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  Copyright / Reprints BOOK REVIEW:
Fundy Mineral Collecting, Reviewed by D.M. Morong, This new locality guidebook focuses almost exclusively upon the zeolite-bearing basalts of the Fundy coast of Nova Scotia, of both the south and north shores of the Minas Channel. This gives directions to fifty sites, and includes twelve maps. It is sold as OP ME 2003-1 available from Nova Scotia Dept. of Natural Resources, price about Can. $20 (before tax and shipping). The book is available at the Fundy Geological Museum, and in Eldon George's mineral shop, both in Parrsboro. For more information on availability, an internet search by title may be useful. Directions to sites are generally in distances to the nearest kilometer or half km, and would have been more helpful had they been more precise. In some cases (such as at Wasson Bluff, also Partridge Island) a definite point of beginning within the town might have helped in the road log (that to the latter may start at Route 2, but does not specify this). Proofreading and correction would have also helped, as several road distances, when checked against a topo map, are found to be off (a difference of 1 km in a roadlog can make a difference). This is noticed in more than one example, one being the distance from the turnoff to Partridge Island to the intersection at Cape Sharp (which is closer to 6 km), and directions to more than one site on the south shore contain such error. Many road distances in the Digby Neck area are considerably in error (which may be a result of confusing miles with km). For U.S. visitors, a km to miles conversion might have been useful (multiply km by 5/8 to get miles). The maps are of various scales, most are between 1 and 2 km per cm, which does not give much detail; these might better have been of a standard scale so that one could use a cm ruler to scale off distances - or at least if the bar scales had been divided into 1 km increments. A reference to an overall map might also have been useful, or even reference as to where a topographic map of a scale of 1/50,000 (in which 1 km is represented by 2 cm, or a mile by about 1.26 inches, a much more detailed scale), such as bought from Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre (160 Willow Street, Amherst, NS B4H 3W5, open weekdays, phone 902-667-7231, or 1-800-798-0706 from within NS, website address: http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/land/; e-mail: <info@nsgc.gov.ns.ca>). Most of the land access is said to have been checked; unfortunately a "private road" mentioned in the Cape Sharp entry was chained off sometime between the book's research and publication, but one can use the old road leading directly east of the intersection (don't block any road no matter how indistinct) which turns into a trail that leads muddily downhill through a stream and brush to the shore. It might have also been useful to have included a plea to park cars so as not to block any access - some seemingly abandoned trails may be access to cottages - and thus obviate landowners from posting properties to prevent blockage nuisances. This includes a good discussion of tides and their influence on access and the hazards of various areas. Unfortunately the only sources of tide tables given are to those in newspapers; it might have better served the reader to have given a website to Nova Scotia tides such as Some of the steep climbing places are interestingly discussed. The upper (road) end of Cow Creek (Wasson Bluff entry) is dirty, due to cow dungs. The lower end is carved through sandstone, and the last bit has a short slope with a single rope (no handrails) to use in backing down the slope to the beach. There is another gully beyond the west end of Wasson Bluff, but if one uses gullies for access, one should park completely off the pavement, block no access, avoid cows, and leave fences in as good condition as found. Another interesting description of a roped slope is in the entry to Amethyst Cove: "Although steep, the rope trail is only about 70 degrees of incline and does not involve rock climbing. Except for one brief stretch halfway down, the ropes are more a convenience than necessity." This seems to me cliff-like, as 70 degrees of slope is equivalent to about 11 units height to 4 of level (fold a standard letter-sized sheet of paper from halfway along its bottom to a top corner, and that is about 70 degrees of incline). Even were it a typo and were 70% instead, that's about 35 degrees of slope, which approaches that of some staircases. Conclusions: This appears to be a useful book as it includes locations along with shore access, which otherwise might be difficult to locate. It includes some scenic photos, and a brief section of descriptions of specimens commonly found in the basalts. But this is mainly a locality guidebook, and is useful as the old Sabina guidebooks have been so long out of print. One can tell that the author had a good time in researching the book and in collecting at the sites, and really enjoys Fundy zeolites. Although this book includes some errors, this is recommended to those seriously interested in collecting Fundy zeolites, with the admonition, as with tides and rockfalls, to consider the strengths and weaknesses of this book, and to use its information with the help of aids such as the topographic maps mentioned. Perhaps a second edition might contain such corrections and additional information. - D.M. Morong
Explore from Here: Borates and other Minerals from the Evaporates of Nova Scotia Rockhounding in Nova Scotia 
Reprint instructions: Permission is given to freely reprint this article from the Canadian Rockhound for non-commercial and educational purposes, provided the author and the Canadian Rockhound are acknowledged, and that the website URL address of the Canadian Rockhound [www.canadianrockhound.ca] is given. The article may not be edited or rewritten to change its meaning or substance without the author's permission.
  Copyright © 2004 Canadian Rockhound Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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