Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Because of its rich limestone soils, the archipelago boasts much greater plant diversity than the much larger
area of the adjacent North Shore—450 species of vascular plants as compared with 380 species. Over 100 of
these are classed as species of interest because of their relative rarity. One group of plants that have adapted to
the highly alkaline soils is the saxifrages. The name means “rock breakers,” and the plants anchor themselves
in the smallest cracks in the cliff faces, where in June they put forth a profusion of yellow, white, and fuchsia
blossoms.
Perhaps the hardiest island habitat is the wind-swept barrens, which hosts more than thirty varieties of vas-
cular plants native to arctic and alpine regions, including alpine chickweed and entire-leaved mountain avens.
Farther offshore lies the great limestone island of Anticosti, a juggernaut sitting astride the mouth of the St.
Lawrence. Its Dover-white cliffs tower above the gulf, and among the natural wonders of its interior is Vaureal
Falls, which is higher than Niagara and has carved a spectacular canyon through the limestone karst. It also
boasts twenty-four rivers, which are host to Atlantic salmon. The most famous is the Jupiter, the color of jade
as it courses over its limestone bed. The island is a geological relic of a sea that covered the area 60 million
years ago. Today, it is littered with marine fossils and some six hundred types, including trilobites, have been
documented. Its limestone soils now support an unusual, acid-rain-resistant flora, including nineteen species of
orchids, the rarest of which is the bog plant Orchis rotundifolia.
A pair of gannets engage in an elaborate mating ritual, which includes sky pointing and bill fencing.
Gannets and the Gaspé Current
The Gaspé Current sweeps around the peninsula of the same name as part of the overall counterclockwise, es-
tuarine circulation within the gulf. In doing so, it picks up the downstream flow of plankton from the Lower
Estuary. High levels of nutrients from the tidal forces and from the estuary support a community of large diat-
