Slate Islands

The Slate Islands’ most recent distinction is the concentrated presence of woodland caribou. According to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, it is the largest unpredated herd of this species known. The caribou arrived on the Slate Islands in the early 1900’s, when Lake Superior froze over. The Lake had not frozen over again until the winter of 2002/ 2003. The freezing of the lake allowed for at least two wolves to cross over to the islands. Until then, caribou did well on the Slate Islands due to the lack of natural predators, and due to the lack of deer and moose who compete for food and carry a parasite that are lethal to caribou. Caribou can be seen frequently swimming across the bay or walking along the shore.

Another rare find on the Slate Islands is the presence of Arctic plant life. Dryasdrummondii is an arctic species which is usually found 1600km to the north. This species was found on the Southwest coast of the island primarily in rock pools. The second rare find was the Polygonunviviporum commonly known as smart weed. This species is considered a delicacy to the Inuit people and is normally found in the high Arctic areas. The plant grows in low lying mossy rock, and can usually be found on the northern shores of Greenland, Ellsemere Island and here on the Slate Islands.

Scientists believe that the Islands were created by an explosive event, most likely the impact of a large meteorite. By this theory, the Slate Islands represent only a small part of a much larger impact crater beneath the surface of Lake Superior, representing the bulls eye of the cosmic blow. The islands rise to nearly 400 feet, 122 m above lake level.

Buck Sharpton, staff scientist at NASA’s Lunar and Planetary institute, says that the meteor that created the Slate Islands was about 30 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid plunged 3 km inside the earth. The meteorite, moving up to 20 km per second, vaporized in a blast equal to more than one million megatons (megaton= 1 million tons) of TNT. The Slate Islands are a tremendous resource for scientists to understand the science of asteroids collisions with plants and to offer clues about the next “Dinosaur Killer” meteor in the earth’s future.

From www.terrace-bay.com/slateislands.html: