The location given is for a safe Campground. Please make sure to not stop on the side of the highway! The place is open year-round.
Marble Canyon
Marble Canyon Provincial Park, established in 1956, is one of over 700 parks in British Columbia's provincial parks system. Situated in the Pavilion Mountain Range, its 335 hectares protect a sample of the dry interior ecosystem. The rainshadow effect of the Coast Mountains creates a warm, dry climate here, providing a long camping and recreational season.
Deposits laid down here very long time ago now form the spectacular limestone cliffs towering a kilometer above Crown, Turquoise and Pavilion lakes.
Take a wander along the shorelines of the three lakes in the park. Each has a different character. Turquoise Lake is very marshy surrounded by pockets of old growth Douglas-fir. Crown Lake has a rocky shoreline habitat with some huge ponderosa pines. Pavilion Lake has an enclosed shrub and tree shoreline that provides great habitat for birds and animals.
What is Limestone?
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the mineral calcite. It most commonly forms in clear, warm, shallow marine waters. It is usually an organic sedimentary rock that forms from the accumulation of shell, coral, algal, and fecal debris. It can also be a chemical sedimentary rock formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from lake or ocean water.
Pavilion Lake
Pavilion Lake is a slightly alkaline, freshwater lake with a maximum-recorded depth of 65m. Nestled in the limestone walls of Marble Canyon, at an elevation of 823m, the beautiful clear blue waters are groundwater fed.
On April 18th, 2001 the bottorn of Lake was formally added to Marble Canyon Provincial Park, The purpose of the Pavilion Lake park addition is to protect the unique and fragile structures on the bottom of the lake. The structures are of various shapes and sizes, some up to three meters high. The formations, called microbialites, are calcareous structures likely produced by microbial communities. Believed to be similar to some of the earliiest life forms on earth, the lake is a potential window into ancient ecosystems on Earth and possibly early Mars. Pavilion Lake is one of only a few places in the world where these types of microbialite features can be found.
What are microbialites?
Microbialites are fascinating and beautiful living carbonate rock structures. Somewhat similar to coral formations and stromatolites, these freshwater microbialites are rare on today's Earth. These fantastical structures are believed to be formed by bacteria and algae
How long have they been on Earth?
Microbialites were very common for about two billion years of Earth's early history, however nowadays they are only found in a few lakes throughout the world.
How do they grow?
We don’t know very much about how they grow. We know that photosynthetic cyanobacteria and some microbes are probably involved. They grow in clear water and sunlight and photosynthesis appears important for their growth. They grow on the rocky sides of lakes and also form on fallen trees and logs - perhaps they are using the wood as a source of food!
[How to log]
- When were deposits laid down here to form the spectacular limestone cliffs?
- When microbialites are estimated to have started forming in the Pabilion Lake?
- The microbialites have been classified as four cateroties. What are those?
- Please send the answers(With Cache name and GC code on top) to me by message on my profile! Now you may log as 'Found'. If the answer is not correct, I will contact you.
Ref:
Marble Canyon Provincial Park
https://geology.com/rocks/limestone.shtml
https://www.esf.edu/chemistry/teece/Research/Microbialites.htm
| I have earned GSA's highest level: |
 |
Congratulations to Supermarsmellow, Aurateam and Mooogirl & Lil_Bull on their FTF!