The Last Billion Years

by The Atlantic Geoscience Society (AGS)

Expanded and updated edition of bestselling full-colour history of geological heritage in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI, featuring texts from experts and thousands of illustrations, including paintings, photographs, maps, and diagrams. The rocks and fossils of the Maritime Provinces of Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) tell a fascinating story of the last billion years. The story unravels many surprises, for Halifax and southern Nova Scotia were once situated near the South Pole and attached to Africa.
The positions of present-day Halifax and Saint John were once on separate continents.
The red rocks of Prince Edward Island were formed in a monsoonal climate.
Cliffs around the Bay of Fundy have yielded the oldest dinosaurs in Canada.
As recently as 20,000 years thick ice covered the Maritimes and extended onto the continental shelf. These topics, and many more, are explored in this revised and updated edition of The Last Billion Years, a book for anyone interested in the origin and evolution of the Maritime Provinces. Beautifully and profusely illustrated in full colour, The Last Billion Years features original paintings of ancient vistas, photographs, and informative diagrams and sketches.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Dar]

I live in an area with rugged coastlines and can't help noticing all the exposed rock formations (many very beautiful). We begin with the plate tectonics that formed the oceans and land masses of my local area, then how the layers formed and shifted and settled, then we have lots of specific chapters about kinds of rocks and minerals, fossils, hothouse and ice age climates, mining, and energy extraction. I'll buy a copy of the book for its photos of rock formations and their locations, all within visiting distance from home!

[Kelly Martin]

Wow.. This was a great good. I wasn't expecting to find it very good, but it was great!

[John]

I guess I'll never really be done with this one because I keep picking it back up to read different sections, but I'm calling it done for now to get it off my "Currently Reading" list. Well worth picking up a copy if you are interested in the geologic history of the Maritimes. A fair bit of natural history is also included.

[Porterhorse]

Very textbook-like. Validated my decision to study Biology.