Friday, January 10, 2014

Strange coincidence noted...

Strange coincidence noted...  Reader Simi L. noted the strange coincidence of two famous historical sites being located very close to each other: the twin spiral tunnels built for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Canadian Rockies, and the location of the Burgess Shale fossil field, where the Cambrian explosion of (bizarro-land!) species was discovered.  This map shows both of the spiral tunnels, plus the location of the most famous quarry in the Burgess Shale (the Walcott Quarry).  You may have to zoom out a little to see the three markers.  The two tunnels are about a mile apart; the quarry is about two miles from either tunnel.  Both are near the summit of Kicking Horse Pass, just a short drive northwest from Banff National Park

If the Cambrian explosion and the Burgess Shale are new topics for you, there's a book you should read: Wonderful Life, by Stephen Jay Gould.

How strange that these two places of historic interest (for completely unrelated reasons!) should be located so close together...

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