49.5

The chilly morning temperatures caused fog to rise over the relatively warm waters of the lake while the very first sunlight of the day lit up high cirrus clouds. These precursor clouds signalize the distant cyclone system coming in from the Pacific ocean bringing clouds and rain for several days to the Canadian Rockies. These mountains are geologically built up by alternating layers of limestone and shale that sedimented on an ancient ocean floor 245 to 363 million years ago. Compression of these once flat lying layers of 1300 m thickness each caused the sediments to break into huge slabs that tilted upwards into a system of repeating limestone and shale pattern. Each rock exposed to the surface is attacked by the erosive forces of weathering. The shale layer is a soft rock compared to the limestone. Hence glaciers, precipitation, frost and wind easily eroded the shale into deep valleys leaving the resistant tilted limestone behind as the Canadian Rocky Mountains we see today. These steep cliffs of Mt. Rundle were formed during the ice age by carving of glaciers and later by cutting of the Bow river. These sun rays lighting up the sky, reflecting in the lake and on the mountains in the morning quietude really was a moment to remember.

August 2009
Canon 5D MkII, Canon L 16-35 mm, f/16, 4 sec, ISO 50, tripod

More information:

http://www.lichtjahre.eu
Where Geoscience Meets Art