Living with Rocks.

in #geology6 years ago
Acrylic on limestone
painting & photo © Heather Johnsgaard

Canada is a fairly young nation as compared to the many other nations of the world. We celebrated our 150th birthday last year! We are a mere child on the world globe.

But yet, we are old…. as old as time

How so?

Because our land is largely made up of the Precambrian Shield.

The Precambrian Shield was already present five hundred million years ago, submerged below the Cambrian Sea, which covered most of the land that is now North America.



The Canadian Shield


photo © Heather Johnsgaard

We are a beautiful land, a hardy land, made up of a whole lot of rocks!

The Canadian Shield, or Laurentian Plateau, makes up nearly 50 percent of our land mass.

It is estimated rocks found on the northern shore of Hudson Bay are over 4 billion years old, an indication the rock was created about 300 million years after Earth came to be.

The Canadian Shield is part of the North American Craton, or continental crust, which extends from Mexico to Greenland.The majority of the crust is buried deep underground and covered by soil and other debris. The Canadian Shield refers to the exposed portion of that crust.

The Canadian Shield encompasses parts of Labrador, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

This is not farm land


photo © Heather Johnsgaard

Horseshoe shaped and surrounding the Hudson’s Bay, the Canadian Shield is largely muskeg, stunted forests, lakes and rock.

It was not considered lucrative land as it was not suitable for farming, but history has proved us wrong.

The land turned out to be a treasure trove of natural resources, with a bounty of minerals and forestry, and an abundance of fresh water.

These became the foundations for mining, atomic and electrical power, and for the pulp and paper industries.

This is where I live... it is not barren


photo © Heather Johnsgaard
Mostly covered by boreal forest which includes spruce, pine, fir, tamarack, hemlock, and eastern red cedar, you will also find poplar, birch, maple, willow, ash and aspen. It is not uncommon to see the trees growing right out of cracks in the rocks.

Another feature of the Canadian Shield is that you will also find thousands of small lakes throughout, the result of the ice age and glacial erosion.

It is estimated that Canada has about 20% of the Earth's fresh water, with about 7% of that being renewable.

photo © Heather Johnsgaard

So much more!

Acrylic on limestone
painting & photo © Heather Johnsgaard

Rocks are so much more than their face value, they are so much more than history, and they are so much more than irritating annoyances that get caught in our tiller tines.

They are an important part of our existence, our past, present and future.

And they make great canvases for painting on!

From years gone by, painting on rocks has left lasting messages which are still being discovered even today.

In ancient times, there were petroglyphs which were rendered by removing part of a rock's surface through incising, picking, carving, or abrading, the surface as a form of rock art, and petrographs are images that are drawn or painted on to a rock face.

The Canadian Shield... I am so glad I have had a chance to get to know you!!

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Those are some very beautiful boulders @thistle-rock!!
Sorry I didn't see your post earlier, for some reason it
is not on the https://steemit.com/trending/bouldersunday
page I check so as to not miss anyone :-)
Your tag is good, just the trending for it didn't pick up.

I see you like rocks!!! whole lot of rocks going on on
Fridays also, with #fridaysrock tag by @nat-expressions!

What a lovely painted rocks you have also, this is
a fantastic post!! Thanks so much for using the
#bouldersunday tag! 💎

Thank you @shasta... and no worries, we can't see all the posts all the time, I just thank you for visiting. I will keep in mind #fridaysrock too!

How refreshing to find someone else who knows how to use words such as boreal, craton, and Precambrian! The painted rocks are lovely, but that first shot of the lake-side boulders reflected in the water is beathtaking! 💙

Thanks @thekittygirl.... but I wouldn't use those words in every day talk, lol! The water shot is taken on the lake we live on, I will have to search out some more.

A perfect celebration of the beauty that is Canada! Rocks just don't get any better than that!

Canada is a beautiful country for sure!

I know this is mostly about rocks and the Canadian industry and pre-cam shield but omg, that water is what gets me. I am sooooo thirsty now!

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It doesn't look like that right now, lol.... one big frozen ice cube!!!!

Thanks for popping in @enginewitty, always appreciate your visits!

We've got rocks in our bed. (...bedrock...;)

Yup, same goes for us!

Thanks for visiting 😊

Wow!!!
I absolutely love your pictures and the environment.. OMG 😍 it's breathtaking.. So peaceful!

And the rocks are incredible, the one with the photo or painting on is just amazing... I would love rocks like that... 😊 Amazing!

Nature is just incredible with all the beauty surrounding us ❤️
Thank you for sharing.. Loved it!

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Thanks kindly @saffisara, my pleasure.... and thanks for visiting 😊

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Your photos are beautiful! It looks like a great place for a hike.