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Go ahead and have fun learning! 
- [REQUIRED] Post a photo of yourself or a personal item at the site to prove you were there.
- Look for the sparkling mica in the sandstone along the beach and tell us how thick the layers are.
- Try chipping or crumbling the sandstone on the beach (not on the cliff wall) and explain why it is easy, or hard, to chip.
This earthcache focuses on mica in the PEI sandstone at MacNeills Brook. Walk along the beach, and look at the sandstone as you walk and look for evidence of the mica mixed within the sandstone. Please do all your experiments on the beach sandstone, and do not touch the walled cliffs or try breaking any part of the cliffs to get your answers.
Mica is a mineral name given to a group of physically and chemically similar minerals. They are all silicate minerals, known as sheet silicates, because they form in distinct layers. Micas are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates.
Sparkling Sands: Mica
The rocks here formed partway through the Permian period, where the region had become dry, like an arid tropical savannah. Rivers flowed only during seasonal rains. Diversity was also in decline, resulting in an increasingly barren landscape.
Mica
Much of the sandstone along this part of the coast contains visible flakes of shiny but colourless mica, known as muscovite. This suggests that the rock was derived from a region rich in metamorphic or granitic rock. The muscovite is easily identified as brightly sparkling mineral flakes on the rock surface.
Mica forms flat flakes because its crystals form as stacks of weakly bonded sheets. In sedimentary rocks, mica flakes tend to be aligned parallel to the layering. At this site, concentrations of mica have emphasized fine layering in the sandstone.
** Note: To enter the park, you must pay the entry fee for Parks Canada.
REFERENCES:
Geology of New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island: Touring Through Time at 44 Scenic Sites. Martha Hickman-Hild & Sandra Barr. Pages 222-225
Minerals Education Coalition. Mica
Wikipedia. Mica
Supported by PEI National Park