The coloured sands of Alum Bay from Tennyson Down, Isle of Wight, England.
Commentary.
A geological masterpiece of colour,
Earth movement and chemistry.
The Palaeocene and Eocene
clays and sands originally came
in layers above the Cretaceous Chalk.
Alpine mountain-building “ripples” tipped
these sedimentary rocks almost vertical,
exposing them to weathering, erosion,
dissolution of minerals and landfall.
Varying rates of oxidisation created
the wide range of colours from white and tan
through yellow and red to brown and black.
Tourists buy glass souvenirs filled with the
coloured sands or can add them by
preference to their own container.
At last……a really meaningful memento!
The coloured sands of Alum Bay from Tennyson Down, Isle of Wight, England.
Commentary.
A geological masterpiece of colour,
Earth movement and chemistry.
The Palaeocene and Eocene
clays and sands originally came
in layers above the Cretaceous Chalk.
Alpine mountain-building “ripples” tipped
these sedimentary rocks almost vertical,
exposing them to weathering, erosion,
dissolution of minerals and landfall.
Varying rates of oxidisation created
the wide range of colours from white and tan
through yellow and red to brown and black.
Tourists buy glass souvenirs filled with the
coloured sands or can add them by
preference to their own container.
At last……a really meaningful memento!