A CONIFEROUS SAND DUNE IN CAPE BRETON ISLAND 



LeRoyH. Harvey 



(with eight figures) 



Nova Scotia has been called "the long wharf of Canada." 

 Cape Breton Island, which is cut off from the mainland by the Gut 

 of Canso, may be likened to its outermost pier. The island (fig. i), 

 which is about loo miles long by 30 miles wide in its northern 

 portion, extends in a northeasterly-southwesterly direction, re- 

 straining the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the west and 

 separating them from the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The latitude 

 of 47° north cuts the northern end of the island a few miles to the 

 north of Aspy Bay, on whose shores the coniferous sand dune is 

 located. Nova Scotia lies in the coniferous belt, which occupies the 

 upland with the mixed hardwood formation occupying the most 

 favorable situations along the narrow coastal strip. The interior 

 is occupied by a vast expanse of wet and dry tundra-like formations, 

 bordered by gnarled and twisted dwarf spruce, the entire vegeta- 

 tional aspect being decidedly coastal rather than alpine.' 



The country is extremely rugged and the coastline jagged. 



Along the east coast is a narrow strip of sloping land, rarely a mile 



wide and often entirely lacking, which soon rises abruptly into an 



upland about 1000 ft. above sea level. In some places this upland 



plunges precipitously into the sea and the coast is very wild and 



bleak. This old Atlantic upland, which forms the backbone of the 



island, is the northern extension of the Piedmont Plateau. This 



upland has been cut during eons of erosion into deep gulches which 



extend far back into the central plateau. Down these gulches 



run swift and bowlder-bedded streams to the sea. At the mouth of 



these streams intervales are formed. Storm and tidal action have 



thrown' shingle beaches and sand spits across the mouths of many of 



these reentrant bays (fig. 2). Upon one of these sand spits inclosing 



the South Pond of Aspy Bay is located the sand dune area which forms 



'Nichols, G. E., The vegetation of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Trans. 

 Conn. Acad. Sci. 22:251-467. 1918. 



417 



