Stephen's Gulch Conservation Area | |
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Location | Clarington, Ontario, Canada |
Coordinates | 43°57′55.8″N78°40′31.3″W / 43.965500°N 78.675361°W |
Area | 354 acres |
Governing body | Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority |
Stephen's Gulch is a conservation area located in the municipality of Clarington, Ontario. The conservation area borders a large section of the Soper Creek, and contains 354 acres of deciduous forests as well as coniferous forests and swamps. [1] The conservation area is also an important watershed area for Ontario.
The Stephen's Gulch conservation area is under the administration of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority who are responsible for a variety of watershed services as well as upkeep of Stephen's Gulch. [2]
Stephen's Gulch has a humid continental climate [3] with long, cold winters and hot summers. During winters temperatures can drop below -10 °C and can exceed 20 °C during summers. [4] Rainfall averages 1093 mm per year, with late summer/early fall being the wettest months and winter the driest.
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Stephen's Gulch is mostly underlain by the Precambrian-era metamorphic and igneous rock of the Canadian Shield. [5] Soils in the conservation area are mostly fine and high-quality, and average high levels of infiltration. [6]
There are a wide variety of animals that live in Stephen's Gulch, including 46 species of birds and 13 species of mammals. [7] Animals that inhabit Stephen's Gulch include White-tailed deer, Red Foxes, Black-capped chickadees, and Pileated woodpeckers.
Old growth balsam firs, black pines, and white ash are common in the conservation area.
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of 1,900 square kilometres (730 sq mi) between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough. One of the most significant landforms in southern Ontario, the moraine gets its name from the rolling hills and river valleys extending 160 km (99 mi) east from the Niagara Escarpment to Rice Lake, formed 12,000 years ago by advancing and retreating glaciers during the last glaciation period. Below the approximately 200 metre thick glacial derived sediments of the moraine lies thick bedrock successions of Precambrian rocks and up to 200 metres of Ordovician aged rock, capped by a regional unconformity of erosion and non-deposition to the Quaternary period. Rivers and lakes scatter the landscape and are important for creating habitat for the rich diversity of species of animals, trees and shrubbery. These are also the supply of fresh water to aquifers in the moraine through complex subterranean connections. Construction development nearby, and with expansion of communities around the moraine in need of potable water, it is a contested site in Ontario, since it stands in the path of major urban development. Conservation of the moraine is thus an important step for keeping aquifers in a safe drinkable condition while also protecting the natural ecosystems surrounding and within the moraine. This region has been subject to multiple decades of scientific research to study the origins of formation, and how early communities used the land. A larger focus currently is how to source potable water without removing the aquifer entirely.
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