Geology & Landscape | Freshwater & Wetlands | Soils Plants | Animals | Cultural Environment | Sites of Interest Topics & Habitats

Geology and Landscape Development
This Unit extends from Halifax to Owls Head, near Clam Harbour, along an indented submergent coastline. The bedrock is dominated by greywacke, with bands of slate, folded parallel to the coastline. The coast is divided into headlands separated by long inlets. Most inlets are drowned river estuaries and do not appear to be fault-controlled. Porters Lake, which stretches inland from Terminal Beach, is an exception, as it occupies a fault zone.

The waves at Lawrencetown Beach attract surfers. Click to enlarge

Loose cobbly quartzite till forms the ground moraine and is overlain in two areas by drumlins composed of red-brown Lawrencetown Till. The drumlins are concentrated in the Chezzetcook to Lawrencetown and Clam Bay areas. They rarely form islands but are more usually seen as eroding coastal bluffs, such as Hartlen Point. Three of the islands within Chezzetcook Inlet are drumlins.

The irregular character of a youthful submergent coastline is being smoothed off here as sediment is redistributed (see Figure 27). Sand and gravel are supplied from the erosion of deep glacial tills and glacial outwash deposits along the coast. Spits and barrier beaches, connecting promontories and islands, protect the large, shallow estuaries from ocean waves, allowing salt marshes to develop.

Fresh Water Environments & Coastal Wetlands

Salt marsh pond Click to enlarge

The many small and medium-sized lakes in this Unit exhibit pH levels of 5.5-7.3. Several lakes around Dartmouth, including Morris and Bisset lakes, have high levels of turbidity and nutrients. A few scattered freshwater wetlands occur inland, usually associated with lakes or small streams. There are many large areas of tidal marsh in barachois ponds and inlets.

Soils
Well-drained Halifax gravelly sandy loams derived from quartzite cover much of this Unit. On areas with less relief, imperfectly

Cole Harbour, Halifax County Click to enlarge

drained Danesville soil is common, with peat, Rockland, and some small areas of poorly drained, mottled Aspotogan soil. Some areas of shaly loam Bridgewater soil have developed from parent materials derived from slate. Finer textured Hantsport soils (imperfectly drained, sandy clay loam) which have developed from Carboniferous parent materials are found around Eastern Passage. Wolfville drumlin soils are common, especially in Cole Harbour, Three Fathom Harbour, and Clam Harbour. The Halifax peninsula, which is underlain by slate except in the extreme north end, has mostly Bridgewater soils.

Plants
The coastal White Spruce and Balsam Fir forest with maple and birch predominates. On old farmlands and drumlins, pure stands of White Spruce are common. Further back from the coast are spruce, fir, and pine stands. Salt-marsh and sand-dune plant communities and large beds of Eelgrass are common.

Animals
The mix of coastal habitats is similar to that found in Unit 832 (LaHave Drumlins), where sheltered inlets favour a more southerly marine fauna; exposed rocky shores support more northerly species. Periodic incursions of warmer slope water bring in warm-water fish and invertebrates in the summer.

Osprey on McNabs Island Click to enlarge

Cole Harbour, Chezzetcook Inlet, Petpeswick Inlet, and Musquodoboit Harbour provide important migration and winter habitat for waterfowl. In spring, particularly mid-March to mid-April, these areas are a stopover for several thousand Black Ducks and Canada Geese. The numbers peak again in October. Black Ducks breed in the coastal barrier beach, estuary, and coastal marsh habitats. More Black Ducks and Canada Geese come here than anywhere else in the province. Other overwintering birds are the Common Goldeneye, which occurs in moderate numbers, and an occasional scaup. Great Blue Heron and Osprey nest on McNabs Island and elsewhere. Piping Plovers nest at Lawrencetown and Clam Bay. This coast also provides feeding areas and some scattered nesting habitat for the Bald Eagle. Freshwater fishes include White Sucker, shiners, sticklebacks, perch, Banded Killifish, and Brook Trout.

Cultural Environment
The drumlin fields at Cole Harbour and Lawrencetown caused the British to single out this area in the mid-1700s for farming. Small-scale farming on the Eastern Shore drumlins has taken place since then. After the deportation of 1755, a group of Acadians settled in Chezzetcook. For many people in this area, earning a living from the land necessitated fishing in the summer, subsistence farming, hunting, waterfowling, and winter work in the woods - a pattern prevalent in many areas of the province and in some ways similar to Mi'kmaq subsistence patterns. The commercial centres of Halifax and Dartmouth have affected settlement along the Eastern Shore Beaches, and many inhabitants now commute to work in the cities.

Smelt Fishing Click to enlarge

Fishing continues to be an important economic activity for some communities along the Eastern Shore, and includes clams, lobsters, cod, and haddock. Some of the recreational uses for the land are bird-watching at important migratory bird stops, hiking, camping, swimming, and enjoying the beach. Government administration, shipping, and the military continue to be economically important to Halifax and Dartmouth. Dartmouth is the Atlantic end of the Shubenacadie Canal. Numerous quarries around the Halifax area supply crushed rock to the construction industry. The Fisherman's Life Museum at Jeddore Oyster Ponds, the Fairbanks Centre, and the Dartmouth Heritage Museum present aspects of this Unit's history.

Sites of Special Interest

• Hartlen Point - eroding coastal bluff
• Cole Harbour - migration and overwintering of waterfowl
• Conrods Beach (IBP Proposed Ecological Site 36) - barrier sand dunes
• West Lawrencetown Marsh - Piping Plover
• Three Fathom Harbour - drumlins
• Chezzetcook Inlet - drumlins, waterfowl
• Petpeswick Inlet - waterfowl
• Martinique Game Sanctuary

Associated Topics T2.2 The Avalon and Meguma Zones T3.4 Terrestrial Glacial Deposits and Landscape Features T7.1 Modifying Forces T11.4 BIrds of Prey T11.5 Freshwater Wetland Birds and Waterfowl T11.6 Shorebirds T11.7 Seabirds

Associated Habitats H2.5 Tidal Marsh H2.6 Dune System H6.2 Softwood Forest (Spruce, Fir, Pine Association) H6.3 Mixedwood Forest (White Spruce, Fir-Maple, Birch Association) Associated Offshore Region 911 Atlantic