The Pacific Museum of the Earth

Permanent Installations

The Dinosaur Skeleton: One of our most popular displays is the complete skeleton of a lambeosaur. This dinosaur is a type of duck billed dinosaur. It was found in Alberta and is on permanent long term loan from the National Museum of Canada. It was discovered in 1913 by Charles Sternberg and was installed at UBC in 1950.

The Jellyroll: Called the "Jellyroll" because of it's structure (a series of concentric rings), this sedimentary structure was formed during an underwater landslide in a glacial lake. A section of sediment on the side of the lake was ripped up by the energy of the slide and the momentum of the event rolled up the section of sediment.

Irish Elk Antlers: In fact, Megaloceros giganteus is neither exclusively Irish, nor is it an elk. Rather, it is extinct species of deer--the largest species of deer that ever lived. It got its misleading name from the fact that some of the best preserved specimens are found in the peat bogs of Ireland, though specimens have been found in many countries, including Russia and China.

The Tornado Machine: Possibly our most popular display, the tornado machine uses a fan, directed air streams, and water vapour to form a visible funnel cloud at the push of a button. Visitors are welcome to put their hands into the tornado machine to feel the air currents and disrupt the funnel cloud to see it reform.

"Ancient Atmosphere": This display features a giant cluster of calcite crystals. With the chemical formula CaCO₃, when calcite forms it draws into its crystal structure small amounts of atmospheric carbon (C). Once locked into the crystal, this carbon serves as a small, preserved sample of the atmosphere as it existed in the geologic past.

Weather Forecasts: Created with the generous help of UBC's weather forecast research group and utilizing their atmospheric modelling and predictions, this display shows a continually updated 60 hour forecast of local weather. Six different types of forecast are shown in sequence, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation.

The Lower Mainland Seismic Array: This display consists of a seismograph drum displaying seismic (e.g., earthquake) data from Galiano Island, Watts Point, and Bowen Island. An upgrade and expansion of the area is currently partially complete. The "Earthquake Corner" now also features a relief globe showing the world's tectonic boundaries and two monitors with interactive earthquake information menus.

Amethyst Geode: This geode is more than seven feet tall! This type of geode is typical of those found in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and the northern part of Uruguay, but this is a particularly specimen. The crystals lining the inside of the geode are the purple variety of quartz. They were deposited by mineral-rich waters after a gas bubble in cooling lava formed the open space itself.

Petrified Wood: This log was a part of a forest that was engulfed by lava flows and ashfalls that now cover most of eastern Oregon and southern Washington states. "Petrification" is a type of fossilization in which organic matter (like wood) is replaced by inorganic substances (like quartz) via the infiltration of mineral-rich waters, sometimes retaining the structure of the original organic material.

The Vault: The structure of the Vault and its purpose are both permanent, although there may be changes in the 18 component displays in the future. The Vault is a high security area designed to showcase precious metals, gems and gem minerals, and rare and delicate mineral specimens.

The regular displays are: [window displays] Ammolite, Mesolite, Emerald, Silver, Placer Gold, Liddicoatite, Diamonds, Wulfenite, Meteorites, Crystalline Gold, and Barite; [drawer displays] Opal, Silver, Fluorite, Copper, Calcite, Gold, and Faceted Gems.

Changeable Installations

Natural Sculptures: Minerals form beautiful individual crystals, but groups of crystals can also form amazing shapes. All of these specimens, from the perfect right angles and steps to the rounded pillars and concentric circles, are completely natural examples of mineral formations.

Weather Rockets: This display highlights a proposal currently being studied by UBC researchers which they hope will one day increase weather forecast accuracy by gathering data from an area off the coast of British Columbia which is currently known as the "Pacific Data Void."

Mantle Plumes: Here a lava lamp serves as a model for how giant bodies of hot rock move up through the mantle. Mantle plumes are one theory behind the genesis of island chains like Hawaii, which form far from the tectonic plate boundaries, where volcanic activity typically occurs.

Diamond Exploration: This display discusses how diamonds form, displays examples of kimberlite (the rock in which diamonds typically occur), and explains how exploration companies locate diamond rich areas like those now being mined in northern Canada.

Milky Quartz: This cluster of spectacular quartz crystals is one of our "touchable" displays. Visitors are welcome to handle the large, well formed crystals. This specimen is from Arkansas, U.S.A, a state well known for its large and high quality quartz crystals.

Mineral Rainbow: The mineral rainbow is a favorite of many visitors to the museum. It showcases the exception range of colors that can be found in the world of minerals. Fluorescent green, bright yellow, rich purple, vivid green, and many other colors and shades can be seen here.

Ammonite: Ammonites are an extinct marine organism that built their shells out of the mineral aragonite. When it occurs in particular quality, this shell material is called "ammolite" and displays spectacular iridescence. This particular fossil is beautifully iridescent.

Pyrite: This is another one of our "touchable" displays. A large specimen, the metallic lustre and yellowish color makes it clear why this mineral is also called "fool's gold". Although pyrite is best known for its cubic form, this specimen shows mutliple octahedral crystals.

Absbestos: These hand samples of asbestos are not dangerous to visitors. Even if they were not contained by the plexiglass display case, asbestos is only harmful when very fine fibres are inhaled in quanitity. These samples are too large and coherent to be inhaled.

Mineral Body Parts: Strictly speaking, a substance must be inorganic in order to be considered a mineral, but many animals (including humans) grow body parts that are exactly like minerals in all other respects. This display also shows artifical body parts, such as titanium pins and plates, and their mineral ores.

Fluorescence: Some minerals give off light when exposed to various wavelengths of UV radiation. Here we use a basic UV lamp to cause a variety of minerals fluoresce. Green fluorite fluorite fluoresces purple, pale green scapolite fluoresces yellow, and colorless clinohedrite fluoresces bright green, among others.

Internal Waves: This display discusses the fact that, just as waves occur at the boundary between the ocean and the air, so do they occur at the boundary between layers of water of different densities. A wave machine (currently under repair) demonstrates this principle.

"Jurassic Park": Insects in amber (no mosquitos, unfortunately!) and a genuine dinosaur egg form the focus of this display. It also discusses the feasability of the plot of the movie Jurassic Park: Can enough dinosaur DNA be retrieved from the blood contined in a fossilized mosquito to reconstruct a dinosaur?

Epitaxy and Overgrowths: One of our more technical subject displays, the specimens displayed here are nevertheless spectacular. Epitaxy and overgrowths lead to strange but beautiful pairings of disparate minerals.

Calc-silicates: All of these minerals, by definition, contain calcium and silica (hence their name). Most calc-silicates form by metasomatic action--that is, chemicals are exchanged between different types of rocks via fluids, resulting in the formation of new minerals.

Minerals of British Columbia: Focusing on well known localities in B.C., this display features a spectacular pyromorphite from the Society Girl Mine, as well as stibarsen from Engineer mine, arsenopyrite from the Bluebell mine, barite from Rock Candy mine, and silver from the Highland Bell mine.

Systematic Fossil Display: This is the only display in the Pacific Museum of the Earth which hasn't been updated with current data and brought into line with the museum's updated style. Nevertheless, it showcases a wide variety of high quality fossil specimens and is well worth a long look.

Amethyst: Another of our "touchable" displays. This cluster of beautifully formed amethyst crystals from the Anahi mine in Bolivia never fail to distract our tour groups from the systematic rock display!

B.C. Eocene Lakes: It is unusual to find fossils of any quality in mountainous areas because most fossils are preserved in sedimentary environments. However, in this case some very active local volcanoes resulted in the deposition of very fine ash into mountain lakes, leading to excellent preservation.

Fossilization: This display discusses and shows examples of three different types of fossilization: recrystallization, replacement, and casts & moulds.

The Burgess Shale: A Window in Time: The Burgess Shale is one of the most famous fossil localities in the world because the circumstances of its deposition allowed for the perservation of soft body parts, which are normally degraded by bacteria, predators, and weathering and erosion. The fossils from this deposit are 505 million years old!

Systematic Rock Display: This display showcases multiple examples of the three types of rocks: igneous (plutonic and volcanic), sedimentary, and metamorphic. The subdivisions within the display allow visitors to compare the textures apparent in each of the three types of rocks and make finding examples of a particular rock type easier.

Petrography: Petrography is the study of the systematic description of rocks (especially igenous and metamorphic rocks), especially by microscopic examination of thin sections. This display shows examples of petrographic field notes and the stages of preparation of a thin section.

Jade Boulder: This is another of our "touchable" displays. This jade boulder, generously donated by Jade West Ltd., comes from the Polar Mine in British Columbia. This is the only mineral in the museum that has been polished; this boulder had no crystal faces that would destroyed by polishing, and the polish brings out the color of the jade.

Jade: "Jade" is actually the gem name for two different minerals: jadeite and nephrite. Although historically the best jade was jadeite from deposits in China, those deposits have now been completely worked out. The best jade in the world now comes from British Columbia and is nephrite.

Copper Minerals: Although copper is one of the few elements that can be found on the Earth in pure form, it is also a constituent of many minerals. It lends them a wide range of colors, but vivid greens and blues are the most common colors.

Early Miners: Mining has been employed by humanity for longer than most people think. Copper was mined by early peoples for tools, but metals weren't the only focus of mining. Minerals like cinnabar, magnetite, and celadonite were all mined for their use as pigments.

Minerals of Africa: These specimens all originated from a single collection, a portion of which was acquired by Mr. Ross Beaty and some of which he has generously loaned to the Pacific Museum of the Earth for display. Private collections like this are frequently more specutacular than museum collections!

Dinosaur Bone: This hypacosaur femur is on long term loan from Canada fossils. It was carefully reconstructed from many small pieces; the pale tan colored areas are the putty used to hold together these pieces. This fossil can be touched, but please be very gentle with it.

Acasta Gneiss: This is the last of our "touchable" specimens. The Acasta Gneiss is a formation located in the Northwest Territories. At 4.02 billion years old, this is part of the oldest rock formation in the world. (There is a zircon crystal in Wisconsin which is 4.4 billion years old, but it is a single crystal barely the width of two human hairs.)

Minerals of Peru: Peru is host to a wealth of beautiful mineral specimens. It is best known for its spectacular pyrites, but the metal mines there produce many other beautiful species. All of these samples are generously on load from Mr. Ross Beaty.

Twinning: This display highlights the process of twinning, in which two or more crystals of a single mineral intergrow in a mathematically describable manner. There many different types of twinning and this display focuses on representing as many of them as possible.