The Guzzle and Boot Island EarthCache

The Guzzle and Boot Island

The last residents left Boot Island by 1940. My mother remembers hearing of my grandparents taking sheep over to boot island to graze back in the day. Today Boot Island is a designated national wildlife area and is a major nesting area for several varieties of birds. 

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.143998,-64.271035,3a,75y,151.3h,92t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAF1QipP3xI3vKZqD_Ii63xC9bRSMa3_ZW5lrCxkWlb6V!2e10!3e12!7i12000!8i6000

Looking at it nestled in the mud flats of the Minas Basin it’s difficult to believe it was once farmed by Acadians or that any consideration was given to building a military fortress there. Prior to the 1860’s, Boot Island { called L’isle au Bout by the Acadians} was part of Long Island, the protective northern boundary of the “great meadow.{Grand Pre dykelands}. Boot Island was known to the Mi’Kmaq as kadebunegek “clam diggings. (see map below)

Geology

The Minas Basin was formed in the Early Mesozoic during the early rifting stages of Pangaea. Throughout early development of the basin, Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic sediments were deposited. The Guzzle is in the Minas Basin which is part of the Bay of Fundy tide range and was created in the 1860’s until then was attached to Long Island. According to a local tradition, the erosion developed from a ditch dug by a farmer.

On a flood tide, 160 billion tonnes of seawater flows into the Bay of Fundy more than four times the estimated combined flow of all the world’s freshwater rivers during the same 6-hour interval. The vertical tidal range can be over 16 metres giving the Bay of Fundy the highest tides in the world. The horizontal range can be as much as 5 kilometres, exposing vast areas of ocean floor.

The tidal currents in the Bay of Fundy are fast, exceeding 10 knots (5 m/s, or 18 km/hr) at peak surface speed. This speed and volume of water, twice a day, contribute to the erosion potential of any coast or island along the shores of the Bay of Fundy. With sea level rise plus erosion from the waves and ice blocks of the Minas Basin and assisted by erosion of the Gaspereau estuary the Guzzle was opened. Successive maps show that the channel remained relatively narrow until the early part of this century. Between 1910 and 1940 erosion accelerated greatly but there has been relatively little erosion since then only about 1 meter per year.

North of the Guzzle, towards Cape Blomidon, a vast area of the sea bottom is exposed at low tide. Large tree stumps and trunks are the dwindling evidence of a forest that grew here over 5000 year ago.

To log this Earthcache visit the viewing location. Please answer the following questions and send in a timely manner to my geocaching profile or email. Answers not received will result in deleted logs.

1. About how far is boot island across the guzzle now?

2. How far above sea level are you at the coordinates?

3. Do you think Boot island may disappear over time?

4. Do you see any signs of active erosion now?

5. Post a picture of the guzzle and boot island.

[REQUIRED] In accordance with the updated guidelines from Geocaching Headquarters published in June 2019, photos are now an acceptable logging requirement and WILL BE REQUIRED TO LOG THIS CACHE. Please provide a photo of yourself or a personal item in the picture to prove you visited the site.