The Niagara Escarpment
Text from the plaque
Hamilton Mountain is part of the Niagara Escarpment, a height of land extending 725 km across Ontario from Niagara Falls to Manitoulin Island. Over 430 million years ago, a tropical sea covered most of central North America. Sediments and coral reef on the seabed were compressed into dolomite, a hard type of limestone more resistant to erosion than the bedrock of adjacent lands. The cliffs of the escarpment are the exposed floor of the ancient sea. The escarpment's rugged terrain, home to a wide variety of plants and wildlife, forms a natural corridor through both urban and rural areas. In 1990, the United Nations designated the Niagara Escarpment a World Biosphere Reserve.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The City of Hamilton
At the north edge of the parking lot
at the north end of Highcliffe Avenue
Also recorded for this place: Michael Anttila
N 43 14.707 W 79 51.967
Recorded June 2004. Check current access before visiting.
More information
More views
