Keenan's Blogiddy Blog

View introduction post here . April 29th, 2012 We had an irregular Winter where there was barely any snowfall during the entire season. By the end of March, we had seen the temperatures go up and hit the double digits, even on some days in the low 20s. The road conditions that would usually be impassible due to ice, snow, or mud on any other year were actually good. Some sites became accessible very early, such as the one in Cape Enrage. We got to the site pretty early. The conditions were great except that this early, the air was still a little nippy, but who's complaining! We brought all the tools we thought we could need and the official paperwork from Dr. Randall Miller of the New Brunswick Museum just in case it was needed. The plan was to walk all the way to the point on the other side of the beach (furthest East) and start the stratigraphic measurements from there. From that point, we would be able to make our way westward measuring, investigating, and collectin...

Back in September 2011, I went on a field trip with my friend Matt Stimson and Dr. Randall Miller in the Cape Enrage area. The area wasn't well studied, so we walked the beach and inspected the cliffs. By the time we were done our walk that day, we had come across numerous geological features not previously recorded, and many fossil trackways to add to New Brunswick fossil record. A few days after our trek, we headed back to the fossil locality and proceeded with the extraction of several trackways, which are now housed in Saint John for further studying and preparation. You can follow these links to revisit previous posts on the 2011 field trip to the area: Fossil Track Expedition in Southern NB [Part 1] Fossil Track Expedition in Southern NB [Part 2] In one weekend we were able to make a few additions to the trackway record. That also meant that this area was susceptible to have more of them hidden along this stretch of alternating strata. The location was worthy of stu...

A few days ago I drew a map of the West Bay/Cape Sharp area South-West of the town of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. I had wanted to check the Jurassic age basalt cliffs of Cape Sharp and poke around a bit to see if I could come out with anything. On the cliffs on each side of Cape Sharp are Carboniferous sandstone cliffs which displays a fascinating record of trackways, especially those of tetrapods. I had marked on my makeshift map where the location of a possible access point to the beach would be. If that wasn't the case, I had a plan B, set by driving back towards Parrsboro and finding an access point via Partridge Island. I woke up Sunday (April 14th) morning and it was snowing. I said to myself: "Rain, Snow, or Shine, I'm heading down!". I hit the road at 7 that same morning. The temperature kept at about 0oC Celcius so the road conditions were pretty decent. The snow was melting as soon as it hit the pavement. I had checked the forecast the night before and...

Here's another of my belated posts on one of my trips last year. Me and my buddy Craig went for one of many trips to the beautiful town of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. From town, we headed East towards the small village of Five Islands, which has a Provincial park of the same name: Five Islands Provincial Park. Islands from right to left: Moose i., Diamond i.,  Long i., Pinnacle i., Egg i., Pinnacle rock Five Islands Provincial Park is a location that has witnessed several events, including a major extinction. Most of the rocks South of the park, towards Red Head and continuing on to Lower Economy, are of a red sandstone from the Triassic Period. These red sandstones from around Red Head are indicative of an arid, desertic climate. On top of the Triassic rock is a layer that corresponds to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, sandwiched between Triassic sandstone and Jurassic basalts right on top of it. This Triassic-Jurassic layer is identified by its white sandstone and mudstone. ...