$60/person, including lunch (minimum of 30 people)
Thursday June 3 08:30 - 16:00
Guides: Ulrike Hardenbicker, Mark Cote
Meet at the bus stop in front of the Riddell Centre at 08:25.
The Canadian prairies provide a natural setting for the geological and geomorphologic evolution of badland landscapes especially where Cretaceous formations are exposed. We will visit typical badlands developed near Avonlea (50 km SSW of Regina). The Avonlea Badlands shows a variety of different forms that demonstrate the contrasting lithology and different slope processes it controls, such as weathering, erosion and deposition of material. Within the badland area, generally undisturbed short grass prairie vegetation remains.
Wide areas of the proximate landscape are also largely devoid of obstruction - either from relief or vegetation. Ideally located in a spot surrounded by kilometres of land that has less than a metre of relief is the Bratt's Lake Observatory, about 23km south of Regina. Originally established as part of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network of the World Climate Research Programme, this Environment Canada Observatory now also includes myriad facilities to investigate atmospheric chemistry, monitor stratospheric ozone and UV, assess pesticide, radiological and mercury contamination, and others, including a climate reference station. We will visit and tour the facilities.
We will also journey to the nearby former Claybank Brick Plant which is nestled at the foot of the Dirt Hills marking the transition to the Missouri Coteau. This National Historic Site, representative of an industrial process vanishing from the landscape, is unique in that it is the only intact complex of its type and era left in Canada and is the best such example in North America. The Plant is virtually frozen in the 1912-37 period. Here you can find the ten original down draft beehive kilns, and most of the original equipment and buildings intact and fully operational. The tour will provide ample opportunity to explore these.