Vancouver Island has been in existence for hundreds of millions of years. It was formed through various processes including tectonic plate movement, volcanism, erosion and glaciation.
Much of our Island rock originated near the equator in the Pacific Ocean.
Some of the oldest Vancouver Island rocks were formed by undersea lava deposits. This material drifted north eastward and collided with the North American continent.
Later, two smaller pieces of crust called Pacific Rim and Crescent terrains collided with and joined onto Vancouver Island. The glacial process affecting the formation of Vancouver Island consisted of large glaciers and ice sheets. These ice sheets cut major features into the landscape. About 15,000 years ago these ice sheets and glaciers slowly melted and caused the land to be exposed when previously it was submerged.
These Island stones were made into a showcase and won second place in the People’s Choice category at the Victoria rock show.
Stones from the showcase will be available for viewing when the Ripple Rock Gem and Mineral Club hosts the 2012 Rock Club show on Sat., June 9 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.and on Sun., June 10 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. In the Timberline school gym.
“Upon putting this showcase of Vancouver Island stones together, it made me realize that we have an abundance of semi precious and non precious stones all over this land,” said rock collector Beba Adams. “As rockhounds, we use these stones for a wide variety of hobbies. We make jewelry, clock faces, carvings, lamps, spheres, wind chimes and boxes to name a few. The stones I’ve displayed in the showcase have been found in certain places on this Island as I have depicted them on the map. However, there are many more sites that one can find these same stones.”
Vancouver Island has a few active mines. In times past, there were many more mines than are in operation today. These mines are in production to process metals such as iron, silver, zinc and gold; others are mining coal.
One of our most popular Vancouver Island stones for Rockhounders is our Flowerstone.
This is a porphyry stone that is found in abundance in and around the Campbell River area.
The stone is unique to this part of the Island and isn’t found in many other places worldwide.
When the Ripple Rock club has visitors from other parts of the world it is sure to show them these wonderful creations of nature.
For more information visit www.ripplerockgemandmineralclub.com