by: Alan Morgan, Jose Melo, Peter Russell
On December 1st, 2001, a monolith of gneiss was installed in the foundation of the Center for Environmental and Information Technology on the University of Waterloo campus.
The Tallest Rock
The slab of Gneiss will be a major feature of the exhibit atrium of the building. Jose Melo, owner of AllStone Quarry Products Inc., of Schomberg, Ontario, notes that this is the tallest rock successfully extracted and installed from their quarry. AllStone Quarry is located in Bigwood Township, north of the French River near Sudbury.
The Ultimate Challenge
After 29 years and thousands of tons of rock installations Jose Melo explains "Our companies Melo Landscaping and Allstone Quarries participated in garden shows, Royal Winter Fairs and the Toronto Home Show for a total of 26 consecutive years. Every one was a challenge for creativity, limited space, time span and most of all public safety." He adds "But this time we had to practice for 2 months. There were many broken rocks, and new techniques had to be developed. It was a whole new experience."
Exactly how big is the monolith?
It is 28' X 5' X 21", for those who prefer metric measurements, 8.5 X 1.52 X 0.53m. The volume of the rock is about 6.84 cubic metres.
How does this compare with other big rocks?
Well, Stonehenge, built about 4,000 years ago has several stones that are larger and heavier. The tallest stone in Stonehenge is 9.1m and the heaviest stone is 45,720 kg, but WATRock comes close! However, the WATRock did travel further than the big rocks at Stonehenge (and we didn't have to use hundreds of students to drag it to the site)!
WATRock in its final resting spot
At 11:00 a.m. on December 1st 2001, as the television cameras rolled from at least five different camera crews, the WATRock finally rested in its niche. Reaching upward the slender column of gneiss will become a focal point outside the basement doorway to a major lecture theatre.
The monolith was lowered ever so gently to a special concrete slot in the basement where it was epoxied into place. The final act (at least for this phase) was the covering of the rock with a large blue shroud. This will remain in place as the building is completed around it.
In 2003 when the building finally opens Jose Melo has promised to return with rock benches to provide matching seating around the base.
Peter Russell, curator of the Earth Sciences Museum, chose the gneiss for the exhibit atrium after seeing a piece from the quarry displayed at the 1993 Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. The gneiss monolith makes a big statement about the building being the home of the Earth Sciences department. The rock was also chosen because it could be extracted in one piece, large enough to rise from the basement to the second floor without support, other than the foundation.
1.2 Billion Years Old
Gneiss, is a coarse to medium grained banded rock formed from igneous or sedimentary rocks during regional metamorphism. Rich in the minerals feldspar and quartz, gneiss also contains mica and other iron and magnesium silicate minerals. In some varieties of gneiss, such as the monolith, thin bands of quartz, and feldspar are separated by bands of sparkling mica flakes.
This rock was originally part of planet Earth's first supercontinent, Laurentia, which formed between 1.8 and 1.4 billion years ago. The supercontinent then split apart. The mountain building episode began with the collision of the two parts of the supercontinent between 1.2 and 1.1 billion years ago. The type of alteration experienced by this rock indicates that the pressures and temperatures which altered it were similar to those found about 25 kilometres below a mountain range like the Himalayan Mountains. A Grenville mountain range covered southern Ontario about 1.2 - 1.1 billion years ago. The gneiss was altered at least twice during the formation of this mountain range.
Come touch a piece of history in 2003 when the new building opens. Visit our web site to learn about the other features to be installed in the exhibit atrium, such as the dinosaurs and the Great Lakes water feature.
The Rock
I
was
created
...
over
1,000
million
years
ago.
A
movement
of
elements
and
compounds;
under
unimaginable
forces
of
heat
and
pressure.
Deep
in
the
Earth.
Above
me,
mountains,
snow-capped,
stretched
to
the
skies.
Until
they
were
scattered,
to
the
winds
and
the
seas.
Seas
wherein
dwelled
strange
animals,
that
flourished
and
vanished,
in
cycles
repeated,
time
after
time.
For
aeons
of
aeons
I
remained
hidden.
And,
finally,
another
mountain
...
of
ice...
exposed
me
to
the
stars.
A
cloak
of
earth
shrouded
me
for
10,000
years.
Until
again
I
was
revealed,
torn
from
my
resting
place,
and
transported.
Now,
I
stand
in
an
unnatural
place,
for
all
to
see.
A
pillar
of
time,
one
quarter
as
old
as
the
Earth.
A monument.
To
the
forces
that
shaped
our
world.
And
I
wait,
in
my
turn,
To
return
to
my
origins,
In
the
cycle
of
life.
A.V.M.