Mont Saint-Hilaire (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃ sɛ̃t‿ilɛʁ]; English: Mount Saint-Hilaire; Western Abnaki: Wigwômadenek, Wigwômadensizek;, Western Abnaki: Wigwômaden; see § Names of Mont Saint-Hilaire for other names) is a mountain, 414 m (1,358 ft) high, in the Montérégie region of southern Quebec. It is about thirty kilometres east of Montreal, and immediately east of the Richelieu River. It is one of the Monteregian Hills. Around the mountains are the towns of Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Other nearby towns include Otterburn Park, Beloeil and McMasterville. The area surrounding the mountain is a biosphere reserve, as one of the last remnants of the primeval forests of the Saint-Lawrence valley. Most of the mountain is currently the property of McGill University, as the Gault Nature Reserve, which is considered the third McGill campus. The university has opened the western half of the mountain to visitors (at a fee) for hiking and cross-country skiing, as the Milieu Naturel (natural area). The eastern half, or Milieu de Conservation (preservation area), is not accessible to the general public. Until the late nineteenth century, the lack of information on more remote summits of Quebec, as well as the relatively high prominence (about 400 m (1,312 ft)) of Mont Saint-Hilaire, led to it being mistaken as the highest summit in Québec. In actuality, Saint-Hilaire's 414 metres falls far short of making it the highest mountain in Quebec. Mont Saint-Hilaire is home to a wide variety of fauna and flora, as well as a number of rare minerals, including some which were discovered on the mountain and some which are unique to the region. These minerals are exploited by a quarry on the north-eastern side of the mountain. Some of the soils are ideal for the growth of apple trees, and the mountain's apple orchards draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Geography
The mountain stands 414 m (1,358 ft) above the sea level, or 400 metres above the surrounding plains. It has several summits, surrounding a central lake, Lac Hertel (Lake Hertel). Most of the well-known summits of the mountain are in the western (open to the public) part. They are the Pain de Sucre (Sugar Loaf), 414 m (1,358 ft) high; the Sunrise, 405 m (1,329 ft) high; the Rocky, 403 m (1,322 ft) high; and the Sommet Dieppe (Dieppe Summit), 371 m (1,217 ft) high as well as Burnt Hill, 320 m (1,050 ft) high. The summits of the eastern half of the mountain, which is closed to the public, are generally little known, to the point that most official maps fail to identify the distinct summits at all. Only a few names are known, such as East Hill and Lake Hill. These summits range from 277 to 392 metres (909 to 1,286 ft) in elevation.
Cliffs
The best-known feature of the mountain is the cliffs. Collectively known as the falaise dieppe, or falaise de Dieppe (Dieppe cliffs) the cliffs are part of the Dieppe summit, and nearly 175 m (574 ft) high. Some of the best known features of the cliffs include the 60-metre high Tour rouge (Red tower), as well as two slabs, the Dalle noire (Black slab) and Dalle Verte (Green slab), which rise at a 75-degree angle. The cliff's unique ecosystem hosts lichens, as well as cedar trees, some of which may be as much as five hundred years old. It also hosts the mountain's population of peregrine falcons. However, the action of rock climbers has proven destructive to the ecosystem, in addition to being dangerous to the climbers themselves. A white cross on the cliff commemorates the death of a boy scout in 1941.
Lac Hertel At the centre of the mountain is Lac Hertel, a lake in a glacially-formed depression in the middle of the various summits. It covers an area of 0.3 square kilometres (0.12 mi2), and has a maximum depth of 9 m (30 ft). It is fed by three permanent streams; a fourth flows from the lake toward the Richelieu River. The lake serves as a secondary reservoir of drinking water to the region, and, as such, swimming, fishing and boating are forbidden. The central position of the lake on the mountain has led to claims that Mont Saint-Hilaire is a volcanic caldera. However, the lake is actually the result of glacial erosion, and in no way an ancient volcanic crater.
Geology
Mont Saint-Hilaire is one of the Monteregian Hills, a group of erosional remnants of intrusive mountains spread across southern Quebec. It is composed of three distinct plutonic intrusions that formed during the Cretaceous Period between 133 and 120 million years ago. Like the other Monteregian Hills, Mont Saint-Hilaire forms part of the Great Meteor hotspot track, which was created when the North American Plate slid over the New England hotspot. During this time, melting occurred, creating subsurface magma intrusions. Erosion of the surrounding softer sedimentary rocks revealed the more resistant rocks of Mont Saint-Hilaire.
Mineral wealth Mont Saint-Hilaire is a famous mineral locality because of its great number of rare and exotic mineral species. Annite (iron rich biotite) from Mont Saint-Hilaire is among the most iron-rich found in nature. In the gabbro, biotite is less iron-rich, has lower manganese content, but is titanium-rich. Phlogopite is found as small metamorphic crystals in marble xenoliths within the syenite. Siderophyllite, a relatively rare mineral, occurs as large crystals in a metasomatised albite-rich albitite dike. In addition to gabbro, the second intrusive suite included nepheline syenite, diorite and monzonite. The third intrusive occupies the eastern side and is mainly peralkaline nepheline syenites and porphyrites. The most mineralogically interesting are the associated agpaitic (alkali rich, low aluminium and silicon) pegmatites, the intrusive breccias, and the hornfels derived from the metasomatised sedimentary wall rocks. There have been over 366 distinct species of minerals collected at Mont Saint-Hilaire, 50 of which have this site as type locality.
Ecology As the last remnant in Quebec of the ancient Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests, the area has been a provincial biosphere reserve since 1978 and a federal Migratory Bird Sanctuary since 1960. The area hosts 21 at risk and two endangered species of plant under current statutes.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
