In order to log this EarthCache you must complete the
following:
- At the time of your visit to this Earthcache determine if the
harbour bar is currently visible and if so its approximate length,
or if it has disappeared due to the wave action of Lake Ontario.
Send your results to me in a separate email - DO NOT INCLUDE THIS
IN YOUR LOG - otherwise your log will be deleted.
Optional: Include with your log, a photo of the shifting
sands.
The Rouge River is actually a river system
consisting of two rivers, the Little Rouge and the Rouge
River,
and flows through the Rouge Valley into Lake Ontario bordering
Scarborough (Toronto) and Pickering.
The Rouge River is part of Rouge
Park, the largest urban park in Canada.
Rouge Park remains virtually untouched since the arrival of the
earliest European settlers and is part of the Carolinian zone
in southern Ontario, the province's most threatened ecological
region. Over 400
species of plants and animals found within this zone are
considered rare by the Natural
Heritage Information Centre.
The Rouge River has a length of some 250 km, and a basin of 337
km2. As it flows through the Rouge Marsh into Lake
Ontario, it’s flow decreases leaving behind sediments at its
mouth. Over time, this sediment deposition has created a river
bar which is subject to the wave action of Lake Ontario. During
heavy storms these "shifting sands" alter the configuration of this
river bar. At times the river bar is so large that one can almost
walk across the mouth of the Rouge River and onto the bar itself.
However, after heavy storms, the sediment is often washed away into
the lake and the mouth of the river increases considerably in
width. When the river bar is nothing more than a sliver of sand the
river flows in a straight line into Lake Ontario, while at other
times the river bar is long enough that the river meanders
considerably before flowing into the lake.
