Comox Valley Naturalists Society

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Mike Trask
How to Build an Island in 400 Million Years or Less

A South Pacific Vancouver Island?
Yes, Vancouver Island is even more exotic than most could ever dream. Imagine a time in our distant past. 400 million years ago, before the days of the dinosaurs, the earth’s major continents are wielded together into a giant macro-continent. Then as now, the earth is a restless place and somewhere out in the South Pacific a volcano gave birth to a new island. This landmass eventually grew to considerable size, large enough for us to give it the formal name, Wrangellia. Well, as luck would have it, this exotic land wandered the South Pacific for a few hundred million years before migrating north to slam into ancestral British Columbia. We are very lucky though, for Wrangellia captured snap-shots during her long and sometimes tumultuous journey.  The photos preserved and the stories read are held within the rocks and fossils found throughout Vancouver Island.

"How to Build an Island in 400 Million Years or Less," presented by Mike Trask, is a fast paced slideshow and narrative chronicling the geological history of Vancouver Island. Using images culled from over 25 years of exploring the rocks and studying the fossils of Wrangellia/Vancouver Island, Mike paints a dramatic picture of a land in constant movement and change.

Meetings of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society are held in the Rotary Hall of the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay on the third Sunday of each month starting at 7:00 p.m. The business part of the meeting is held first followed by the guest speaker. The public, including children, are welcome to attend and new memberships are encouraged. A suggested donation from non-members is $2.

Click on a link below to view descriptions of previous guest speakers.