Sand and gravel pit near Courtenay, B.C. larger image [JPEG, 48.1 kb, 522 X 385, notice]

Rivers flowing into the Strait of Georgia at the end of the ice age left thick sand and gravel deltas where they met the sea. These deltas now lie high above modern sea level because the land rose after the weight of the glacier ice was removed. Ice age sands and gravels are mined in pits and used to produce concrete and asphalt, and as fill for road construction.