They Don't Call It"TheGoldenHorseshoe"for Nuthin'!

Hi...

So, as promised a few days ago, here's a bit of geographical history about how "The Falls" began...

Man and woman on Canadian side of Niagara Falls, circa 1858http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls

Southern Ontario's Golden Horseshoe, (the Niagara Escarpment), existed before the Glaciers!

Southern Ontario’s Golden Horseshoe, (the Niagara Escarpment), began over 425 million years ago when it emerged from the sea of the Paleozoic Era before glacial times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Escarpment

Today, it's an internationally recognized biosphere reserve, stretching from Watertown, New York to Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario. The estimated current population of the region reaches approximately 1,000,000.

The “Great Lakes”, consisting of Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, hold 20% of the world’s fresh water supply. 99% percent of this water is of glacial origin.

Situated between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the Niagara Escarpment boasts spectacular waterfalls, rivers and beaches. The most famous waterfalls, Niagara Falls, is one of the natural Wonders of the World.

Panoramic view of American and Horseshoe Falls from Canada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls

Reports show that approximately 13 million people visit Niagara Falls annually. ( Source: http://nyfalls.com/niagara/niagara-falls-faq6.html )

Over 425 million years later, this diverse and majestic natural phenomenon, sculpted by wind, water and ice, is also fondly referred to as the “Niagara Region”, the “Niagara Peninsula”, the “Niagara Escarpment”, and the “Golden Horseshoe”.

What exactly is the Niagara Escarpment:

The Ordovician and Silurian rock forms of the Niagara Escarpment date back to 430 - 415 million years ago.

A view of the American, Bridal Veil and Horseshoe Fallshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls

The Niagara Escarpment “table”, consisting of Ordovician and Silurian rock, extends approximately 1,900 square kilometers along the east and west sides of the Niagara River and forms a small part of Ontario’s Great Lakes low lands.

The Niagara Escarpment is not a fault-line or a rift-line as is the popular belief. It is, however, two things at once:

It is a “cuesta” that runs generally along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. “

Schematic cross section of three cuestas, dip slopes facing left, and harder rock layers in darker colors than softer oneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuesta

Cuestas” are created through erosion.

In structural geology and geomorphology, a cuesta(from Spanish: "slope") is a ridge formed by gently tilted sedimentary rock strata in a homoclinal structure.^[1]^[2] Cuestas have a steep slope, where the rock layers are exposed on their edges, called anescarpment or, if more steep, a cliff. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuesta

"Other “Cuestas” around the globe are the Gulf Coastal Plain in Texas, the Jurassic, Chalk, White Horse Hills and the Cotswolds, (also called Cotswold Edge), in the United Kingdom, and the wine regions of Cote d’Or and Cotes du Rhone in France.

This geography explains why the Niagara Region also boasts many award winning wines and vineyards.

http://www.appletreebb.ca/niagara-on-the-lake-wineries.html

The Niagara Escarpment is also an “isthmus”. An “isthmus” is a narrow portion of land surrounded by water which joins two larger pieces of land together.

The Niagara Escarpment joins Lake Erie to Lake Ontario by way of Niagara Falls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Peninsula

A “peninsula”, on the other hand, is a piece of land that projects into a body of water and is connected with the mainland by an isthmus.

Therefore, the Niagara Escarpment is, by definition, simultaneously a cuesta, an isthmus, and a peninsula.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/ (June 17, 2010)
http://www.niagarapeninsula.com/?pg=14 (June 17, 2010)

(http://www.niagarafrontier.com/origins.html June 17, 2010)

I'll talk about the human history of the Niagara Region, (including daredevils and romance), in future posts...