Hugh Copland
Issue: 2019-04-17, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
Concretions - shapely time capsules
Concretions are not shaped by running water or fabricated by humans, nor are they dinosaur eggs. They are fascinating geological formations that come in the most interesting shapes. Concretions are time capsules holding clues into the past... Read more
Issue: 2019-03-20, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
Limestone reefs in southern Yukon
Within Whitehorse city limits, you can see Grey Mountain from almost anywhere. It is one of the first landmarks tourists see flying into the city. Eight thousand kilometres away, the residents around Salzburg, Austria, can look up from their... Read more
Issue: 2019-02-06, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
The white channel gravels
As the story goes, the early gold rush stampeders found all the creeks staked when they arrived. The Sourdoughs already there jokingly told the newcomers to go to the top of the hills to find gold. One of those hills became known as Cheechako Hill... Read more
Issue: 2018-10-31, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
Jade — Green, tough, and valuable
On July 8, 1992, the Whitehorse Star reported a find near Frances Lake of what was stated to be a world-record-sized piece of jade at 577 tonnes. It was speculated to be worth $5.8 billion. There is no consensus on what is the largest piece of... Read more
Issue: 2018-10-10, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
Ross River coal: Transforming plants to carbon
The widespread use of coal was one of the major factors in fueling the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s and early 1800s. In recent decades, however, coal has received a bad reputation as a major source of acid rain and carbon dioxide in the... Read more
Issue: 2018-08-01, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
The White River Ash, the mega eruption next door
The recent eruption of the Kilauea volcano, on the island of Hawaii, has consumed property and displaced people. The eruption at the Fuego volcano, in Guatemala, has killed dozens of people. Past volcanic eruptions in Alaska have resulted in... Read more
Issue: 2018-06-13, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
The Tintina Trench
There was a not-so-urban myth out there that you could see the Tintina Trench from the moon. That is not true, unless the person on the moon had a good telescope. You can see the Tintina Trench from space, though, from the International Space... Read more
Issue: 2018-05-02, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
Carmacks agate
Quartz is everywhere; it is the second most common mineral making up the Earth’s crust, just behind feldspar. Quartz is composed of the two elements silicon and oxygen. It has many different forms.Single quartz crystals can be over two metres long... Read more
Issue: 2018-03-28, PHOTO: Hugh Copland
The awe of quartzite beneath you
Rock, not the genre of music, that guy on the radio or your friend from Newfoundland referring to “The Rock” as home, but rocks and the minerals they are made of, are integral to our existence. We interact with them in many ways every day... Read more