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travel / great places / canadian snapshots / cape breton
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Cape Breton Islands
Geology
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The Keltic Lodge, Cabot Trail |
The Cape Breton highlands are one of three mountainous regions
that make up Nova Scotia's Atlantic Uplands. The underlying
rock in the region is made up of schist, gneiss and granite.
The highlands occupy most of Cape Breton Island and form a great
tableland about 370 metres above sea level with steep bluffs
rising more than 500 metres. The most spectacular section can
be seen in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, located at the
north end of the island, where the highest point in the province
rises to 532 metres.
Lowland Cape Breton is dominated by sedimentary rocks. Sandstones
are resistant and form higher ground inland with relatively
weak soil development, while less-resistant rocks - namely
shale — of the coastal plains underlay heavy, deep soils.
The shape of the coastline is strongly influenced by faults,
especially along the Eastern Shore and the southern boundary
of Chedabucto Bay. The straight shore west of Cape Canso marks
the position of the Chedabucto Fault. The smooth eastern shoreline
of the Louisbourg lowlands may also be fault-controlled.
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