The western part of the Geoscience Garden represents the Cordilleran mountain belt, where the crust has been squeezed and heated by tectonic movements between the North American and Pacific plates. Layers have been folded, and new minerals have given the rocks a strong 'grain' or fabric. In the far west, molten rock from below has produced lava from volcanic eruptions.

The rocks in this area include:

• Slate, metasandstone, metaconglomerate: rocks that were originally sedimentary but have been metamorphosed; the original layers are still visible but a new fabric has developed due to tectonic squeezing.
• Gneiss and amphibolite: New minerals have grown while the rock was heated and squeezed, so that the original rock type is no longer evident.
• Pumice: Lava that became frothy while it was erupted, and cooled rapidly to form porous, glassy lava.

The rocks in this easternmost area of the Geoscience Garden represent the Canadian Shield. This is one of the most ancient parts of the Earth's crust with rocks that are from about 4 billion to about 1 billion years old. The Canadian Shield extends from eastern Alberta to Labrador. In this area you can see mainly igneous and metamorphic rocks.

• Granite: pink speckled rock formed from magma (molten rock) that solidified underground and was then exposed by erosion.
• Basalt and metabasalt: dark green to black rock formed from magma (molten rock) that was erupted from volcanoes and solidified on the surface.
• Gneiss: metamorphic rock with a banded appearance, formed by the heating and squeezing of older solid rock deep in the Earth's crust. Later erosion has revealed these rocks at the surface.

The western part of the Geoscience Garden represents the Cordilleran mountain belt, where the crust has been squeezed and heated by tectonic movements between the North American and Pacific plates. Layers have been folded, and new minerals have given the rocks a strong 'grain' or fabric. In the far west, molten rock from below has produced lava from volcanic eruptions.

The rocks in this area include:

• Slate, metasandstone, metaconglomerate: rocks that were originally sedimentary but have been metamorphosed; the original layers are still visible but a new fabric has developed due to tectonic squeezing.
• Gneiss and amphibolite: New minerals have grown while the rock was heated and squeezed, so that the original rock type is no longer evident.
• Pumice: Lava that became frothy while it was erupted, and cooled rapidly to form porous, glassy lava.