Page 18 - The Meteorite that Shaped Cape Breton

ISSUE : Issue 22

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1979/6/1

this accurately, you will immediately see the great valley, which is now the Bras d'Or Lake, which in St. Andrews Channel is 981 feet below sea level. There is no reasonable explanation at present for this pronounced tilt. Possibly the southern part is trapped imder another plate, as the moving land masses are called. In the late 1800s, the redoubtable Hugh Fletcher noted that Louisbourg was sinking quite rapidly. In three years of close observation, he recorded a drop of over two feet.. The pivot of the tilt appears.to be north of Sydney, because Sydney Harbour is very much wider than it was 200 years ago. Forts constructed in 1720 are now under? water in the harbour. Sydney is sinking as well as Louisbourg, so it may well end up as a deepwater port. Fortunately, the rate at which Sydney is sinking appears to be slowing down, at least there is little in? dication of sinkage in the past five years. There was a very famous cartoon published in World War I. It showed the veteran "Ole Bill" sitting in the ruins of a building with a very new recruit. Above their heads was a huge shell-hole. "What made that hole?" asks the rookie. "Mice," says Ole Bill. I was reminded of this when I asked geologists how the Bras d'Or Lakes were formed, and received the reply, "Glaciers." Let's consider this possibility. If you look at the map designed by the Cape Bret- on Development Corporation, which has shaded contours, you can easily trace the passage of the glaciers in the northern part of Cape Breton. Clearly the movement was north to south, and the same pattern is repeated along the south coast. The Bras d'Or Lakes equally clearly run from southwest to northeast. If the Lakes were cut by the same glacier that formed the contours of the northern part, it must have made a U-turn. To make a glacier turn postulates that it met an immovable object. Remember that at Halifax a 20,000-foot granite mountain was brushed away by the glaciers • what is there more immovable than that? If there was such an object it would still be there, but there is no sign of anything unusual in the area. The Lakes could not have been cut by the same glacier that formed the north and south of the island. Suppose the Lakes were already formed be? fore this glacier passed over. This would mean that an unsupported bridge of ice o- ver 20 miles long would have to pass over the Bras d'Or without sagging or breaking, since we have established that the last glaciation planed the Island flat. Such a happening is totally impossible. We are forced to the conclusion that the Bras d'Or was formed after the last glacier re? treated . Similarly it would be impossible to have purely local conditions of climate in an area of 100 miles by 60 miles, such that a small glacier could form and gouge out the lakes on its own. especiallv since it. on Trans'Canada Hwy. 5 miles west of Baddeck Blue Heron Gift ShopTL BADDBCaC, N, S. 295-3424 s/ Gifts For Alt Occasions pJ MARG and LLOYD MacEACHERN ;JiJ' ToHighSchooishMimHsihkikk'oftheMure Think of a future ini'riculture K • Heated Swimminf Pool • Laundron'at - Camper's Store • Playground - Hot Showers • Hookups - Canoeing The Nova Scotia Agricultural College is dedicated to helping young men and women prepare for a wide range of important occupations associated with food production, including related industries and management of our living environment. We offer technical courses: • Agricultural Business Technician • Agricultural Engineering Technician • Animal Science Technician • Farm Equipment Technician • Plant Science Technician • Biology Laboratory Technology • Chemistry Laboratory Technology • Farming Technology • Ornamental Horticulture Technology We offer university courses leading to: • Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (16 options) • Bachelor of Engineering in Agricultural Engineering • Doctor of Veterinary Medicine f'or more information contact The REGISTRAR, N.S. Agricultural College, Truro, N.S. B2N 5E3 BADDECK - CABOT TRAIL KAMPGROUND Department of Agriculture & Marketing Hon. Gerald Sheetiy, D.V.M., Mm4stef :ENTRAI AND EASTERN TRUST COMPANY SENIOR VIP PLAN UyoulreMorover thiscandentitlesyoo to some tttni prMl'ies. CENTRAL AND EASTBIN t1tUST • X)MmNY 225 Ctarlott* StTMt. SytoMjr

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