| Diggin' It in the Valley |
| by: Chris Hinsperger |
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One
of the greatest thrills of owning a place like the Bonnechere
Caves
is the number of people I get to meet on a daily basis. When
I get up in the
morning I often think to myself “who am I going to meet
today and what am I going to
learn from them” and I am never disappointed. I find people
entertaining, not that they
are here for my entertainment, and I hope that people find me
entertaining. I know
I try my hardest because I am often in the spotlight, so to
speak, and I have a product
to sell. Our product is information, mixed with fascination,
with a bit of awe and
adventure thrown in for good measure.
One particular day several years ago a young lady approached
me in the picnic area
at the caves. She had several pieces of limestone with her and
she wanted to talk
about fossils. What struck me immediately about this young lady
was not just her
inquisitive nature but mostly her absolutely childlike curiosity
about everything we
talked about. The term “childlike” should not be
confused with childish or
immature behaviors but rather just the opposite. When we take
a childlike approach
to learning it is with absolute fascination with our minds wide
open for new discovery and
allowing that excitement to fuel our learning and maximize the
learning experience.
As it turns out she was writing a story on evolution and fossils
for a local
entertainment newspaper. To her readers it was a fascinating
story of discovery,
to me it was a beautiful gift……….
This is her story………
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Diggen it in
the Valley
reprinted by permission from The Inside Out
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“Marge! Quick!
I think I found the MISSING LINK!!
Grab the toothbrush and the camera!”
…Words you’d never expect to utter….
maybe you don’t know anyone named Marge and probably don’t
expect to solve the questions
of the universe but unless your imagination is as tale as the
potato chips under the couch cushion,
you should let your curiosity guide you to the limestone layers
that house secrets to our ancient
and biological past.
Limestone is formed from calcium carbonate in cooling tropical
waters on shallow sea floors,
resulting often in coral beds and cozy living for various marine
inhabitants. Limestone we see generally
indicates the existence of a salt water body …indeed,
an ancient sea right in our own backyard!
OUR ANCIENT TROPICAL SEA! Littered with life at a time far before
the introduction of the
dinosaurs there wasn’t much in the way of fast food available
– the earth population was lugging
around lofty shells, shlinking along coral beds doing there
thing. Luckily for us many of these abundant
invertebrates were captured beneath a layer of sediment and
preserved in limestone. Time has
revealed to us their existence along the Bonnechere River.
Long before the hills, North America, as we call it, was spinning
in around the zero mark
– EQUATER LIKE –
and due to many eradict, obscure and highly baffling circumstances,
this tropical sea relocated north
and was eventually parted by the rise of mountains from it’s
depths
(…a whole other story too wordy to include in this issue.)
One of the first ranges to rise gurgling and spurting was, of
course, the Canadian Shield
(the land we stand on). She’s been ground down by wind
and rain, earth shakes and plate shifts,
not to mention the tremulous scraping of miles of ice headed
south with topsoil and stone
leaving us with reasonable sized hills and surface springs a
flow. Enough said.
A lot has happened to bring us here, geographically and in evolutionary
terms …
... and to enable us to get a look back in time and get back
to the sea.
I bet you want to get there.
Well – the sea is extinct and mostly hidden under miles
of dirt and stone, although portions
are visible glimpses of the past to tickle the inquisitive side
of your brain. You probably want to know
what to look for (other than poison ivy class 101) and where
to begin your quest.
I’m no fossil tour guide but I can share with you my adventure
which brought to the trunk of my car
and amazing impression of a CEPHALOPOD (the giant snail variety).
It’s big enough to get out the
measuring tape and wagoo over the thought 10 inch snails slugging
it out on the ocean floor –
under the ground we now live on. First introductions to fossils
and the Ottawa Valley should begin at the Bonnechere Caves (myself..
I always stop first before the bridge and seek specimens to
show the experts).
Amidst the exposed limestone layers near Eganville are enthusiasts
of ancient worlds, welcoming the public to experience ancient
caves and learn and explore the understanding of evolution,
geography,
and the history of time as we unravel through it. Being a rock
junkie, I’m always thrilled to chat it up
about the traces of time and grateful for the information sharing
of Val and Chris and the caves staff.
Try and baffle them with your findings and inquisitions….
It’ll be a challenge if you’re up for it.
Naturally, the best way to pick old bones (or crustaceans) is
to keep your eyes to the ground when
or wherever you see limestone. Often already disturbed, you
don’t need a crowbar to get picken’
– without even moving a rock it is probable you’ll
see one of these creatures that inhabited our
region 400 to 500 million years past, in the ORDOVICIAN ERA.
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