Geology & Landscape | Sediment Sources | Deposition Plants | Animals | Scenic Quality | Topics & Habitats

Geology and Landscape Development
This District is found in the exposed southeast-facing central portion of the Atlantic Coast Region and the southwest-facing portion south of Yarmouth. It is generally underlain by slate bedrock but also includes outcrops of greywacke/quartzite and granite. The slate and greywacke bands are interfolded and the fold axes are either perpendicular to (Tusket Islands) or, more commonly, parallel to the coast. Differential erosion of softer slate and harder greywacke has created a ridge and valley topography which is distinctive in places. The best example occurs where glacial north-south scouring was parallel to fold axes (Tusket Islands).

The shoreline is submergent and exhibits drowned headlands and estuaries; it is irregular and very indented.

Deposition
The pattern of deposition depends upon the size distribution of the material, the morphology of the coastline, and the exposure to and

Tusket Islands (aerial view) Click to enlarge

direction of wave attack. Coarse material is found in exposed localities around headlands, where the proportion of sand is small and an oblique wave front carries fine material along the shore. Sand is found in sheltered coves and inlets, on the lee side of headlands and islands, and where a change in direction of the coastline provides a sink for sediment transported along the shore. Depending upon the location, sediments form bay and barrier beaches, spits, bars, tidal marshes, and dune systems.

Plants
Coastal forest vegetation is typically White Spruce and Balsam Fir, with Red Maple, birch, and poplar on better soil. Further inland these give way to spruce, fir, and pine. Drier sites have more pine and oak, and wet sites have Black Spruce and larch. The coastline has barren headlands with krummholz White Spruce, salt marshes, sand dunes, and Eelgrass beds. Southwestern (coastal-plain) plant species are found along the edges of streams and lakes and in bogs. Areas of better soil, particularly on drumlins, have been cleared for agriculture. Pure stands of White Spruce are regenerating on oldfields.

Animals
The indented coastlines and abundant sediment supply result in a wide diversity of coastal habitats in this District, including rocky shores, sand and cobble beaches, mud flats, and tidal marshes, resulting in the presence of a large variety, and sometimes large numbers, of waterfowl and shorebirds that shelter in the inlets and estuaries and feed in the mud flats and tidal marshes.

Scenic Quality
Though possessing little relief, all four Units have high scenic value, owing to indented coastlines and many offshore islands. The three more westerly Units are most similar because their coastal drumlin fields produce similar erosional and depositional features (till headlands,

Beach and dunes, Taylor head Click to enlarge

egg-shaped islands, tombolos, spits, sandbanks, and salt marshes). The drumlins also allowed scattered farming, the marginal viability of which is reflected by many abandoned fields. The easterly Unit (Bay of Islands) lacks drumlins and farming and has a rocky coast with few beaches. All Units except the Eastern Shore Beaches (Unit 833) provide their best scenery to the offshore boater.

Associated Topics T2.2 The Avalon and Meguma Zones T7 The Coast

Associated Habitats H1 Offshore H2 Coastal H5.1 Barren H5.2 Oldfield Associated Offshore Region 911 Atlantic