This group is known as the Foothills Erratics Train, and the Okotoks Erratic is the largest member. These erratics lie in a narrow band extending from Jasper National Park to northern Montana. Alberta, Handcrafted with. Over 10 million scientific documents at your fingertips. Greencroft Books, Newport 160 p, John B, Jackson LE Jr (2009) Stonehenge’s mysterious stones. Can J Earth Sci 36:1347–1356, Jackson LE Jr, Leboe ER, Little EC, Holme PJ, Hicock SR, Shimamura K, Nelson, FEN (2008) Quaternary stratigraphy and geology of the Foothills, southwestern Alberta. This is a 930 km stretch on which many Alberta communities such as Okotoks and the city of Calgary are incidentally positioned today. In southern Alberta, along the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, thousands of erratics form a train over 600 kilometers long. Erratics Erratics are exceptionally large rocks carried long distances by glaciers. Hiking Trails, Wheelchair Access, Interpretive Trails, Pets - Allowed, Toilets - Pit/Vault, © All Rights Reserved. The name of the rock was derived from the … In: Evers HJ, Thorpe JE (eds) Structural geology of the Foothills between Savanna Creek and Panther River, S.W. The Foothills Erratics Train extends along the eastern flanks of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and northern Montana to the International Border. Not logged in J Alta Soc Petrol Geol 10:171–184, Bretz JH (1943) Keewatin end moraines in Alberta. Can J Earth Sci 47:89–101, Stalker AM (1956) The Erratics train, Foothills of Alberta. Trans Geol Soc Lond 2–6:415–431, Dawson GM (1885) Report on the region in the vicinity of the Bow and Belly rivers. pp 157-165 | Okotoks, Part of the Foothills Erratics Train, made of Quartzite deposited from glacial movement all the way from Jasper. Not affiliated The Hetherington Erratics Field is situated at a point in the Foothills Erratics Train where the belt of glacially transported rocks bottlenecks, narrowing from several kilometres to a single kilometre wide. It appears that a steep hillside prevented the boulders from being distributed further west. Reprinted by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (5 Sept 2013). These erratics come in all sizes and have a large number of crustose and a few foliose lichens growing on them. Okotoks is over 120 miles removed from its bedrock source. To learn more about the Okotoks Erratic and read the Blackfoot story of how it broke into two pieces, CLICK HERE. Earth Mag 54(1):36–43, Johnston WA, Wickenden RTD (1931) Moraines and glacial lakes in southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta, Canada. Can J Earth Sci 12:1493–1515, Roed MA, Mountjoy EW, Rutter NW (1967) The Athabasca Valley erratics train and ice movement across the Continental Divide. Geol Surv Can Bull 37:1–28, Stalker AM (1975) The big rock. The Foothills Erratics Train consists of large quartzite blocks of Rocky Mountains origin deposited on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountain Foothills in Alberta between ~53.5°N and 49°N. This amazing trail of pebbly quartzite erratics, called the Foothills Erratics Train, can be traced from the forested Macleod River region in Alberta to the United States-Canada border in western Montana 580 kilometers southward. If you come from Australia, you may, like me, be wondering what the Erratics are? Part of Springer Nature. This GIS dataset depicts the Foothills Erratics Train in Southwestern Alberta, Canada (GIS data, point features). The erratics lie in a narrow band extending from Jasper National Park to northern Montana. Tantalus Press, Vancouver, pp 47–54, Holme PJ, Hickock SR, Jackson LE Jr (2000) Interaction of Laurentide and cordilleran ice in the Beaver Mines area, southwestern Alberta. The FET is the only known erratic boulder train to have been transported in a medial moraine position between mountain glaciers and a continental ice sheet. Quar J Geol Soc Lond 17:388–445, Harris SA, Boydell AN (1972) Glacial history of the Bow River and the Red Deer River areas and the adjacent foothills. This slender band is known as the Foothills Erratics Train and contains thousands of rocks and boulders of varying sizes, with the largest being the Okotoks Big Rock. The Okotoks Erratic is the largest known rock in the Foothills Erratics Train, a group of rocks that were carried by ice along the mountain front and left as the glacier melted more than 10,000 years ago. Based upon its rapid removal by human activities, it is suggested that other comparable erratic trains may have existed elsewhere but were erased by agriculture over the millennia. Glacial features and bedrock geology in the Jasper area suggest that the latter was the source and an Athabasca Valley glacier was the transporting agent for the Foothills Erratics Train. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 29–38, Jackson LE Jr, Wilson MC, MacDonald GM (1982) Paraglacial origin for terrace river sediments in Bow Valley, Alberta. See "Bouldering in the Canadian Rockies" guidebook for route descriptions. Over most of its length, the trail is only a few kilometers wide, narrowing to less t… This service is more advanced with JavaScript available, Landscapes and Landforms of Western Canada Grinnell GB (1892) Blackfoot lodge tales. Mount Edith Cavell and the Foothills Erratics Train Erratics are large boulders that have been transported and deposited by glaciers. This site is an ancient way marker for the Blackfoot people. In: Ehlers J, Gibbard PL, Hughes PD (eds) Developments in quaternary science, vol 15. 1-403-362-4451, The Okotoks Erratic is the largest known rock in the Foothills Erratics Train, a group of rocks that were carried by ice along the mountain front and let down as the glacier melted more than 10,000 years ago. The erratics lie in a narrow band extending from Jasper National Park to northern Montana. ABSTRACT. Econ Geol 26:258–273, Jackson LE Jr (1980) Glacial history and stratigraphy of the Alberta portion of the Kananaskis Lakes map area. Alberta, Canada. …geologists believe a huge avalanche dropped large pieces of mountain rock on a valley-bottom glacier near Mount Edith Cavell, possibly from an earthquake. This question is now resolved based upon applications of advances in glacial sedimentology, AMS 14C dating and paleomagnetic investigation of glacial 1; Jackson et al. So how did the Okotok, and other rocks in the Foothills Erratic Train walk out of a mountain valley to the open plains, about 60 miles / 100 km and then do a hard right turn and march to Okotoks and Montana? Although they are explained at the beginning of the book, I thought a picture and a Wikipedia explanation might help people reading the wonderful THE ERRATICS by Vicki Laveau-Harvie. Twelve exposure ages on the Foothills Erratics Train showed them to have been emplaced between 11,000 and 18,000 YBP, which falls within the Wisconsin Glaciation. When the ice melted, a string of erratics was left in a narrow belt extending from Jasper National Park along the foothills to northern Montana. Video Software we use: https://amzn.to/2KpdCQF Ad-free videos. Before European settlement, journeying First Nations used the rock as a marker to find the river crossing situated at Okotoks. Jasper Area Alberta, a Source of the Foothills Erratics Train1. In: Slaymaker O, McPherson HJ (eds) Mountain geomorphology: process studies in the Canadian Cordillera. 217.113.158.248. Geological Survey and Natural History Survey of Canada, Report of Progress 1882-83-84:1c–169c. This is a preview of subscription content, Alley NF, Harris SA (1974) Pleistocene lake sequences in the Foothills, southwestern Alberta, Canada. The erratics train is composed of a distinctive type of glacially transported erratic, whose distribution might relate to coalescence of the Laurentide and Cordilleran Ice Sheets. It measures about 9 metres high, 41 metres long and 18 metres wide. Foothills Erratics Train (Fig. Access issues. Geol Surv Can Bull 583:19–46 (CD-ROM), Jackson LE Jr, Andriashek LD, Phillips FM (2011) Limits of successive Middle and Late Pleistocene continental ice sheets, Interior Plains of southern and central Alberta and adjacent areas. The name may refer to Big Rock, the largest glacial erratic in the Foothills Erratics Train, about 7 km (4.3 mi) west of the town. This in turn begged the question: “was to whether this coalesence was one of many coast-to-coast glaciations or a single unique event”. Furthermore, 16 ages determined on erratics along the limit of glaciation by the Laurentide Ice Sheet yielded compatible ages, in the range of 12,000 to 22,000 YBP. In: Ehlers J, Gibbard PL (eds) Quaternary glaciations—extent and chronology. Boreas 30:43–52, Mathews WH (1974) Surface profiles of the Laurentide ice sheet in its marginal areas. The ice-free corridor is coincident with what’s known as the foothills erratics train, a series of exotic quartzite rocks, ranging from smaller pieces to house-sized boulders, hugging the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains in central Alberta, Canada. Amenities The Foothills Erratics Train extends along the eastern flanks of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and northern Montana to the International Border. Geol Soc Am Bull 83:3072–3095, Darvill DM, Bentley MJ, Stokes CR (2015) Geomorphology and weathering characteristics of erratic boulder trains on Tierra del Fuego, southernmost South America: implications for dating of glacial deposits. The rock has broken into pieces, but is still a large landmark on the flat prairie. Can J Earth Sci 14:624–632, Shaw J, Sharp D, Harris J (2010) A flowline map of glaciated Canada based on remote sensing data. The entire length of this Foothills Erratic train, as it is called, is some 350 miles. © 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The Foothills erratics train of Alberta was carried into place during coalescence between montane glaciers and the Laurentide ice sheet. The band of rocks is know as the Foothills Erratics Train. The famous Foothills Erratic Train in Canada is the most famous example of a "train" or trail of erratics -- as distinct from an erratic "fan" where boulders from one source are spread widely across an arc of countryside. Geomorphology 228:382–397, Darwin C (1841) On the distribution of the erratic boulders and on the contemporaneous unstratified deposits of South America. Please respect this and do not be entitled. The Okotoks Erratic is the largest known rock in the Foothills Erratics Train, a group of rocks that were carried by ice along the mountain front and let down as the glacier melted more than 10,000 years ago. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists Exploration update, Calgary, pp 9–11, Wilson MC (1983) Once upon a river: archaeology and geology of the Bow River valley at Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I am currently buddy reading this with the wonderful Na J Glaciol 19:37–42, Roed MA (1975) Cordilleran and Laurentide multiple glaciation, west-central Alberta. Foothills Tourism Association. Can J Earth Sci 19:2219–2231, Jackson LE Jr, Phillips FM, Little EC (1999) Cosmogenic 36Cl dating of the maximum limit of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in southwestern Alberta. The Foothills erratics train (FET) region of Alberta includes a 580-km-long eponymous erratic boulder train, and an adjacent region underlain by drift whose lithology reflects past interaction between glaciers that entered the Foothills and nearby Interior Plains from the Rocky Mountains and the Laurentide Ice Sheet that brought rocks and minerals into this area from the Canadian Shield. The blocks were deposited in their present locations When the Cordilleran ice sheet … The Okotoks Erratic weighs an estimated 16,500 tonnes. The tribes were nomadic and often followed large buffalo herds for their sustenance. Geol Soc Am Bull 54:31–54, Church M, Ryder JM (1972) Paraglacial sedimentation: a consideration of fluvial processes conditioned by glaciation. The Airdrie Erratic is part of the Foothills Erratics Train, a long, narrow strip of erratics (glacially-deposited boulders) stretching from the Jasper area south to the American border. Cite as. Geogr phys Quat 54:209–218, Hume GS (1931) Overthrust faulting and oil prospects of the eastern Foothills of Alberta between the Bow and Highwood rivers. To gain an appreciation for how the convergence of two ice sheets can create a virtual conveyor belt for the transport of erratics, we have to travel to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. A similar (but much smaller) line of erratics, called the Snake Butte Boulder Train (map), can be found in north-central Montana on the Ft. Belknap Reservation (photo). The erratics lie in a narrow band extending from Jasper National Park to northern Montana. The erratics lie in a narrow band extending from Jasper National Park to northern Montana. Can J Earth Sci 11:1220–1235, Bayrock LA (1962) Heavy minerals in till of central Alberta. These migrating stones, once deposited, are called “erratics” — they stick out among their new surroundings. The Big Rock erratic is its crown jewel. In Alberta, Canada, there is a particularly large and far-reaching trail thousands of erratics known as the Foothills Erratics Train. The rocks were abandoned in a narrow strip along the foothills that extends for 930 kilometres between Jasper and Montana’s northern border. It includes the Big Rock near Okotoks and boulders on Nose Hill and Paskapoo Slopes. The Foothills erratics train (FET) region of Alberta includes a 580-km-long eponymous erratic boulder train, and an adjacent region underlain by drift whose lithology reflects past interaction between glaciers that entered the Foothills and nearby Interior Plains from the Rocky Mountains and the Laurentide Ice Sheet that brought rocks and minerals into this area from the Canadian Shield. The Okotoks Erratic weighs an estimated 16,500 tonnes. 1997). Hector J (1861) On the geology of the country between Lake Superior and Pacific Ocean (between the forty eighth and fifty fourth parallels of latitude) visited by the government exploring expeditions under the command of Captain J. Palliser (1857–60). Landforms in the region are a legacy of flowing glacial ice, ice stagnation and damming of drainage and re-establishment of eastward river drainage. Its age has been controversial: Late Wisconsinan and pre-Wisconsinan ages have been assigned to it. E. W. Mountjoy2. These huge quartzite erratics are part of the "Foothills Erratic Train" which were carried by glaciers to the Calgary area from the Mount Edith Cavell area in Jasper National Park some 12000 to 15000 years ago.

foothills erratics train

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