Economy Point (Copequid Bay)

Back in August of 2012, I took part of a walk organized by the Fundy Geological Museum (FGM). It was in the middle of the week (Thursday August 9th, I think), so there wasn't any tourist or non-employee beside myself. The gang consisted of geology students and staff, led by Ken Adams, the curator of the FGM.

Looking out towards Cobequid Bay

Economy is located in Nova Scotia, East of Parrsboro in Cumberland County. From Parrsboro, you take the 2 road and head East, past Five Islands Provincial Park. Economy Point has many trails that are beach accessible, but the getting there can be messy with the muddy silt snaking within the bay.

View of Five Islands (background)

The rocks of this area are part of the Wolfville Formation, Triassic aged red siltstone and desert sandstones, a lot of it apparently sculpted by wind. The bottom part of the cliffs along the bay are of this red sandstone, and upon it rests several feet of glacial till from the last ice age that helped sculpt the area.

Moving around entailed hiking up and down huge slabs of sandstone that displayed odd physical features. There are all sorts of trackways and burrows, but there are also structures that none of us could readily identify.

Burrows? Plant traces? Toolmarks?

Triassic sandstone (bottom), glacial till (top)

Diplichnites (such as of a myriapod)?

Natural caves

Water channel

Bird nests in the cliffs

The further East we walked, the stranger the physical features would get. Even Ken was baffled by some of the structures we'd come across. Here's a few photos taken by my Blackberry and you be the judge. Can you identify any of the following?

Bottom of a tree (?)

Tree roots (?)

Many of the structures are found on this red sandstone

Worm burrows?

These holes are so odd. At first I thought they were cavities left behind by plants, but some of these exhibit strange patterns around, looking bizarrely like projectile of some sort. Some of these 'projectile' show patterns and/or direction.  Am I imagining things?

After a long and hot afternoon, we turned back and made it back to our cars, pondering on what we saw. We were intrigued by what we had found. Was this unique? If not, where else could we find these?

Any feedback would be much appreciated!  =)

Disclaimer: In Nova Scotia under the 'Special Places Protection Act', fossils cannot be dug up or disturbed without a permit. The province has a mandate to protect palaeontological sites and it is your civic duty to report any finds to the local museum, or the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage (https://cch.novascotia.ca/exploring-our-past/special-places). This encourages the contribution these finds could make to science not just in the provice, but on the global stage. You must also seek permission if you are to enter private land.