex valves, called 'productids'.
In order to complete this Earthcache, email the CO the answers to the following questions (use the waypoints as a guide). Spoiler photos or answers posted in logs will be deleted.
Questions
1. Do we have any fossils in the stone used for the monuments? Take a trip around the monuments listed in the waypoints and see if you can see any fossils, and if so, what types of fossils were found (e.g. crinoids/corals/brachiopods) and on which monument(s)? INCLUDE A PHOTO OF THE FOSSIL TOGETHER WITH YOUR GPS/A COIN/ETC. WITH YOUR RESPONSE, BUT NOT IN YOUR LOG. Logs that include a photo will be deleted.
2. Have a look at a 5cm x 5cm area on the surface of the stone used in J.S. Macdonald's monument. How many different types of grain crystals do you see? What colour are they? INCLUDE A PHOTO THAT SHOWS THE SELECTED AREA TOGETHER WITH YOUR GPS/A COIN/ETC. AT THIS LOCATION WITH YOUR RESPONSE, BUT NOT IN YOUR LOG. Logs that include a photo will be deleted.
3. Estimate (as a %) the proportion of different grain crystals you see in your chosen sample area.
4. Find the largest single crystal you can, and measure (or estimate) how long you think it is. INCLUDE A PHOTO THAT SHOWS THE SELECTED CRYSTAL TOGETHER WITH YOUR GPS/A COIN/ETC. WITH YOUR RESPONSE, BUT NOT IN YOUR LOG. Logs that include a photo will be deleted.
5. Ontario's Tree: Identify the mineral composition of the vein that runs through the darker rock.
6. Queen's Park/Legislature Building: Identify the type of stone used in the construction of the east and west sides of Queen's Park. Be specific! Describe the colour of each side of the building - be nuanced. Why do you think this stone was chosen for the building?
7. Post a photo of you/an object/your name in front of Queen's Park.
Sources: Glossary of terms paraphrased from: http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/PublicationsCatalogue/InformationCirculars/IC1987-05/Pages/glossary.aspx#Colour Igneous rock information: https://geology.com/rocks/igneous-rocks.shtml