Adventure for Wilderness – Calgary Fossil Discovery Adventure

Saturday, August 3, 2024
1 p.m.
Downtown Calgary
by donation

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This half day urban field trip invites participants to discover the huge variety of extraordinary, fossilized creatures in the walls of some of the buildings in and around downtown Calgary. These fossilized creatures are examples of some of the earliest forms of life and are found in 450 million-years-old rocks quarried from the famous Tyndall Formation in Manitoba. Tako Koning, P.Geol., an experienced geologist has made an extensive study of the fossils. He will help the group identify the creatures and share details about their lives.

This Saturday afternoon field trip begins downtown Calgary to visit two historic buildings clad with Tyndall Stone. Thereafter we will move to the Safeway store in Kensington where in ten large blocks of Tyndall Stone we will see the Tyndall in three dimensions and we will study a wide variety of fossils consisting of corals, sponges, nautiloids, algae, pelecypods and brachiopods that are exquisitely preserved in the limestone. The same will be seen in the Tyndall Stone which extensively clads the Senator Patrick Burns building on the SAIT campus.

There will be a minimum amount of walking in this field trip and travel to Kensington and the SAIT campus will be by vehicle. If you come by car, please park somewhere near to the meeting place, 119 – 6th Avenue SW. If you will come on foot please advise the coordinator by email, no later than Thursday August 10 so we can include you in carpooling for the stops in Kensington and SAIT. If you are traveling by bike, you should be able to get between the locations in a similar time to the cars, but make sure to bring a lock for your bike.

This field trip is family friendly; kids are welcome.