Granite Boulders on the Barrens

The Avalon Peninsula (Eastern Newfoundland, Canada) is part of the ancient micro-continent of Avalonia. Over millennia the Peninsula has been subject to volcanic activity and in more recent times numerous periods of glaciation. The southeast Avalon is bordered in the north and northeast by a range of ancient granite hills. The "barrens" (harsh climatic conditions do not permit trees to grow, but hosts dense carpets of moss and fruticose lichen, along with low-growing flowers, bogs and shallow pools) are by far the dominant landscape feature in the southeast Avalon. Another characteristic of the barrens are the presence of large boulders that were carried and later deposited by glacial activity. (Witless Bay, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada)