Carp Hills
The Carp Hills (also known as Carp Ridge[1]) are a small range of rocky hills between the shallow valleys of the Carp River and Constance Creek, entirely within the West Carleton-March Ward of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs roughly from Kinburn Side Road southeast to the village of Carp and the South March Highlands at March Road.[1]
The hills cover roughly 10,000 acres (4,000 ha)[2] and are mostly undeveloped. The ridge is an extension of the Canadian Shield, with a landscape that is characterized by a mix of rocky outcrops, grassland, marshes, numerous shallow ponds, and patches of mature forest. Its pristine rugged nature has been compared to the nearby Gatineau Park.[1][3]
The western side of the hills are an exposed fault, creating a ridge that provides good views of the surrounding rural countryside.[4][5]
Geology
The hills are an outcrop of Precambrian bedrock, unique in the City of Ottawa which is otherwise relatively flat. Its geology is complex, consisting of gneiss, granite, and marble substrates, and it supports a number of vegetation-landform ecologies which are uncommon in the area and much of southeastern Ontario, including mature deciduous and mixed upland forest and mixed and coniferous lowland forest. Typical to Canadian Shield, it has rolling terrain with highly irregular drainage and a thin soil cover with barren vegetation. A section of the hills, the Carp Barrens spread along both sides of Thomas Dolan Parkway, is characterized by the "most extensive, best-expressed complex of granite bedrock barrens", not only on the Carp Ridge, but also in southern Ontario east of the Thousand Islands – Frontenac Arch.[5]
The gneiss at the Carp Barrens contains mica, and 2 small mines once operated there.[6]
References
- ^ a b c "Preserving the Carp Hills". Friends of the Carp River. 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
- ^ "Conserving habitat at Ottawa's Carp Hills". ducks.ca. Ducks Unlimited Canada. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ "The Great Ottawa Outdoors Just Got Better". www.ducks.ca. Ducks Unlimited Canada. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ "Greenspace - Carp Hills Forest". ottawa.ca. City of Ottawa, Planning Infrastructure and Economic Development Dept. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ a b Daniel F. Brunton (October 1992). "Area of Natural and Scientific Interest Life Science Checksheet" (PDF). carphills.com. Friends of the Carp Hills. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- ^ "Carp Barrens". carphills.com. Friends of the Carp Hills. Retrieved 31 July 2019.