Welcome to Cape Forchu! Bienvenue au Cap-Forchu!
The geological formations you see are the result of ancient volcanoes that erupted approximately 444-429 million years ago during the Silurian and early Devonian periods in Earth's history. At this time, an ancient ocean sea narrowed and southern Nova Scotia, which was under this ocean, emerged to sea level.
The rocks seen at Cape Forchu are the volcanic rocks of the White Rock Formation. These are composed of water-lain volcanic tuff with scattered volcanic bombs, thick lava flows, volcanic ash flows, and volcanic conglomerates. In several areas, these ancient rocks are interbedded with marine sediments. This has lead geologists to believe that these rocks record the evolution of volcanic islands through prehistoric submarine volcanic eruptions.
The absence of fossils indicates these rocks formed in a cold and hostile marine environment. The rocks that now form Cape Forchu formed off the coast of what is presently North Africa and joined the fossil-rich rocks of northern Nova Scotia through the processes of continental drift.
To log this Earthcache please answer the following questions:
1. Describe the rocks at ground zero (colour, texture, grain, etc)
2. What kind of rock is located at Cape Forchu?
3. What is the elevation of the rock outcrop that the lighthouse stands upon?
4 .Despite the age of the local geology, why is there an absence of fossils?
5 .Post a picture at Cape Forchu.
[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.