Ice, Glaciers, Gravel and Oil: Cochrane North – June 8, 2024

June 9, 2024

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Photos by Kennedy Halvorson and Volodymyr Ostapiv
Text by Kennedy Halvorson

“Now picture ice a mile thick here, carving through the landscape”

I try. Squinting up at Alberta blue skies, in my imagination they take on a translucent, cool tone as professional geologist Tako Koning talks, but I can’t conceptualize that distance in height. The frozen wall in my head is imposing to be sure, but any amount of ice in great quantity is breathtaking; glacier hikes are popular for a reason.

Grasping for something less abstract, I focus on theU-shaped valley before us. Tako tells the group it’s characteristic of glacial retreat, with present-day Big Hill Creek following what was a major meltwater channel during the last ice age over 11,000 years ago. The melting ice sheet would have eroded the surface as it moved, leaving behind steep slopes and a rounded valley floor (in contrast to valleys formed by rivers, which have V-like cross-sections).

The topography isn’t the only evidence of deglaciation left post-Pleistocene; gravel is common throughout the Cochrane and Lochend areas, ground from the landscape and deposited during the erosive geological process. Commercial development of gravel is a concern in the region, as the deposits are naturally porous and form important aquifers that filter and connect the larger watershed.

One such aquifer feeds Big Hill Springs, a mineral and thermal spring of national importance and the namesake of Big Hill Springs Provincial Park. On the way to the springs, the group passed an operating gravel pit and number of quarter parcels slated for future extraction. Numerous NGOs including AWA and Bighill Creek Preservation Society (BCPS) are concerned about the cumulative impacts of gravel mining on water in the region and have worked to oppose high-risk projects.

Gerry Bietz, president of BCPS, spoke on current efforts to get approvals for the latest gravel mine rescinded by the Environmental Appeals Board. The process has frustratingly been stuck in limbo for the last couple months, but important precedence has already been set. BCPS was deemed ‘directly and adversely affected’, which permits them to actually participate in the appeal. It’s a standing rarely granted to environmental groups.

It’s hard to reckon with the fact that the rapid warming and subsequent melting of enormous ice sheets thousands of years ago essentially set the stage for the work I’m doing today. Are geologists prone to existential spirals, working on such mindbogglingly large physical and temporal scales?

Adventures such as Tako’s annual Ice, Glaciers, Gravel and Oil trip help inform a more holistic understanding of the environment and highlight the importance of approaching issues from multiple disciplines. I knew nothing of geology before and just a little more now, but first impressions suggest that it’s nice to know where it all started to better fight for the future we’re working towards.