2012

ND4396 : Weird Rock

taken 11 years ago, 3 km from Hillside, Mainland, Orkney Islands, Scotland

Weird Rock
Weird Rock
A natural feature.... if this were volcanic I'd think of gas bubbles but this is sandstone. Sometimes limpets can cut vertically downwards into stone... but not to this extent. Is it just the product of differential denudation... harder bands eroding more slowly than softer sections?


Thanks to Anne Burgess for the following:

It's differential weathering. This happens when the sand grains are partly cemented by calcium carbonate. The CaCO2 is soluble in water, and therefore erodes more readily, leaving sinuous ridges where the cement was less calcareous. See other examples in search
Link

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Ian Balcombe and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Coastal Islands Rocks, Scree, Cliffs
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Leave [2] · Stone [2] · Weird Rock [2] ·
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
+
+
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
TIP: Click the map for more Large scale mapping
Grid Square
ND4396, 18 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Ian Balcombe   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Tuesday, 18 December, 2012   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 18 December, 2012
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! ND 4332 9635 [10m precision]
WGS84: 58:51.0496N 2:59.0420W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! ND 4333 9636
View Direction
West-southwest (about 247 degrees)
Clickable map
+
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
Image classification(about): Supplemental image
This page has been viewed about 67 times
You are not logged in login | register