Sunday, January 04, 2009

Boxing Up a River

[Photo: Manuel's River, Alison Dyer]

Boxing Day usually means a hike somewhere. This year, that is, last year, it was a hike up Manuel's River. (I always want to say a 'short walk' a la Eric Newby. A hike sounds too grand.) And it's mainly an excuse to take some Christmas leftovers for a picnic. At least, that's what I always tell the kids. Darn cold but some lovely tinkling sounds of frozen grasses at the river bed. Manuel's River is known internationally for its fossilized trilobites. We've been coming for years to this river-park. And this year, that is, last year, son #1 actually found part of a trilobite in one of the rocks.

2 comments:

Tony said...

This is a spring ritual for me Alison. In addition to trilobites, this place is interest because of the Late Proterozoic and Cambrian unconformity. Below the bridge the rocks with pebbles and cobbles in it are Cambrian conglomerate and they lie unconformably on Proterozoic granite and other volcanic rocks. That is, the Proterozoic rocks were exposed at the surface, eroded and 10's of millions (?) of years later the younger Cambrian comglomerates were deposited on top followed by the fossil bearing shales.

Tony :-)

Alison Dyer said...

Tony, I do appreciate this. My knowledge of geology (I took several courses as an undergraduate many years ago) is quickly eroding. Glad we have paddlers like yourself who can explain the gorgeous landscape we see. Alison