Salmon River – A grey shelly sand, exposed along the beach indicates a 15 M higher sea level 38,000 years ago and separates two till layers. The lower till with broken shells was deposited by a continental ice mass from New Brunswick area, and the upper till by a local Nova Scotia ice cap.
Cape Cove – Sea cliffs south of Mavillette Beach Provincial Park provide an insight into the glaciation of this area. The Pleistocene deposits exposed here are: an older gravel laid down before the last glaciation; a layer of shale debris; a brown shelly till deposited by a continental ice mass crossing the Bay of Fundy from New Brunswick; and a rusty cemented gravel deposited during glacier melting.
Cape St. Mary – Halifax Formation slates to the northwest are in contact with sandstones and dark green and pink volcanic rocks of the White Rock Formation. Some geologists consider that the White Rock Formation is in fault contact with the Halifax Formation. Elsewhere in western Nova Scotia the Halifax Formation is conformable with the White Rock Formation.
Comeauville – The highway between Saulnierville and Grosses Cogues follows a ridge composed of till (a moraine) which was deposited at the edge of a glacial ice mass about 40,000 years ago.
Sandy Cove – The road north from Route 217 to the campground crosses a mass of glacial debris, which fills a channel through North Mountain. Glacial erosion along a north-south fault line created the channel. Glacial features include a delta at 45M above sea level and a kettle lake. Nearby are bogs containing large amounts of diatomaceous earth, a deposit formed by the slow accumulation of silica shells from single celled plants. The central valley that contains the bogs and extends to Brier Island results from the faster erosion of the softer shale and volcanic rocks against the harder basaltic lava flows.
East Ferry – Exposures of North Mountain columnar basalt south of the ferry landing on Digby Neck. The narrow gut of water here and at Freeport were formed by glacial erosion on north trending faults.
Bear River – View of Digby Gut, which is formed by erosion along a fault. A large exposure west of the bridge shows folded slates of the Halifax Formation with diabase intrusions parallel to the bedding.
Annapolis River – The mouth of this river was in Digby Gut when the sea level was lower but the river was submerged when sea level rose following the melting of the glaciers. At Annapolis Royal the great forces of the Bay of Fundy tides are harnessed to produce 20MW of electrical power at North America’s only tidal power station. North East of Annapolis Royal the river shows excellent examples of river meanders.
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