Dr. Stephen Johnston (earth and ocean sciences), UVic geologist and expert in plate tectonics, is working on one of the most complex geological puzzles in the world—how the western edge of North America was formed.

According to Johnston, if you had lived in Kelowna, BC, 110 million years ago, the Pacific Ocean would be lapping at your door. That's because the rest of BC was up to 3,000 kilometres south of here—closer to Mexico than to Alberta.

"Mountain ranges occur when one continent bumps into another, causing a 'wrinkle' in the land," he says. "But the geology of the mountains of BC and Alberta looks more like a train derailment than a wrinkle. There are huge shards of land folded up against each other—and they contain mineral deposits unlike the surrounding land."

Johnston believes this is evidence that what is now the western edge of North America was once a completely different continent—an 8,000 km-long, 500 km-wide ribbon of land that stretched from Siberia to Mexico, separated from North America by an oceanic basin.

This ribbon continent, which Johnston has named SAYBIA (for Siberia, Alaska, Yukon and BC) rested on the Pacific tectonic plate, which slowly moved north, sinking under the Eurasian plate and colliding with Siberia.

Read more about Johnston’s research on BC’s geological origins or learn more about the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences.