DAILY NEWS Jul 20, 2007 7:41 AM - 0 comments

Geology Rocks in CBC HD Documentary Series

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A new five-part series to air on CBC Television will explore Canada's rich historical landscape.

GEOLOGIC JOURNEY begins September 9th, 2007 and continues through October 7th.

Shot in high definition, the five-part series blends state-of-the-art science, and a range of visual techniques from 3-D animation to Westcam high precision helicopter shooting, with personal stories from people who are driven by geologic wonder.

What do we really know about the history of the earth beneath our feet? That was the question that preoccupied series producer Michael Allder as he tramped across the historic Niagara Escarpment, near his home in Owen Sound, Ontario. It was the beginning of a four-year project, chronicling 4.5 billion years of history.

GEOLOGIC JOURNEY documents the incredible and sometimes surprising history of Canada’s landscape – a land that humbles humans with its awesome magnitude. This adventure through time begins with the Great Lakes, moves across Canada to the rugged Rockies, and finally plunges into the Maritimes.

Countless geologic events joined forces to create the modern-day landmass that is Canada, resulting in startling formations and occurrences: there was a time when mountains the size of the Himalayas towered where Toronto now lies, violent volcanic activity once shook the continent, and ice that was several kilometres thick once blanketed much of the country.

From the rocky outreaches of Georgian Bay and its many islands to the towering falls of Niagara (the birthplace of modern geologic science), the Great Lakes region is an unparalleled, strikingly beautiful place and rich in contrasts. The Great Lakes tells the story of the dramatic changes in the geology and landscape of the central area of North America, which now forms what we know as the five interconnected freshwater lakes. In this 4.5 billon year journey guided by geologists Nick Culshaw, Tom Krogh and Nick Eyles, viewers will discover the roots of a long vanished mountain range that once rivalled the Himalayas, explore the remains of an inland tropical sea in the vast underworld of salt mines, and trace the story of a dramatic flood during the melt of the last ice sheet only a few thousand years ago.

Beginning on the quiet Pacific shoreline of Vancouver Island, geologist Stephen Johnston among others search for clues to tectonic shifts that once reverberated through the continent, forcing the mountains up from their quiet, bucolic plain. A tour through the towering snow and glacier covered peaks, and folded rocks of the Rockies reveals the growth pangs of the mountain-building era. The pristine beauty of the Canadian Rockies gives way to the ghost towns and gold mines of the mountains in Colorado, a telltale clue of how the mountains in Canada were created differently from their cousins in the United States.

The Rockies documents an ever-changing landmass, and just as geologists are learning how the Rockies were formed, they are also discovering what they will become many years from now.

With a foundation spanning more than two thirds of North America, the Canadian Shield is the largest single expanse of ancient rock anywhere on the planet. Geologists believe the rocks of the Canadian Shield were present during the very beginnings of the Earth’s formation. Time has shaped them into an ensemble of proud mountains and vast plains where valuable resources such as gold and diamonds can be found under the crust. While the shield has been surveyed from North to South, its underground world still leaves much to be discovered and is one of the true last frontiers of human exploration.

In The Canadian Shield, NASA consultant John Spray tells how billions of tons of metal mineralized in the depths of the earth, after the crust was penetrated by huge chunks of molten rocks coming from outer space. Derek Wilton undertakes an expedition in search of the oldest rock formations in the world, deep into remote Labrador territory. And prospector Michel Gauthier tries to find gold among the mysterious remains of an ancient mountain chain, 2.7 billions years old.

The fabled Appalachian Mountains contain a geologic puzzle, a rich legacy, and a scarcely known threat. This episode unravels the mystery of whether the mountain range was once the witness to not one but two massive continental collisions. Hidden in the rocks lies dramatic evidence unearthed by Jim Hibbard telling how continents once drifted across the planet to collide and create our modern geography. The legacy is coal, a resource that fuelled America and transformed the landscape. Our journey takes us deep underground into coal mines with Dan Koury and Nick Eyles. The threat, which few know about, is the subject of research by Stephan Mazzotti and Martitia Tuttle. The east coast, as the west coast, has its own earthquake-prone fault lines, some of which lie close to many of eastern Canada’s and America’s biggest cities.
These explorations and observations across the vast landscape of the Appalachians pull together the missing pieces in the history of the American continent.
On the Atlantic coast, millions of years back in time, tectonic upheaval pummelled and pounded eastern North America, adding new land masses to form the shape we recognize today. This tectonic movement lies at the heart of a dramatic story of volcanic outpourings, massive rifting of continents and the bursting forth of a new, young ocean, known as the Atlantic.
The Maritimes explores the deepest part of a long-vanished ocean that was the forefather of the Atlantic, pores over thousands of fossils, whose discovery helped solve a problem that once baffled Darwin; and shows graphic proof of how North America and Africa were once bound together. The journey begins in Newfoundland, with Brendan Murphy and Bob Stephens exploring the Tablelands mountain range and examining the fascinating fossils discovered at Mistaken Point with Jim Gehling and Guy Narbonne. Then from Nova Scotia, a team of geologists travel to Morocco, seeking the link between mass extinction of species and the violent break-up of a super continent.

Episodes one, two and five of GEOLOGIC JOURNEY are produced by the CBC in association with Discovery-Science. Episodes three and four are produced by Altau/Tuttifrutti in association with Radio-Canada, the CBC, Discovery Science and the Office National du Film.

The series producer for the GEOLOGIC JOURNEY series is Michael Allder. The principle scientific advisor to the series is Nick Eyles, Professor of Geology at the University of Toronto. Michael Allder is also the Executive Producer of the documentary series THE NATURE OF THINGS WITH DAVID SUZUKI.
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