Old Wife, Five Islands Provincial Park
Old Wife, Five Islands Provincial Park
Significance: Globally Unique (GH1)
Geological Period: Triassic-Jurassic
Approximate age: 200 million years
Significance: One of the world’s best exposures of geological events that heralded one of Earth history’s five mass extinction events, this one at the close of the Triassic Period. Recorded in the dramatic sea cliffs are orangey-red rocks of the Blomidon Formation, topped by dark basalts of the North Mountain Formation that cooled from vast outpourings of lava as the giant continent Pangea began to rip apart. The global environmental change that resulted eliminated the competitors of early dinosaurs and led to the dinosaurs’ reign until their extinction, some 135 million years later.
Note for visitors: Mind the rapidly rising tides of the Bay of Fundy (find tide charts for the day of your visit), which are the highest in the world. Check with the park office at the entrance to Five Islands Provincial Park to find out when it is safe to round the Old Wife.
Location: Google map view
Access: Coastal hike (NS Parks)
Coordinates: UTM NAD83 zone 20: 417,790 mE 5,026,589 mN
Longitude (decimal degrees) - 64.05018408
Latitude (decimal degrees) - 45.38798622
Links:
Five Islands Provincial Park (Nova Scotia Provincial Parks)
Five Islands Provincial Park (NS See & Do)
Publications:
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Geoheritage in Nova Scotia
GeoTourism Opportunities
Geoheritage Sites of Interest