Cowichan Bluff
Cowichan Bluff is a cliff-face just off of Island View Beach along the Saanich Peninsula. Mr Boyd did a research project on the cliff in October 2006. The cliff has many layers of sediment that were deposited "recently" with respect to geologic time. Ie, around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago during the last glaciation. The deposits are layered because during the time of glaciation, the heavy glaciers caused the land to sink, turning coastal areas under water. When the glacier retreated, the land popped back up. It's the same as pushing a beach ball under water. This happened many times.
Many of the layers of sediment are present throughout the peninsula; however, most of the time, they are buried beneath the soil. This pit, found off of Keating Cross Rd, shows a couple of the most upper layers of ocean floor clay, and glacial till. It's within walking distance to Bayside Middle school!
Below is a picture of unsorted glacial till beneath a darker clay mix. Glacial till is mix of different materials that have been deposited by a glacier. These include rocks, pebbles, sands, silts and clays. This picture shows that after a glacier deposited its sediment in an area, that area became flooded and the location for oceanic deposition of fine particles. Super cool!
Mr Boyd with 2 other fellow scientists inspecting the Cowichan Bluff sediment.