The Cape Breton = Fossil Centre

Cape Breton is home to the largest coal resource in Eastern = Canada.=20 Many fossils have been found in the shale and sandstone overlying = the coal=20 seams. In some cases, the trunks of extinct trees have been found = standing=20 upright above the coal.>What are fossils? A fossil is = evidence=20 of earlier life preserved in rock. Fossils are the remains of = prehistoric=20 life.>What kind of fossils can be found? 1) Original = remains 2)=20 Replaced Remains 3) Carbonization 4) Molds or Casts 5) Amber = Encased=20 Organisms 6) Trace Fossils>Carboniferous Trees - During = the=20 Carboniferous period (250-350 million years ago), a variety of = trees grew=20 in North America. Geologists have learned much about the type of = flora=20 that existed during the carboniferous period by examining fossils = of=20 plants found in local rock layers. Pre-historic trees can be = identified by=20 examining bark impressions in fossils.>Carboniferous = Flora-=20 Lepidodenrons were very large trees that grew in the = Carboniferous=20 swamp forests. Fossils of Lepidodendrons have shown that some = trees had a=20 trunk height of 114 feet with a crown of branches extending up to = another=20 twenty feet. Based on some of the evidence found in fossils, = living=20 Lepidodendrons must have grown to a height of up to 135 feet or = more.=20 Lepidodendron trees had trunks 4 feet in diameter and branches did = not=20 begin to grow until near the top. Leaves of the Lepidodendron tree = were=20 pointed and set in a close spiral. The branches bore cones at = their tips=20 and some cones have been recorded as large as twenty inches long = and two=20 inches in diameter. The roots of the Lepidodendron tree did not = look like=20 true roots. Stigmariae, as the roots are called, = were very=20 massive with many large branches.Calamites were = tall,=20 jointed, reed-likeplants,closely related to modern horsetails. The = plants=20 grew fifteen to twenty feet high, but some giant forms reached = heights of=20 forty feet. Calamites were tall, slender, tapering plants in = appearance.=20 The main trunk was made up of jointed cylinders with a circle of = branches=20 at each end of the cylinder. The smaller branched bore leaves that = were=20 also arranged in a circle. Calamites were cone bearing plants and = some of=20 the cones were a foot long and an inch or more in diameter. = Calamites were=20 the most common plant in the Carboniferous forests. The forests = during the=20 Carboniferous were swampy and much like dense=20 jungles.Sigillaria was another widely distributed = tree=20 during the Carboniferous and it was generally found with = Lepidodendron=20 trees. Growing to one hundred feet or more, the Sigillaria tree = had sword=20 shaped leaves. The leaves were nearly three feet long and = concentrated in=20 a cluster at the top of the tree. The cones of the Sigillaria were = arranged in clusters around the tree trunk just below the crown of = leaves.=20 The root system of the Sigillaria was very similar to that of the=20 Lepidodendron.Cordaites were also widely distributed = during=20 the Carboniferous. The tall, slender tree grew to a height of a = hundred=20 feet or more. The trunk of the tree was about two feet in = diameter.=20 Branches were restricted to the upper part of the tree trunk and = each=20 branch had a lush crown of leaves. The leaves of Cordaites were = straped=20 shaped, somtimes pointed, and grew to nearly three feet long and = fifteen=20 inches long.Tree ferns were very significant among = the=20 carboniferous plants. Tree ferns grew to a height of seventy feet = with=20 trunks two feet in diameter. Large, spreading, compound leaves = were=20 concentrated at the top of the trees.
>Rock Type Making = up the=20 Fossil Area - The rocks making up the fossil area are part of = the=20 Riversdale, Cumerland, and Pictou Groups formed during the = Paleozoic=20 (250-570 million years ago). The rocks in this area are sandstone, = shale,=20 and conglomerates. These are sedimentary rocks and are termed soft = rocks=20 because they break apart very easily. Sandstone, shale, and = conglomerates=20 are rocks that are termed clastic sedimentary rocks and they were = formed=20 from fragments of other previously formed rocks. The sediments = that make=20 up the rocks in this area are so loosely compacted together that = you can=20 actually separate the rock particles by rubbing a piece of = sandstone or=20 conglomerate in your hand. As the sediment particles making up the = rocks=20 were laid down, plants that grew in the area at that time were = surrounded=20 by the sediments. The plants died and became buried with the = sediments. As=20 the sediments slowly became compacted and cemented together to = form the=20 rocks we have today, the plants buried in the sediments were = slowly turned=20 into the fossils that we can find in the rocks.>How Coal Is=20 Formed-Coal is an organic sedimentary rock formed millions of = years=20 ago from such plant materials as mosses, ferns, and parts of = trees.Coal is=20 commonly called fossil fuel and this is appropriate, since each = time coal=20 is burned we are using energy from the sun that was stored in = plant=20 material millions of years ago. Therefore, burning coal is like = burning a=20 fossil itself. Millions of years ago, dead plants accumulated in = swamps=20 and slowly decayed. All organic material contains the elements = carbon,=20 hydrogen, and oxygen. As the plant material was compacted in the = swamps=20 and decayed, most of the hydrogen and oxygen was lost and only the = carbon=20 remained behind. Partly decayed plant material in swampy areas is = called=20 peat and this can be seen today in many areas. Millions of years = ago as=20 the peat continued to decay and be compacted by the weight of = sediments=20 above, the peat slowly changed into a soft brown moderated energy=20 producing substance called lignite. Lignite is a brownish coal and = contains about 40% carbon. Over time, as more pressure was put on = the=20 lignite, the brownish coal slowly changed into a soft, black coal = called=20 bituminous. Bituminous coal contains about 85% carbon. If the = sedimentary=20 flat layers of rock were acted on by horizontal pressure of the = earth's=20 crust through regional metamorphism, bituminous coal would be = changed into=20 a very hard coal called anthracite. Anthracite, black in color, is = about=20 90-95% carbon. As the percentage of carbon increases in the coal, = the=20 amount of energy given off by the burning coal increases. The coal = found=20 in this area is bituminous coal.
>The Centre draws it = collection=20 from the best of over 4000 catalogued fossil specimens. Many more = fossils=20 are found each year. A small sampling of our display fossils is = below, for=20 more information on fossils in Cape Breton, contact us or = better yet=20 plan a visit.
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Images (1 - 9) of 47 = Select Page: 1=20 2=20 3=20 4=20 5=20 6=20




MacDonald = Elementary=20 Class Field Trip View (550.0=20 x 415.0)




Class Field = Trip View (550.0=20 x 415.0)




Mac Donald = Elementary=20 View (550.0=20 x 415.0)




Mixed = Collection View (550.0=20 x 412.0)




Tree Ferns = View (550.0=20 x 412.0)




Fossil = Display View (550.0=20 x 412.0)




Lepidodendron View (550.0=20 x 412.0)




Carboniferous Fossils=20 View (550.0=20 x 412.0)




New Fossil = Displays View (550.0=20 x 415.0)