The Calgary area has been the subject of many geological studies in scientific papers, field guides, and monographs, including glacial mapping of Nose Hill. The top of Nose Hill contains gravel deposited by the ancient Bow River, also carrying sand and mud, flowing east out of the mountains and reaching the level of the present hilltop. There may have been as many as 20 major glacial advances and retreats in what is now the Calgary area.
During the last one to two million years of earth history, ice sheets shaped the landscape. The continuous plain to the north, and on the east and west flanks of Nose Hill, were shaped by glacial meltwater from nearby ice. As the modern Bow River developed, it created a broad valley and the southern flanks of the Hill. A large lake was produced by an ice dam on the River. On its North and East, Nose Hill is bounded by Beddington and Nose Creeks. To the west, Big Hill Springs Coulee is what remains of the earlier glacial spillway system.
Nose Hill provides spectacular views from which to interpret the geological history of the Bow River Valley and its tributaries, as well as the uplands across the valley to the south. The boundary between eastern and western ice sheets is the result of a landslide from Mt. Edith Cavell. As the valley glacier advanced it was deflected southward by eastern ice and glacial erratics (large boulders) mark its former path.
