The Hopewell Rocks are located in New Brunswick, Canada, within one hour of the nearest airport in Moncton, N.B.
An UNESCO site, the Hopewell Rocks, also called the Flowerpots Rocks or simply The Rocks, are rock formations caused by tidal erosion in The Hopewell Rocks Ocean Tidal Exploration Site in New Brunswick. Carved by melting glaciers, then sculpted by the world's highest and most artistic tides, these stacks stand 40–70 feet tall. They are located on the shores of the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy at Hopewell Cape near Moncton.
Due to the extreme tidal range of the Bay of Fundy, the base of the formations are covered in water twice a day. The formations consist of dark sedimentary conglomerate and sandstone rock. The large volume of water flowing in to and out of the Bay of Fundy modifies the landscape surrounding it. Each day 160 billion tonnes of seawater flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle, more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers! After the retreat of the glaciers in the region following the last ice age, surface water filtering through cracks in the cliff has eroded and separated the formations from the rest of the cliff face. Meanwhile, advancing and retreating tides and the associated waves have eroded the base of the rocks at a faster rate than the tops, resulting in their unusual shapes.
Because the Fundy Bay is funnel-shaped - wide and deep at one end and shallow at the other, tides are pushed increasingly higher as they move up the Bay. By the time they reach "The Rocks" they are over four stories high! Although the tides vary from day to day, the high tide can be as high as 16 metres (52ft) and an average of 10.7 metres (35ft), giving the Hopewell Rocks one of the highest average tides in the world.
We only had barely over an hour's time there because the tide was coming in very fast. This was one of the last couple of shots taken before we were able to retreat to higher ground. Luckily the light was reasonably good. This arch-like structure appears to be two nearby rock columns leaning against each other to combat gravity.
Loading contexts...