Ontario Rocks Three Billion Years of Environmental Change

In its long and rocky past, the place we call Ontario has travelled across the equator, been peppered by meteorites, seen the rise and fall of towering mountains and has been home to some of the strangest creatures known. In fact, what seems today like a changeless landscape was once covered by vast inland seas and huge continent-wide ice sheets measuring 2-kilometres thick, leaving in their wake the Great Lakes and countless glacial landforms. Ontario Rocks tells the fascinating 3-billion-year story of Ontario_s geological evolution. Packed with original full-colour photographs, maps, charts and figures, this highly informative book explores the making of the Great Lakes, the Canadian Shield, the Niagara escarpment, tills, moraines, rivers, gorges and much more. Ontario Rocks also touches on the commercial use of rocks, the relation between geology, pollution and groundwater, with special attention paid to the Walkerton crisis. Ontario Rocks is an essential reference for students and the perfect travel companion for outdoor enthusiasts, hikers, campers, cottagers, weekend explorers and the budding rockhound in all of us.

In its long and rocky past, the place we call Ontario has traveled across the equator, been peppered and pockmarked by meteorites, seen the rise and decline of towering mountains, and gave rise to some very strange and now extinct organisms. In fact, what seems like a changeless landscape was once covered by vast seas and huge, continent-wide ice sheets which measured 2 kilometres thick, leaving in their wake, the Great Lakes.

"Ontario Rocks" tells this fascinating 3 billion year long story of Ontario's geological evolution, from its beginnings as part of an early landmass called Arctica, its incorporation into enormous supercontinents, through to the repeated ice ages and abrupt climatic changes of the last few thousand years. Merging Canadian geology with global evolution, this highly illustrated survey also touches on the development of Ontario's mining and oil industries, and the commercial use of rocks as building material.

"Ontario Rocks" concludes with an exploration of the "artificial" urban landscape, and how geologists use their knowledge to safeguard groundwater and rivers, dispose of wastes and understand the hazards posed by earthquakes and erosion.

"Ontario Rocks" is a highly accessible sourcebook, perfect for students and all those intrigued by the history and formation of the land under us.

Nick Eyles and Andrew Miall are professors in the Department of Geology at the University of Toronto. Nick Eyles previous books include Ontario Rocks: Three Billion Years of Environmental Change and Ontario Rocks: Three Billion Years of Environmental Change. Both authors have provided hundreds of leading scientific papers.