Explore NB

There is a lot to see on a map of New Brunswick geology. Over the last billion years fragments of continents have collided with the edge of ancient North America creating a complex geologic landscape.  Ancient oceans, volcanic islands, mountains, rivers, swamps and glaciers have all left their geological imprint. A satellite image of New Brunswick clearly shows the underlying geological structure.

Our geologic history has defined New Brunswick, forming the modern landscape, and creating a base for our society. Use the geologic map to find stories of geology from around the province. 

The geology map of New Brunswick shows the complex structure of older Precambrian to Devonian rocks, overlain by rocks from the Carboniferous and Triassic periods.

Our story will talk about ‘Groups’ and ‘Formations’. These are terms geologists use to define rocks that have similar age, origins and features. For example the Green Head Group is a name given to Precambrian age marble and conglomerate found near Saint John and originally described from Green Head Island. The ‘Green Head Group’ is divided into two ‘Formations’, the Ashburn Formation marble (left) found near Ashburn Lake, and the Martinon Formation conglomerate (right) found near the village of Martinon.The marble formed as sediments on the shallow ocean floor while the conglomerate originated as sediments deposited on the slope toward the deep ocean.