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I love the geology of the Canadian Shield, simply because it is incredibly ancient. Some of the rocks w/in this vast region are close to 4 billion years old! For comparison, scientists believe the earth is roughly 4.543 billion years old, so you know, only 1/2 billion years difference. This view shows a roadcut on Panache Lake Road south of Whitefish, Ontario. The region is part of the Sudbury Basin, site of a comet impact 1.849 billion years ago when this area was a coastal shoreline. The extraterrestrial material contained much nickel which settled into the earth & today has made the city of Sudbury one of the world's leading producer of the metal. Looking closely in the rocks one can see radiating conical formations in the rocks which are shatter cones. These are rare formations formed in the bedrock that underwent shock, either from meteor impacts or nuclear explosions. Since this region isn't a nuclear zone, these formations are a good indicator for identifying mystery impact craters. These shatter cones testify to the force & magnitude of the comet impact which had created the second largest known impact crater in the world after Vredefort, South Africa. You really have to know what to look for when trying to identify these formations, otherwise they are easy to overlook. Shatter cones have been identified in a few places in the Canadian Shield, including the Sudbury city limits as well as the Slate Islands of Lake Superior, site of the world's largest shatter cone.
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The capital of Canada is Ottawa, in the province of Ontario. There are offically ten provinces and three territories in Canada, which is the second largest country in the world in terms of land area.While politically and legally an independant nation, the titular head of state for Canada is still Queen Elizabeth.On the east end of Canada, you have Montreal as the bastion of activity. Montreal is famous for two things, VICE magazine and the Montreal Jazz Festival. One is the bible of hipster life (disposable, of course) and the other is a world-famous event that draws more than two million people every summer. Quebec is a French speaking province that has almost seceded from Canada on several occasions, by the way..When you think of Canada, you think of . . . snow, right?But not on the West Coast. In Vancouver, it rains. And you'll find more of the population speaking Mandarin than French (but also Punjabi, Tagalog, Korean, Farsi, German, and much more).Like the other big cities in Canada, Vancouver is vividly multicultural and Vancouverites are very, very serious about their coffee.Your standard Vancouverite can be found attired head-to-toe in Lululemon gear, mainlining Cafe Artigiano Americanos (spot the irony for ten points).But here's a Vancouver secret only the coolest kids know: the best sandwiches in the city aren't found downtown. Actually, they're hidden in Edgemont Village at the foot of Grouse Mountain on the North Shore."It's actually worth coming to Canada for these sandwiches alone." -- Michelle Superle, VancouverText by Steve Smith.
