Tag Archives: Cortes Paleontology

At the Cortes Island Museum: Fossils Left by the Last Glacial Age

The story of fossils left during the last glacial period is currently on display at the Cortes Island Museum. They are Buchia mussels, Belemnites, and Ammonites—creatures that lived in the Chilcotin region at the same time as the dinosaurs. The rocks containing their fossils were relatively undisturbed for nearly 130 million years. Then, during the last glaciation period, fragments broke off and were carried to Cortes, Read, Sonora, and other Discovery Islands.

In this morning’s interview, Christian Gronau, a retired geologist and Cortes Island resident, tells their story.

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Glacier-borne fossils in the Discovery Islands

Over the past 20 years, Christian Gronau has documented a great many fossiliferous rocks in our area. 

Fossil #144 was recently installed at the Cortes Island Museum, but the German-born and trained palaeontologist said, “Palaeontology became a question for me when I was settled here. I looked around, of course was interested in the local geology, and realized that Cortes is just a big pile of granite with very little exceptions to that rule and started wondering what I was going to do with my interest in fossils.”

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How fossil #144 came to the Cortes Island Museum

On Saturday, September 3, 2022, Christian Gronau installed a 130 million year fossil on the Cortes Island Museum porch. This is the third rock from his collection on display, and fossil #144 of a series.

“I believe this quest for fossils, the erratics that he’s been searching for has been a 20 year project,” said Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives.

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