Horseshoe Canyon Earthcache EarthCache
Horseshoe Canyon Earthcache
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This earthcache is located off of Highway 9 just outside of Drumheller.
The rocks here are one to two million years younger than the rocks in the Drumheller valley. The rocks in this canyon record a time of major environmental and climatic changes that happened 70 million years ago. The tan coloured mudstone exposed at the base of the canyon represent dry floodplains in a cool climate. This climate supported a lower diversity of animals than the wetlands of the Drumheller valley. The grey-green mudstone and dark coal beds exposed in the upper half of the canyon represent a return to warm wetlands. These rocks demonstrate that animals and plants are affected by dramatic environmental changes. Horseshoe Canyon is a young canyon, being formed a relatively short time ago. During the last glacial period, Alberta was buried beneath glaciers measuring up to 1 kilometre thick. These glaciers acted as dams as the ice melted forming large lakes. When the glaciers collapsed, water surged across the province. One of these bodies of water was the Red Deer River. The water from the Red Deer River cut into the glacial rubble and sedimentary rock and carved out the canyon you see here today.
Please answer the following questions using the information boards located here.
1. What causes the badlands to be formed in the formations they are?
2. If your great-grandchildren were to stand on this same spot some day, will it look the same? Why?
3. How long ago was the last glacial period in Alberta?
Bonus Question: The Canadian government hired fossil hunter Charles H. Sternberg to explore the Red Deer River Badlands after dinosaur hunter Barnum Brown sent dozens of specimens to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. When Sternberg was sent to rival Browns discoveries, what was the result?
Please email your answers to me to receive credit for this find. Pictures are always appreciated too! Enjoy the view!!
Congrats to deepspace4 on being the FTF!!
Additional Hints
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