Friday, August 8, 2014

Inglis Falls Potholes

Our special destination for this visit to Inglis Falls was the potholes, which no-one but myself had ever seen.  Our son-in-law was particularly astounded by these round holes in the solid limestone bedrock.  And the walk was just a short one.

This is right on top of the Niagara Escarpment, so the limestone bedrock is right at the surface, with lots of roots crawling around until they can find a crevice to burrow down into.

We quickly found the potholes, with the interpretive sign. 

This pothole was about 4 feet across, and 18" deep in the bedrock.  Remarkably round, isn't it!  There were close to a dozen other potholes, either complete circles or partial circles, as large as nearly 10 feet across.
 
Maidenhair Fern growing on the vertical rock wall of a pothole.  They survive with roots in the tiniest crevices you can imagine.

The sign had a good explanation of how these were formed in the post-glacial period, by smaller rocks wearing deep holes in softer parts of the bedrock.  This means of course that there was a major river flowing here, much larger than today's Sydenham River which forms the falls.

As well as potholes, there were narrow crevices in the limestone here, so you had to be careful walking.  Of course for a four-year old these provided a perfect obstacle for jumping over.

There were patches of Liverwort in the crevices as well, growing in the cooler and damper than normal habitat.

And a few of the rare Hart's Tongue Fern.  You can find quite a bit of this rare fern in the woods here, as well as in the gorge below the falls.

As we left, we spotted an old root cellar with an intact roof which I had never seen before.  Our daughter looked inside, up through a round ventilation hole, and spotted this neat spiderweb.  Not quite in focus, but neat never-the-less.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

12 comments:

  1. I've seen potholes and crevices like that elsewhere on the Escarpment. Beautiful shots!

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  2. Wow, those potholes are so interesting!

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  3. I remember reading about these potholes before. Glad you were able to share with family.

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  4. An interesting geological formation that I don't recall seeing before - and I've walked over plenty of limestone scenery in my time. Nice photos too.

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  5. These are so interesting. Beautiful photos.

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  6. I wandered over here from Laloofah. I've seen your name around but didn't realize you were close by! I'll be heading up to Southampton tomorrow and seeing Inglis Falls at some point during the week. I didn't know about these potholes, so this will make the visit even more interesting!

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  7. Beautiful shots you took, and I really like the spider web!

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  8. I could see how you really did have to pay attention as to where you were walking. The pot holes are really unusual.

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  9. Nifty! Which maidenhair? Spleenwort?

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  10. Never heard of potholes like that. Interesting but walking must be slow going. : )

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  11. Interesting I was amazed at how perfectly round they were...nature at its finest! :)

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  12. We have potholes on our property (16 acres). I've often thought about doing some research. Good for you!

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