‘The rocks change all the time’: Research team studying erosion at Hopewell Rocks

A research team is studying how the Hopewell Rocks are changing.

Jennifer Day and her team have spent a full week on the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park.

The associate professor at the Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering at Queens University has brought two students to the park to study the stability of the rock formations and sea cliffs.

Using a drone, Day has been taking video and photos of the cliffs for the past six years.

The images are used to make computer models to compare with data collected over past research trips to see how the erosion has changed over time.

“The rocks change all the time here,” said Day. “This is actually a beautiful example of a landscape where humans can really interact with geological time and processes by coming back year after year and seeing that erosion take place.”

Day said there are numerous rock falls that happen every year, so every time she comes back there’s something new to see. “Which is quite exciting,” Day added.

It’s the third trip to the Rocks for master’s student Cassidy Teodoro-Neville, who said it’s amazing to see just how one or two years can change the coastline.

“Some places that we sat beside in years previous have now been roped off and they’re rock fall hazard zones now. It’s so interesting to see again that geological time happening in real time around us,” said Teodoro-Neville.

It’s Emma Lehmann’s first trip to New Brunswick, and the undergrad engineering student said she’s never seen anything like the Rocks before.

“The coastline and how it changes every day, it’s been a really incredible experience and one I won’t forget for a really long time,” said Lehmann. “It’s incredibly interesting. I feel like I’m not doing any work when I’m doing it. I am having so much fun out here and it’s been such an incredible experience all around.”

Teodoro-Neville called the Rocks a unique place.

“It’s breathtaking to see it firsthand. I worked with some of our data collection probably for about a year before I came to the park for the first time and images really don’t capture the breathtaking beauty that you see when you come to the park in person,” said Teodoro-Neville.

The manager of interpretive services at Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park says he’s happy to have Day and her team here.

“Any kind of advancement in science and in the structure and safety of the rocks, anything they do in that regard is very, very welcome by us for sure,” said Paul Gaudet.

Gaudet said a scaling company has been coming to the park every year for over three decades to ensure the safety of visitors.

“They come a week before we open and they repel down the cliffs from one to the other and remove anything that seems to be in danger of falling whatsoever, so that’s a safety precaution that we feel very comfortable with,” said Gaudet.

As far as the future of the area, Day said the park will eventually change drastically.

“It’s going to continue looking a lot like it is today where there will be a rocky cliff and free-standing sea stack formations. Although over that period of time, with progressive erosion, the sea stacks we see today will likely collapse and through erosion, further back into the rock cliff we will see new sea stacks emerging,” said Day.

It’s work, but Day said it never gets old coming back to the Rocks and she enjoys interacting with park staff and tourists interested in what they’re doing.

Hopewell Rocks will open for visitors on Friday.

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