Rocks of Little Rhody, Part 4: Rock Meets Ocean | Middletown, Rhode Island, USA
Taken at the mouth of Purgatory Chasm, on the rocky western coast of Sachuest Bay.
Another in a series featuring one of my all-time-favorite rock types, the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) Purgatory Conglomerate.
Here its predominantly cobble-sized clasts, which have been elongated by the process of pressure solution, are oriented parallel to the cliff's edge. Beyond them lies the blue water of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Chasm's trenchlike gap is the result of a stream widing a joint in the rock. Joints, geologically speaking at least, are fractures in rock where there has been no significant displacement on either side.
To see the other photos and descriptions in this set, visit my my Rocks of Little Rhody album.
Rocks of Little Rhody, Part 4: Rock Meets Ocean | Middletown, Rhode Island, USA
Taken at the mouth of Purgatory Chasm, on the rocky western coast of Sachuest Bay.
Another in a series featuring one of my all-time-favorite rock types, the Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) Purgatory Conglomerate.
Here its predominantly cobble-sized clasts, which have been elongated by the process of pressure solution, are oriented parallel to the cliff's edge. Beyond them lies the blue water of the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Chasm's trenchlike gap is the result of a stream widing a joint in the rock. Joints, geologically speaking at least, are fractures in rock where there has been no significant displacement on either side.
To see the other photos and descriptions in this set, visit my my Rocks of Little Rhody album.