Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter One – Beginnings (Brian Hitchon)

      Space and Time in the Universe

      Birth of the Earth

      Getting Down to Earth

      Early Earth History

      Continental Cotillion

      The Alberta Perspective

      Rocks and Minerals

Chapter Two – Alberta Through Time (Fred Clark and Brian Hitchon)

      Historical Overview

      The Precambrian – it’s a start

      The Cambrian – hard times

      Ordovician to Devonian – the Paleozoic plateau

      Carboniferous to Permian – marking time

      The Permian-Triassic Boundary – end of an era

      The Mesozoic Era – more than dinosaurs

      The Cenozoic Era – the age of mammals

      Pleistocene to Recent – the deep freeze and beyond

Sculpting the Landscape (Bruce Rains and John Shaw)

      Fossils

Chapter Three – Resources from the Rocks (Wylie Hamilton)

      Rock or Mineral – which is which?

      Minerals in the Geological Record

      The Major Resource Minerals

Oil and Gas – Money to Burn (Brian Hitchon)

Coal – Buried Sunshine (Rick Richardson)

Sulphur – King of Chemicals

Salt – Pillar of Industry

Limestone – The Friendly Mineral

Sand and Gravel – Formable Stone (Dixon Edwards)

Groundwater – Water of Life (Don Currie)

      The Secondary Resource Minerals

Formation Brines – Mineral Waters

Stone – The First Building Material

Silica – Quintessential Quartz

Placer Gold – Riverbed Riches (Dixon Edwards)

Gemstones – Stones of Endearment

Clay and Shale – Earthstone Essentials

Bentonite – A Swell Kind of Clay

Peat Moss – The Vegetal Mineral

Marl and Tufa

Sodium Sulphate

      Prospective Resource Minerals

Diamond – Gem of Eternity (Dixon Edwards)

Other Industrial Minerals

Metallic Minerals

Chapter Four – Urban Geology (John D. Godfrey)

      Edmonton (John D. Godfrey)

      Fort McMurray (Neil O’Donnell)

      Peace River (John D. Godfrey)

      Grande Prairie (Desh Mittra)

      Athabasca (Don R. Kvill)

Red Deer (Bruce Rains, John Shaw and Darren Sjogren)

      Calgary (Gerald Osborn)

      Lethbridge (René W. Barendregt)

      Medicine Hat (A. MacS. Stalker)

      Engineering Geology (David Devenny)

Glossary

Further Reading

Notes on Contributors

Index