July 16 Thursday 2009 Gros Morne National Park
I have to be at the Tablelands at 10:00am. We leave the park at 8:45 we stop at the Discovery center first to get some pictures I deleted by mistake yesterday. About 50 people were there just about evenly divided for French and English. It starts to rain but we continue. The rain comes and goes for the whole 2.5 hour guided hike. We learn that the Tablelands was the area that made Gros Morne a world Heritage site. It is an old plateau of rust coloured rocks a geologist paradise. - a section of earth 's mantel was brought to the surface by the continental drift. Geologist come from all over the world to experience this unique opportunity to study the earth's inner core close up. To our left is the barren orange-brown landscape with almost no vegetation of any kind. No trees ,shrubs or grass. The yellowish rocks is peroditite. Once deep under an ancient ocean. The peroditite is heaver then the typical rock due to high concentrations of heavy metals like chromium and nickel. Just as they are to people, heavy metals are a toxic to plants. This toxicity explains why almost nothing grows in the soil created when these rocks crack,weather and erode. There are however some adaptive plants species that survive in these conditions by taking up the nickel and storing it in lead leaves lower on the plant where it does not poison the plant. Another reason for sparse vegetation is that the peroditite lacks the lighter minerals like calcium and potassium which serves as nutrients to plant life. There are numerous insectivorous plants species in the area notably the pitcher plant which traps insects and spiders in it's “pitcher” and derives nutrients from them. Fascinating stuff. Bill sits and reads a book. He is happy and I am happy. After the hike we go back to the Old Loft for lunch again in Woody point. I finally see 2 moose on our way back to the RV. We get ready to move tomorrow about a 4 hour trip.
REMEMBER-When life gives you lemons make lemonade.
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