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A view of a unique geologic formation known as a banded iron formation near Wawa, Ontario. The line swirls of this formation are seen directly across the highway towards the top. This area of glacially polished bedrock is comprised entirely of banded iron formation, dating it from 1.85 to 3 billion years of age. While not actual organisms, they are considered as fossils in the geologic timetable. Very magnetic in nature, a combination of hematite & magnetite mixed w/ chert & shale, these formations formed in sea water from oxygen released by photosynthetic cyanobacteria. The oxygen combined w/ the dissolved iron & precipitated into a thin layer on the ocean floor, to which overtime layers resulted in the banded layering. At some point the oceans became overly oxygenated (to which oxygen was a major poison to early life forms), that it became known as the Great Oxygenation Event. The resulting effect was a widespread extinction of early bacterial life forms as oxygen began to fill the atmosphere. While not entirely clear, when these oxygen levels stabilized, the banded iron ceased their formation around 1.85 billion years ago (a smaller documented event was evaluated b/w 800 to 600 million years ago).
The Canadian Shield contains some of the oldest rocks & geology on earth. Banded iron is not uncommon w/in the area & today these deposits have been a source of iron, yielding to much mining done particularly in northern Minnesota (which of course leads to a great commerce of ship transportation from Lake Superior down to the Rust Belt of Ohio & Pennsylvania). Other such mining occur in Australia, where The Outback contains some of the oldest documented rocks known.
More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banded_iron_formation
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The capital of Canada is Ottawa, in the province of Ontario. There are offically ten provinces and three territories in Canada, which is the second largest country in the world in terms of land area.While politically and legally an independant nation, the titular head of state for Canada is still Queen Elizabeth.On the east end of Canada, you have Montreal as the bastion of activity. Montreal is famous for two things, VICE magazine and the Montreal Jazz Festival. One is the bible of hipster life (disposable, of course) and the other is a world-famous event that draws more than two million people every summer. Quebec is a French speaking province that has almost seceded from Canada on several occasions, by the way..When you think of Canada, you think of . . . snow, right?But not on the West Coast. In Vancouver, it rains. And you'll find more of the population speaking Mandarin than French (but also Punjabi, Tagalog, Korean, Farsi, German, and much more).Like the other big cities in Canada, Vancouver is vividly multicultural and Vancouverites are very, very serious about their coffee.Your standard Vancouverite can be found attired head-to-toe in Lululemon gear, mainlining Cafe Artigiano Americanos (spot the irony for ten points).But here's a Vancouver secret only the coolest kids know: the best sandwiches in the city aren't found downtown. Actually, they're hidden in Edgemont Village at the foot of Grouse Mountain on the North Shore."It's actually worth coming to Canada for these sandwiches alone." -- Michelle Superle, VancouverText by Steve Smith.
