Monday, 30 January 2012

Day Two: Mount Royal

After one day’s relaxation we will drive to Mount Royal. We will walk forward after parking the car.
1. maison smith
We will walk to a building known as Maison Smith. The building gains its name from its original owner in the mid-1800s, but now it’s the headquarters for the park management. Here we will find some very interesting displays, plus a kiosk selling the coffee

In the basement there is a rock. 20,000 years ago, the Ice age, this rock was covered by ice 2km thick!

Maison Smith.

 Maison Smith.
 A rock sitting in the basement of Maison Smith is eroded by glacier 20,000 years ago.




The sign tells us that about 20,000 years ago, the rock is covered by a glacier two kilometers thick!

2. beaver lake
When we get out of the Maison Smith, there is a small but beautiful lake called bever lake entending in front of us.
There are many assorted fishes in the lake and many kinds of birds flying.
Beautiful Beaver Lake.
3. The Summit
We keep walking into the mountain. The rock of Mount Royal is special. Per the formation of the rock, I will tell the story of Mount Royal.
Mount Royal (French: Mont Royal) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachians.
The mountain consists of three peaks: Colline de la Croix (or Mount Royal proper) at 233 m (764 ft), Colline d'Outremont (or Mount Murray, in the borough of Outremont) at 211 m (692 ft), and Westmount at 201 m (659 ft) elevation above mean sea level. At this height, it might be otherwise considered a hill, but it has always been called a mountain, given there are no actual mountains in the Montéregie region.

Mount Royal is an extinct volcano but is is not a traditional volcano as such. However, it is the deep extension of a vastly eroded ancient volcanic complex, which was probably active about 125 million years ago.  The mountain was created by intrusion in which process when the North American Plate moved westward over the New England hotspot, along with the other mountains of the Monteregian Hills. The magma intruded into the sedimentary rocks underneath the area, producing at least eight igneous stocks. The main rock type is a gabbro composed of pyroxene, olivine and variable amounts of plagioclase. During and after the main stage of intrusion, the gabbros and surrounding rocks were intruded by a series of volcanic dikes and sills. Subsequently, the surrounding softer sedimentary rock was eroded, leaving behind the resistant igneous rock that forms the mountain.
The mineral montroyalite, discovered in Montreal, is named after the mountain that provided the definition sample.

There are no longer any active quarries on Mount Royal, but we can still see signs of exploitation of rock used for construction. The wall reveals layers of grey rock in alternating shades of light and dark. These are Trenton limestone strata, formed about 450 million years ago. The layers are cut through with sheets of magmatic rock, called dikes, formed when magma pushed up through the limestone, about 125 million years ago.
Dikes were formed one after the other through reoccurring intrusions of magma. The most spectacular intersection of dikes here is one that looks like a giant game of tic-tac-toe…

Rock of Mount Royal

It will take us about 1 hour to walk to the summit. We will enjoyed the bird view of Montreal.
Bird view of Montreal


4. The Giant Cross
The big cross stands at the peak Mount Royal Proper. It will take us about 15 minutes to arrive at the foot of the cross. At the peak, there are several American eagles flying in the sky. They are hovering while seeking preys.
The Giant Cross.

American Eagle.

5.St-Joseph Church
We walk down the hill and arrive at St. Joseph Catholic Church. It’s the biggest church in Canada. Its dome is the second biggest in the world. It’s very splendid inside the church.

St. Joseph Church.

Inside St. Joseph Church.







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