The Kinnaird Bluffs are a unique chunk of rock. The white and ruby-colored cliff band is composed of 110 million year-old gneiss and granite formed during a mountain building episode associated with plate collision on the coast. The melting of crustal rock formed the granite with its random texture of light and dark minerals, which gives the rock a speckled appearance. Later shearing and fault movement caused the granitic rock to be transformed into the typical alternating light bands of feldspar and quartz and dark bands of hornblende and biotite that give the Kinnaird gneiss its distinctive banded appearance.
Granite is an igneous rock that forms when magma cools relatively slowly underground. When Granite is subjected to intense heat and pressure, it changes into metamorphic rock called Gneiss.
The Kinnaird Pluton were formed over 100 million years ago, when granitic rock was metamorphosed into gneiss by heat and pressure deep in the Earth's crust. Exposed and fractured by tectonic and erosional forces, these rock faces were then smoothed by the successive ice ages of the last two million years.
The Waterline Walls are one of the most popular rock climbing areas in the Kootenay region of British Columbia because of their easy access, great lines, and good rock. Mountaineers have been practicing their rope skills on the easier terrain at these cliffs for decades but it wasn’t until 2005 that the majority of the routes were put here.
Note: While the area is open to all recreational activities the land the bluffs sits on is private property and anyone wanting to climb on the walls must contact tawkroc and sign a waiver.
Logging Requirements:
What is the over-riding color of the rock wall at GZ?
Estimate the width of the prominent cracks in the boulder.
What direction do the majority of the cracks run? Horizontal or vertical
How tall do you think the wall in front of you is? Does the wall at GZ have a smooth or rough texture?
Study the rocks and the wall at GZ. Do you think the majority of the rock is Granite or Gneiss? Or both? What charactarisics lead you to believe that they are Granite or Geneiss?
Post a picture of your GPS or yourself with a section of the Kinnaird Bluffs in the background. Please do not use the section of wall near GZ or give away the answers in any way.