Gypsum

specimen number:
2262340

location:
Red River Floodway, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

description:
An attractive matrix less cluster of gemmy gypsum crystals. Classic locality for this material. Brightly fluorescent. This one is in very good condition.

The Red River Floodway, located just outside Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is an artificial flood control waterway constructed primarily through heavy earth-moving and excavation processes. Geologically, the channel cuts across the flat, low-lying floor of the ancient glacial Lake Agassiz, slicing through thick layers of highly plastic lacustrine clays, silts, and underlying glacial till. Excavation of the 47-kilometer channel required shifting over 76 million cubic meters of earth, making it one of the largest earth-moving projects in Canadian history. Conceived under Manitoba Premier Dufferin Roblin following the devastating 1950 Winnipeg flood, construction began in October 1962 and was completed in March 1968, though major expansion and widening operations were undertaken in the early 21st century to increase capacity. While not a commercial mine or stone quarry, the project exposed deep geological sections of Lake Agassiz sediment and intermittently produced a wealth of mineral specimens from the clay beds, specifically large, beautifully structured rosettes and clusters of gypsum, locally nicknamed Winnipeg selenite.

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