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Foghorn to Fossils, Page 1

Fortune Head's past could play a key role in its future

The rock formations at Fortune Head and surrounding area have generated interest for years. Back in 1949, the strata (layers of sedimentary rock) was thought to be a little peculiar. Douglas Brothers, an artesian-well drilling firm, attempted to sink wells in several locations at Fortune with no success. Mr. Douglas was of the opinion that the strata on the Burin Peninsula did not run in layers, as is the common rule, but was broken up as if an earthquake or similar eruption had smashed the rock formation.

His findings were interesting. At Fortune, he found the soil to be exceedingly sandy and mucky.

Geological time is determined partly by the successive layers of sand which accumulate over time, and the contents of these layers. Douglas's earthquake theory is not so far-fetched.

Scientists believe that 600 million years ago, in the Precambrian time, the land masses of earth looked very different from today. Then came the Cambrian explosion, which geologists now believe to be almost exactly 543 million years ago.

Explosive forces of unknown origin caused powerful earthquakes. Existing continents were ripped apart, then slammed back together. New continents, oceans, and mountains were formed. The chemistry of the oceans and atmosphere underwent drastic changes as ice ages came and went. Land masses continued to shift until finally the world looked much as it does today.

What makes the Cambrian explosion so important is more than just worldwide upheaval and rearrangement of global features. While the surface got a facelift, other changes were taking place. It literally gave birth to more new and varied species than any other single geological period. Soft-bodied organisms and life forms began to develop hard, protective shells, jaws and claws. It is also when they evolved from asexual to sexual reproduction.

From a scientific viewpoint, the definition of the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary provides opportunities for research and study which will extend decades into the future. From a more practical outlook, choosing Fortune Head as the global stratotype (an international geological reference point) has the potential to provide both academic and economic development for the area.

A geological survey done for the provincial Department of Mines and Energy in 1977 recorded "hyolithid fragments and worm burrows" in the Chapel Island Formation. The base of this formation is at the southern end of the Burin Peninsula, which includes Fortune Head.

In 1978, geologists from around the world visited the discovery site of the first fossil tracings at Dantzic Cove, on the Fortune-to-Point May highway.

In 1979, scientists returned to the Burin Peninsula to study the area more thoroughly. The Fortune area was then considered to be of special interest.

In 1981, the upper part of the Chapel Island Formation was established as containing the oldest Cambrian sediments in southeastern Newfoundland.

Further field trips determined that the Fortune Head site dated from the Late Precambrian to the Early Cambrian period. Evidence of this is found in a section of exposed coastal cliffs which was proposed as the global stratotype for the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary. This boundary marks a fundamental change in earth history - the first appearance of skeletal bioturbating organisms. It was enough to get the scientists excited.

Sources list the dominant life forms of the Cambrian period as brachiopods, corals, worms and algae. There is less evidence of animal life in the Precambrian period, but filled worm burrows indicate the existence of worms. At Fortune Head, fossils are in good supply and include trace fossils (the hardened remains of animal tracks), small shelly fossils, vendotaenid algae, soft-bodied megafossils, and microfossils.

But the most exciting thing about Fortune Head is not the fossils themselves, it is what the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary represents. It is what scientists generally refer to as evolution's "Big Bang."

In 1992, the International Union of Geological Scientists (IUGS) declared a portion of the rock section exposed at Fortune Head as a global stratotype.

There were several reasons for this decision: the site reportedly contains more trace fossils than anywhere else in the world; the area is easily accessible to geologists and scientists from all parts of the world; and the type of rock found in the cliffs (sandstones and siltstones) does not change much with time. The Fortune Head Ecological Reserve Order was filed on December 21, 1992, under the Wilderness and Ecological Reserves Act.

The reserve was officially opened on September 14, 1994, and a bronze plaque unveiled commemorating the event. This is the first unique boundary point marking the base of any system, approved by the IUGS, in North America.

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(As printed in The Telegram, September 6, 1998. Copyright by Fay Herridge)