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Canadian Geopub Quiz


Couparangus

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The jogs represent corrections applied to allow for convergence?

As lines of longitude go further north the distance between them shrinks continually. Using a township/meridian system of survey meant that surveyors had to continually "correct" for the decreasing distances. These corrections were applied on a fairly regular basis, at least here in Alberta, so I will assume that happened is SK as well.

 

Correct! Sections of land were 1 mile square. As they got farther North with thier survey the section on the edge got smaller. Then a correction was applied.

I friend of mine was walking north through a community pasture, hunting. All or a sudden he was in Manitoba!

Edited by bobbarley
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The jogs represent corrections applied to allow for convergence?

As lines of longitude go further north the distance between them shrinks continually. Using a township/meridian system of survey meant that surveyors had to continually "correct" for the decreasing distances. These corrections were applied on a fairly regular basis, at least here in Alberta, so I will assume that happened is SK as well.

 

I blame it on the Dominion Land Survey

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This question is straightforward.(Surveyors and rural Albertans will have an edge)

This is a fill in the blanks question. There are a total of 4 blanks, please fill them in.

 

The correction line has a correlate, the other reference line was called the ____ line and in when I worked in northern Canada (northern BC, Beaton River) we could see these lines where they had been cut through the short spruce trees which grew in the muskeg. Trees grow very slowly in muskeg and the handlines cut eighty years ago were still visible. We visited an old trig station that still had some of the structure standing after 70 years. I am always amazed that the surveyors went to some of the places they did, they may not have been first but they went everywhere. In Alberta I saw a lot of handrawn maps from the 30's and 40's and in some cases a surveyor often worked in an area for a long time, setting corner posts using iron pins and drawing the survey plats for an entire township. In Alberta the iron pin was often placed in a _____ that was marked by _____ ____. The presence of the iron pin provided a permanent mark that could be used by the future landholder as a point from which measurements of his land could be made and by using the described strategy a surveyor often ensured that the pins could be easily found even 50 years later.

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base This is correct, the correction lines are related to the base lines, the base lines were the reference lines and in between every two base lines there is a correction line. The surveyors used to carry the base lines for long distances to establish a reference that allowed the township and range lines to be determined, from there it was possible to lay out the sections which were further marked out into quarter sections and LSD's (legal sub-divisions). The baselines were cut straight through obstacles like swamps, it was strenuous work by any standards and the evidence lasts a a long time.

 

Once base lines were established the surveyors would move onto marking township and section corners but iron pins are very small and re-finding an iron pin after a few years could be a lot of work.

In order to ensure that those coming later would be able to re-find the marks the surveyors drew detailed maps which included creeks and streams,existing trails, homesteads, features and even the type of land cover. Detailed maps really helped but the practice of placing a pin in a mound which was created by digging three pits was an accepted standard. The pits were fairly deep (1 1/2 feet or more) and the dirt from all three pits was piled over the pin making a mound a couple of feet high. A mound and pits can be discerned even fifty years afterwards, it is almost impossible to lose a pin when it is marked this way.

 

If you are looking for old survey pins in Alberta (and in many other areas of western Canada) the best way to make sure you are close is to look for the mound and pits, it was a mark that was intended to last so that pins could be found more easily, in our work we often had to find corners that had not been found for many many years.

 

I forgot I asked this question in here and I have been on the road for few days so I apologize for causing a slow down. I never know what to ask for a question in this thread. :lol:

 

So the blanks were suppoosed to be filled in with

base mound three pits

 

Take it away shearzone.

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Take it away shearzone.

sweet

 

Metamorpism is defined as the recrystallization of minerals in the solid state (i.e. no melting) generally under intense heat and pressure. What is the most abundant metamorphic mineral on the surface of the Earth?

 

hint: it is disapearing (relatively) quickly

 

edit: added definition

Edited by shearzone
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Aren't diamonds metamorphic?

 

you bet, but they aren't even close to being the most abundant metamorphic mineral on the SURFACE of the earth. If they were, they wouldn't cost so much. As an aside, diamonds are considered by many to be the greatest marketing scheme of the 20th century. DeBeers managed to associate something that people need (love) with something that is totally useless (diamonds) and charge a whole lotta money for them.

 

Anyway, here's a second hint to the original question:

 

pressure was involved, but it wasn't very hot where this mineral formed

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Ice?

 

We're half way there! According to the definition of a mineral, ice qualifies as a mineral. But the answer I'm looking for is another, recrystalized phase of ice. I'll give the next question to the first person that specifies what type of ice is metamorphic ice.

Edited by shearzone
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OMG! I did it! It's been a while since I was the smart cookie in this thread :laughing: .

My son was doing a project for the past two weeks on Climate Change, melting ice and the effect on Polar Bears and their ecosystem; this was part of his research which I've been helping sift through and proofread.

I'll find a new question soon :laughing: . Helen

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With fond memories of caching in Ottawa almost exactly a year ago, we bring you a question from the Royal Canadian Mint. We hacked a cache out of ice just downhill from the mint so we could leave some TB's we'd brought all the way from Victoria. After that bit of excitement in frigid temperatures, we went on a little tour to get warm!

 

The question has 3 parts, same rules apply, the person to fill in the final missing blank goes next.

 

When the Royal Canadian Mint opened it was called the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint.

 

What year was the very first coin struck at Ottawa's mint?

What denomination was the coin?

Which monarch was featured on the coin?

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With fond memories of caching in Ottawa almost exactly a year ago, we bring you a question from the Royal Canadian Mint. We hacked a cache out of ice just downhill from the mint so we could leave some TB's we'd brought all the way from Victoria. After that bit of excitement in frigid temperatures, we went on a little tour to get warm!

 

Was that the Magnifi-mint cache? That was one of my first finds in my caching career. If it's the cache I'm thinking of, it's hidden in an outcrop of 400 million year old storm deposits that are PACKED with marine fossils! U of O geology classes are led there every year to see those rocks. I went there a few times to see those rocks while I was taking classes there.

 

As for the questions...I don't know. You don't tend to visit tourist attractions in the town you live in. :unsure:

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OK I'm new at this game.

A little surfing and...

Jan.2nd 1908 by Lord Earl Grey

It was a 50 cent piece

Edward VII

Hmm.. the first post of this thread says "no googling", I think that includes sufing :unsure: .. but, since you are new, I guess we'll make an exception.. or, does Landsharkz go again?

 

Sorry about that. I should have looked at the start for rules etc. Not even sure if I'm right as it may not have been Edward. I would say Landsharkz goes again, or someone get the correct answers. Thanks.

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OK I'm new at this game.

A little surfing and...

Jan.2nd 1908 by Lord Earl Grey

It was a 50 cent piece

Edward VII

 

Ok, you're new, so we won't make you walk the plank :unsure: .

 

But we shouldn't give you the win that easily. We'll add a bonus piece to this question and the winner takes it away! If you saw the answer to this question when you were 'surfing' it's ok to use that information now, but you can't go goggling to find it. Peripheral knowledge is totally cool.

 

What was the denomination of the second coin minted at the Ottawa Mint?

Hint: It was minted later the same year.

 

Yes, Shearzone, I do believe the cache that was solidly encased in ice was Magnifi-mint!

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What was the denomination of the second coin minted at the Ottawa Mint?

Hint: It was minted later the same year.

 

 

I assume it too was a 50 cent piece! Generally they mint more then one coin before stopping to make a new set of coins :ph34r:

Well yes, technically they minted a whole lot of 50 cent pieces :blink: ! That is NOT what I was looking for though :ph34r: . They minted a second denomination.... is that clearer? And it wasn't much later, first came the 50 cent piece and then came the ...

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