| Minas Basin | |
|---|---|
| French:Bassin des Mines | |
 Looking east across the Southern Bight of Minas Basin from The Lookoff | |
  Minas Basin | |
| Location | Nova Scotia |
| Coordinates | 45°15′N64°10′W / 45.250°N 64.167°W /45.250; -64.167 |
| Type | Inlet |
| Part of | Bay of Fundy |
| Settlements | Truro,Wolfville,Parrsboro |
| Official name | Southern Bight-Minas Basin |
| Designated | 5 November 1987 |
| Reference no. | 379[1] |
TheMinas Basin (French:Bassin des Mines) is an inlet of theBay of Fundy and a sub-basin of theFundy Basin located inNova Scotia,Canada. It is known for its extremely hightides.
The Minas Basin forms the eastern part of the Bay of Fundy which splits atCape Chignecto and is delineated by the massive basalt headlands ofCape Split andCape d'Or. The Minas Basin is divided into four sections: (1) the Minas Channel, from the shortest line between Cape Chignecto and theAnnapolis Valley Shore to Minas Passage, betweenParrsboro andCape Blomidon; (2) Central Minas Basin, from Minas Passage to the mouth of Cobequid Bay, the shortest line point betweenEconomy and the Noel Shore; (3)Cobequid Bay which extends to the mouth of theSalmon River; and (4) the Southern Bight, from the mouth of theAvon River to the shortest line between Cape Blomidon and the Noel Shore.[2]
Several large rivers drain into the Minas Basin: theShubenacadie River,Cornwallis River,Avon River,Gaspereau River, andSalmon River. Lesser rivers include theCanard River, Diligent River,Farrell River, and the Debert River. Along the northern edge of the Minas Basin lies a chain of intermittent high-cliffedbasaltic bluffs and islands called theBasalt Headlands.[citation needed]
On the northern shore of the Minas Basin, around theGaspereau River, and around theSalmon River, extensive areas of farmland have been created usingdykes withsluices (one-way flow control valves), a form ofpolderisation.[citation needed]
Burntcoat Head, located on the "Noel Shore" along the south side of the Minas Basin, is the location of the highest tidal range ever recorded, exceeding 16-metre (52 ft) (during aspring tide only) and has one of the highest average tidal ranges every day. The waters of Minas Bay exchange with the main part of the Bay of Fundy through the Minas Channel which flows between Cape Split and Cape Sharp, creating extremely strong tidal currents. Near Cape d'Or, the turbulent collision of currents is known as theDory Rips. The water in Minas Basin is a dense and nearly opaque reddish brown due to large amounts of suspended silt which are continually churned by tidal currents.[3] At mid-tide, the currents exceed 8 knots (4-metre (13 ft) per second), and the flow in the deep, 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) -wide channel on the north side of Cape Split equals the combined flow of all the rivers and streams on Earth together (about 4-cubic-kilometre (0.96 cu mi) per hour).[4]
Several communities border the Minas Basin or the rivers that flow into it. The largest is the town ofTruro which lies at the head of Cobequid Bay. Smaller centres includeParrsboro,Wolfville,Windsor andMaitland. Other communities includeGreat Village,Bass River,Five Islands,Economy,Walton, andKingsport.[citation needed]
Historically, the north and southern sides of the basin were connected by a succession of ferries, which operated for more than 200 years, from Acadian times to 1941.[5] The last ferry connected Parrsboro, Wolfville, and Kingsport and was called theMVKipawo ferry,[6] whose name was derived from the three communities.
Provincial parks[7] atAnthony (near Truro),Five Islands, andCape Blomidon allow visitors to enjoy and explore the Minas Basin. Community parks interpreting the Basin include theKingsport waterfront inKings County; theWalton Lighthouse andBurntcoat Head Lighthouse inHants County and the Lookout Tower inEconomy and the Ottawa House Museum inParrsboro inCumberland County.[citation needed]
TheMi'kmaq were the first people to inhabit the area around the Minas Basin. Mi'kmaq tradition ties the godGlooscap in with significant geographical features such as Cape Blomidon andFive Islands.[citation needed]
European explorers and traders arrived in the early 1600s. Among them were theFrench explorerSamuel de Champlain who explored the copper deposits atCape d'Or at the entrance to the Basin in 1607. Champlain bestowed the name Port of Mines onto the nearby Advocate Harbour to reflect the seams of copper ore at Cape d'Or. While the French did not establish a mine, the name "Les Mines" became associated with the upper Bay of Fundy beyond Cape d'Or which became known as the "Baie des Mines"', later Anglicized to Minas Basin.[8]
FrenchAcadian settlements began in the late 1600s first with settlements around the southern shore of the Minas Basin which became known asLes Mines. TheAcadians had a particularly significant impact on the area in that they reclaimed considerable farmland through the use ofdykes andaboiteaux. They founded in the areaGrand-Pré,Les Mines,Pisiguit,Cobequid,Rivière-aux-Canards, andBeaubassin. Even today their dyke systems—greatly expanded by later additions—are still used nearTruro andWolfville atPort Williams andGrand Pré. In 1755, the British forcibly expelled the over 12,000Acadians fromGrand Pré,Pisiguit,Cobequid, andBeaubassin, in what became known as the Grand Dérangement, orGreat Expulsion.[citation needed]
During the Acadian era, virtually all inhabitants lived in distributed clusters orvillages, with no single place dominating. The area was administered from Port Royal, laterAnnapolis Royal.[9] The following table shows the population of the region during the Acadian era:
| Year | Number of inhabitants |
|---|---|
| 1671 | ? |
| 1686 | 57 |
| 1693 | 305 |
| 1698 | ? |
| 1701 | 487 |
| 1703 | 527 |
| 1707 | 677 |
| 1714 | 1,031 |
| 1730 | 2,500 |
| 1737 | 3,736 |
| 1748 | 5,000 |
The vacant Acadian settlements around the Minas Basin were succeeded by theNew England Planters who arrived in 1760 and were later joined byLoyalists settlers in the 1780s. The Planters maintained operation of the ferry, rebuilt and expanded the Acadian dyke systems, and reclaimed more farmland from the Basin through projects like theWellington Dyke in 1816.[citation needed]
The communities around the Minas Basin were sustained byfishing,logging,farming,mining,boat building andshipbuilding. In the late 19th Century the Basin's shipyards produced some of the highest numbers of wooden ships in Canadian history and some of the largest, including the shipWilliam D. Lawrence, the largest wooden ship built in Canada along with the giantbarquesKings County, Canada's largest four masted-barque andHamburg, Canada's largest three-masted barque.[11] The tidal water also provided a means of transporting commodities such as lumber, apples and gypsum and poweredTide mills at locations such asCanning,Hantsport andWalton.[12]
Mining includedgypsum (several locations including Windsor and Cheverie),iron (Londonderry),barite (near Walton and the Eureka Mine at Five Islands),manganese (several locations including Cheverie and Tennycape), andcopper (the Colonial Copper Company atCape d'Or). Gypsum was shipped fromHantsport until 2009.[citation needed]
There have been attempts to generate energy from the rough waters of Minas Basin. However, the attempts were not successful.[13]
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Marine mammals includeseals andporpoises.Fish includebass, shad,[14] andflounder;lobster,crab,mussel, andclam are common. Many types ofseaweed,sponges,worms, seajellys and more are also found.Birds includesandpipers,terns (visitors only),eagles,falcons,seagulls,herons, andkingfishers.
Fossils are found nearParrsboro,Blue Beach and other areas along theAvon River.[15] Rarely, fossils have been found at Evangeline Beach, Burntcoat Head, and other locations. These fossils include various shells (brachiopods,molluscs),sponges,trees,fish,amphibians,reptiles, anddinosaurs.Trace fossils includevertebrate footprints, fishfin-tracks,invertebrate trackways (ex. scorpions at Blue Beach), raindrop imprints, and wave ripples. They range from the beginning of theCarboniferous to theJurassic. They were deposited when the region was warm andtropical, later when it was covered by a shallow sea, and later still when it was adesert.
Minerals include a varietyzeolites from the basalt cliffs at Cape Split, the area around Parrsboro, Five Islands and Cap D'Or. These include Nova Scotia's provincial mineralstilbite, as well asheulandite,analcime,chabazite,gmelinite,natrolite andthomsonite. Other minerals found in the basalts includecalcite,magnetite,copper, andquartz (often asamethyst). Beautifulagate is also found. In the sedimentary rocks,gypsum is commonly found at Blomidon, Clarke Head, and nearWindsor in both the colorless variety (selenite) and the fibrous variety (satin spar), the latter sometimes being bright orange. Other minerals from the sedimentary rocks includepyrite,calcite,barite,manganite, andpyrolusite. Small amounts offluorite,celestite,howlite have also been found at Cheverie.
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