Western Australia

This was a little spot that we camped at for a couple of nights...we were lucky, we had all to ourselves. Sadly the small amount of water in the gorge was not safe to swim in, due to some microbes that could cause brain damage. We risked using it to wash our feet!

P1520830 - Glaciers Mountains ...

# 363 - 28 Jul '2019 - 19:06 (13:36 GMT)

View of the Glaciers Mountains - Tso Kar - 4,530m Altitude - Ladakh - Trance-Himalayas.

On the landscape - The whiter n the pinkish ones .. are all Saltpans .. which we buy in the shops .. So called as - Pink Salt Or The Himalayan Salt Or Rock Salt 🐾

WONDERFUL FACTS - There was a time when there was no bacteria that would decompose a tree.

The trees that existed 300 million years ago do not resemble the trees we have on Earth now ...

These trees could grow extremely tall, but they had very shallow root systems, so fell over very easily. At the time, no microbes existed that could decompose these trees, so as they fell, they stacked up upon each other, eventually creating what one could consider a blessing or a curse….coal. 🍂

Possible - Have A Look At -- My Creative Galleries -- Thank You Dear Friend 💞

Happy birding 🌼

The subject of millions if not billions of camera clicks, but.. ..who can resist? Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone, Wyoming. Colourful microbial mats feast on minerals in the hot spring water. Light scattering by small particulates makes the milky blue.

Yellowstone Album:

www.flickr.com/photos/lesc/albums/72177720303464156

Geyser field in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The reddish colors and the serpentine lines are caused by the growth of microbes (extremophiles) which thrive in near-boiling conditions. It is easy to imagine standing on another planet when one experiences this landscape.

titles.....

The Midway Geyser Basin's Grand Prismatic Spring is one of the largest hot springs in the world, measuring approximately 370 feet in size and around 121 feet deep (higher than a 10-story building). Only Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand and Boiling Lake in Dominica are larger.

This shot was taken while we could still find our own perspective. Now have a viewing stand only. Understand why, but the view there isn't as good.

?4U

What living thing in Yellowstone has helped investigators solve crimes and NASA search for extraterrestrial life on seemingly inhospitable planets? Heat-loving microbes living in the Yellowstone’s thermal pools. In 1968, researcher Thomas Brock discovered a microbe living in one of Yellowstone’s extremely hot springs. In the years since, research on Yellowstone’s microbes has led to major medical and scientific advances, including the sequencing of the entire human genome."

yellowstonepark.com

Have a wonderful week!

The Great Salt Lake offers endless composition possibilities. Salt along the bank marks where the water once was, the pink in the water is from salt-loving microbes

The Great Salt Lake - GPS is not the exact spot of the shot.

No comments today – just enjoy :-)

Utah has been dry most of the spring and summer with endless blue-sky days, last night a storm passed by, and I was all too eager to go out.

It was a 20-minute rain soaking walk back to the car. Worth every minute :-)

The pink water shows up nicely against the grey skies. The color is from active salt-loving microbes. These tiny microbes can hibernate for 10+ years in salt crystals.

The Great Salt Lake - GPS is not the exact spot of the photo.

Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus: one morning they are there, we know not how, and they gaze upon us, morose and gray. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him.

— Friedrich Nietzsche

On one square metre of Earth has grown many things

A view of Yellowstone's impressive Grand Prismatic Spring at sunset.

"What Makes the Grand Prismatic so Grand?

Deeper than a 10-Story Building

Extremely hot water travels 121 feet from a crack in the Earth to reach the surface of the spring.

Football Field on Steroids

The third largest spring in the world, the Grand Prismatic is bigger than a football field at 370 feet in diameter. A gridiron is 360 feet long and 160 feet wide.

Rainbow of Colors

The hot spring has bright bands of orange, yellow, and green ring the deep blue waters in the spring. The multicolored layers get their hues from different species of thermophile (heat-loving) bacteria living in the progressively cooler water around the spring. And the deep blue center? That’s because water scatters the blue wavelengths of light more than others, reflecting blues back to our eyes.

A Living Thermometer

What living thing in Yellowstone has helped investigators solve crimes and NASA search for extraterrestrial life on seemingly inhospitable planets? Heat-loving microbes living in the Yellowstone’s thermal pools. In 1968, researcher Thomas Brock discovered a microbe living in one of Yellowstone’s extremely hot springs. In the years since, research on Yellowstone’s microbes has led to major medical and scientific advances, including the sequencing of the entire human genome. These microbes even led to the development of the PCR test, which has been instrumental in creating COVID-19 rapid test to slow the spread of the virus." yellowstonepark.com

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces - Impressed by the rock formations and their colors – white, yellow, gold, and orange! All these colors are due to the presence of bacteria and algae that flourish in the extremely hot waters of the springs. Over thousands of years they have formed terraces called travertine formations - Rain waters seep into the rocks, and once they reach a certain depth, they are heated by the action of boiling magma. They rise back to the surface of the earth. The waters at Mammoth Hot Springs are not expelled into the air. They cross the rocks up and deposit limestone sediments on the surface. The warm waters slowly flow from one basin to another, forming terraces as shown in the picture. It flows over some white limestone and orange travertine deposits. Mammoth Hot Springs is “journey to the center of Earth”, but outdoors!

The diversity of life in Yellowstone's thermal hot springs is more complex than we'd ever thought. Heat-loving microbes living in the Yellowstone's thermal pools – showing as living thermometer. The color of the bacteria is determined by the temperature of the water (You can tell the water temperature by the colors of microorganisms). The area is nature’s laboratory and provide unique opportunity to study and unveil earth’s secrets.

It is indeed a way of life, and a veritable nutritious feast, for the countless millions of microbes feeding away on this once-perfectly functioning leaf. That's life. And death.

London Plane leaf.

Olympus EM1+ Olympus 12-50 mm.

Runoff at Yellowstone's Firehole Spring on it's way to the Firehole River. The mix of colors and textures fascinate and captivate me. I spent a few years as a microbiologist/chemist long ago. The small world is a mind bender.

More examples in comments.

"The hydrothermal features of Yellowstone are magnificent evidence of Earth’s volcanic activity. Amazingly, they are also habitats in which microscopic organisms called thermophiles—“thermo” for heat, “phile” for lover—survive and thrive."

ps: I like it when you call me Phil.

"Species, unseen to the human eye, thrive in waters as acidic as the liquid in your car battery and hot enough to blister your skin. Some create layers that look like molten wax on the surface of steaming alkaline pools. Still others, apparent to us through the odors they create, exist only in murky, sulfuric caldrons that stink worse than rotten eggs.

Today, many scientists study Yellowstone’s thermophiles. Some of these microbes are similar to the first life forms capable of photosynthesis—the process of using sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide to oxygen, sugars, and other by-products. These life forms, called cyanobacteria, began to create an atmosphere that would eventually support human life. Cyanobacteria are found in some of the colorful mats and streamers of Yellowstone’s hot springs." nps.gov

Thanks for your visit. Always appreciated!

One of several superb watercolours of a Harvest Mouse by talented Paul Hopkinson, known as The Devon Artist, and painted from my photographs.

To see more of Paul's stunning work, go to: devonartist.co.uk

Thanks for your visit… Any comment you make on my photographs is greatly appreciated and encouraging! But please do not use this image without permission.

LACPIXEL - 2018

Fluidr

Please don't use this image without my explicit permission.

© All rights reserved

Orange microbes are found in hotter, shallower water. The carotenoid pigment acks as a sunscreen.

All rights reserved. Written permission required for usage.

Please do not use this photo on any websites or for personal use.

Thank you.

©2019 Fantommst

Geothermal palette colours indicate the type of microbe. As the water flow and heat changes, so do the colours.

All rights reserved. Written permission required for usage.

Please do not use this photo on any websites or for personal use.

Thank you.

©2018 Fantommst

Fungi are ubiquitous in nature. No one really knows how many species of fungi there are – one estimate is between 2.2m and 3.8m – and of those species only 120,000 have been documented. Fungi and moulds encompass a dizzying range of physical forms and attributes, living in both temperate environments and in extremes of hot, cold, or in the depths of the ocean.

Chand Baori, in the village of Abhaneri near Bandikui, Rajasthan is one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India. Stepwells such as these have been used for centuries especially in the more arid areas of India to ensure a supply of water during the long dry season. At the bottom there remains a constant pool of water even today. The village women would form a bucket brigade each morning to bring up water for use in their households. Down one side of the well are apartments where visiting dignitaries could stay because it would be much cooler down in the well. The top of the well was enclosed within a Hindu temple. The use of stepwells in India date back to the 2nd century. They are no longer used due to a lack of controlled hygiene which can therefore spread microbes and disease.

Green microbes generally like warmer temperatures of 35-59°C. They are found in deeper water that protects them from the ultra-violet light

All rights reserved. Written permission required for usage.

Please do not use this photo on any websites or for personal use.

Thank you.

©2018 Fantommst

Chand Baori, in the village of Abhaneri near Bandikui, Rajasthan is one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India. Stepwells such as these have been used for centuries especially in the more arid areas of India to ensure a supply of water during the long dry season. At the bottom there remains a constant pool of water even today. The village women would form a bucket brigade each morning to bring up water for use in their households. Across the well are apartments where visiting dignitaries could stay because it would be much cooler down in the well. The top of the well was enclosed within a Hindu temple. The use of stepwells in India date back to the 2nd century. They are no longer used due to a lack of controlled hygiene which can therefore spread microbes and disease. The British forbid their use to help prevent water-borne epidemics such as cholera.

The red colour might be some kind of algae:

Watermelon snow, also called snow algae, pink snow, red snow, or blood snow, is Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of green algae containing a secondary red carotenoid pigment (astaxanthin) in addition to chlorophyll. Unlike most species of fresh-water algae, it is cryophilic (cold-loving) and thrives in freezing water.[1] Its specific epithet, nivalis, is from Latin and refers to snow.

This type of snow is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions worldwide, such as the Sierra Nevada of California. Here, at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet (3,000–3,600 m), the temperature is cold throughout the year, and so the snow has lingered from winter storms. Compressing the snow by stepping on it or making snowballs leaves it looking red. Walking on watermelon snow often results in getting bright red soles and pinkish pant cuffs. (source: Wikipedia)

Or maybe it has something to to with iron oxide, like at the Blood Falls:

Blood Falls

This eerie and mysterious blood-red waterfall is located in remote Antarctica. The red color is partially the result of saltwater tainted with iron oxide, but the real mystery of these falls is what lives in the water. Water samples contain almost no oxygen, but at least 17 different types of alien-like microbes have been identified slithering around in the blood-like water. Scientists surmise that they survive via a metabolic process never observed in nature that utilizes sulfate as a respiratory catalyst with ferric ions, metabolizing trace levels of ancient organic matter trapped underneath Antarctica's vast glaciers.

(source: www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/photos/the... )

I've even heard stories about red desert dust..

I think it's caused by algae though.. Does anyone know?

I have an affinity for woodland areas where trees have fallen in past years. There is a spacious serenity in these places as the plants and microbe life quietly work to decompose their fallen colleague. This quiet work is critical to the ongoing health of the woodlands environment, where nothing is ever lost or wasted.

Nevada City CA

Sinar F, Fujinon 135mm f5.6, Kodak Tmax 100, orange filter.

This church, like many of the places I am drawn to, has lived a past life filled with people who have died, or moved on. It is starting to more rapidly break down in the absence of life - no paint protects the board any longer, and microbes, bacteria, and freeze-thaw are removing its flesh - I called this one 'Ribcage' because it is reminiscent of carcasses that you see all too often on the sides of the road up here - usually deer or coyote - fur still mostly there, but an eye socket or ribcage is often visible - poking out. I think this one has less than 5 years left.

FROM MicrobeWiki:

Yellowstone National Park is the largest natural geothermal area in the world with many colorful hot springs, acid pools, and microscopic life that are able to survive the extreme conditions.

Due to the extreme heat and acidity in the Norris Geyser Basin and Mud Volcano area, few thermoacidophilic microoganisms have emerged with a specialized metabolism of using reduced inorganic molecules to adapt to their environment.

Due to these specialized metabolism and natural causes, Yellowstone National Park is known for being the most changeable thermal area in the world. In addition, there are also acidophilic microbes being discovered in acid mine drainages in other parts of the world with the same capability of oxidizing metals.

The overall survival capability of these extraordinary thermoacidophiles found in Yellowstone acid pools and acid mine drainages are of current scientific interest.

Sandstone with predominantly horizontal layers was formed beneath the sea that covered a large swath of North America. For example, the lower portion of this cliff shows layers of alternating colors. But the upper portion is different--sedimentary layers are not apparent, and the rock is predominantly white. But in addition, it has vertical lines known as desert varnish,

Desert varnish is a thin layer of microbes and accreted dust and fine sand. The varnish builds up slowly, perhaps the thickness of a human hair in 1,000 years. It is well developed in the white layer, but not apparent in the lower level.

Seven Mile Mesa, Utah.

This special edition (Winter edition) has been found and bought in 2017 and forgotten in my cellar... One month ago it has been opened... delicious.... the best Leffe ever drunk..... :-)

.....

"Une palette de saveurs flamboyantes délicatement épicées"

.....

"Een flamboyant smaakpalet met kruidige toetsen">/i>

© All rights reserved

..the anguish of waiting for the next moment and of taking part in the complex current (of affairs) not knowing that we are headed toward ourselves, through millions of stone beings - of bird beings - of star beings - of microbe beings - of fountain beings toward ourselves”

_Frida Kahlo, The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait

.

no big glittery icons or invitations , please !

A view of Cargill's salt water processing facility in San Francisco Bay while on approach to SFO airport in San Francisco, California. Salt water is flooded into ponds. As the water evaporates and becomes more salty, most of the algae dies off and various microbes die or thrive causing the change in the color of the water.

For today's theme, three photos from Yellowstone National Park. What, you may ask, are thermophilic springs, and I would answer they are springs found in geothermally heated regions of the Earth, such as those in Yellowstone National Park and deep sea hydrothermal vents.

Thermophilic springs in Yellowstone National Park host diverse communities of heat-loving microbes (thermophiles) that create vibrant colours in the water and produce enzymes crucial for biotechnology and medicine, such as the famous Taq polymerase (but you already knew that bit 😄, so I won't go on about it.)

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

C. S. Lewis

“Those microbes have finally settled themselves in my left leg and my ear, and an eyebrow begins to fall. I expect to have my face soon disfigured. Having no doubt myself of the true character of my disease, I feel calm, resigned, and happier among my people. Almighty God knows what is best for my own sanctification, and with that conviction I say daily a good fiat voluntas tua—your will be done.”

-Fr. Damien,

I see this guy every time I go to the park. All the algae, fungae and microbes growing on it. Clearly needs a good hose down. But who am I to fix what nature purposes. lol

The Grand Prismatic is the largest and most famous of the hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. It is 370 feet in diameter and 160 feet deep with a flow of 560 gallons per minute. The blue water has an approximate temp of 189 degrees and is clearest because few thermophiles live in the highest temperatures. As the water spreads and cools, microbial mats form with vivid colors of yellow, orange and brown. Each color is from different microbes that prefer different temperatures. Their colors are from carotenoids produced during photosynthesis. The white areas are created when the mineral rich water dries.

This was the label on this display at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon. Sea cucumbers are benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide. Sea cucumbers serve a useful role in the marine ecosystem as detritivores who help recycle nutrients, breaking down detritus and other organic matter, after which microbes can continue the decomposition process.

aquarium.org/visit/

I love the green microbes in this pool at Wai-o-Tapu. This neon green pool of stagnant stink water unreal to look at.

All rights reserved. Written permission required for usage.

Please do not use this photo on any websites or for personal use.

Thank you.

©2019 Fantommst

This was the view crossing the walking bridge over Firehole River. Waters from geysers at the Midway Geyser Basin on the right run down into the Firehole River on the left. The waters are very hot as you can see steam coming off the stream flow from the right. In the background center steam rises off of the Excelsior Geyser Crater. The colors on the rock are due to chemicals coming out of the water as well as possible thermophiles - heat loving microbes. Other water features at Midway are the Opal Pool, Turquoise Pool, and the Grand Prismatic Spring.

Taken 17 September 2014 at Yellowstone National Park.

A carnivorous plant native to my area. It grows flat to the ground & does not make such an appealing photo from above. I got down low to capture what was going on within those sticky petals. You can see some very small winged insects in the process of being dissolved. Some of these plants have thrown up flower stalks, which I will try to photograph in a week.

Drosera erythrorhiza, red-ink sundew. Boon was the name of the red bulb of this species that was consumed by Noongars in south-western Australia. Sundews, including this species, are also a rich source of bioactive compounds, which are used as a mechanism for defence. These compounds possess a broad spectrum of biological activities such as antiparasitic, antibacterial, insecticidal, fungicidal, anti-inflammatory and anti-fever activities. Naphtho-quinones are one of the most studied bioactive compounds, which inhibit the growth of proliferative cells and microbes.

References:

museum.wa.gov.au/.../food.../accessible-version

Devi S.P., Kumaria S., Rao S.R. & Tandon P. (2016) Carnivorous plants as a source of potent bioactive compound: naphthoquinones. Tropical Plant Biology, 1-13; DOI 10.1007/s12042-016-9177-0

Crew members on the International Space Station captured this astounding image of the Aurora Borealis during a recent orbit. This natural phenomenon is the result of electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere and is usually only visible in the polar regions.

To read highlights from last week aboard the space station, including astronaut Kate Rubins' check for microbes in the water supply to test a new monitoring system, click here.

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Asking for privacy ,while under a microscope:-) Very Big Brother is watching!

.

©annedhuart

...palm fronds digitally altered.

live some microbes on a speck of dust trapped by a glowing dot -- one of billions in a sea more vast than anything ever imagined. And their dramas flash by so fast in time measured in hundreds of millions of years that only a stop-motion camera can even capture bits and pieces of them. Lost in time and space -- yet preserved like fossils in that very web of space-time.

*INSPIRE SPACE Park, Shinda (36, 218, 1559) - General

Yellowstone National Park

Wyoming

USA

Hot springs are the most common hydrothermal features in Yellowstone. Beginning as precipitation, the water of a hot spring seeps through the bedrock underlying Yellowstone and becomes superheated at depth. An open plumbing system allows the hot water to rise back to the surface unimpeded. Convection currents constantly circulate the water, preventing it from getting hot enough to trigger an eruption.

At times, fierce, boiling waters within a hot spring can explode, shooting water into the air, acting much like a geyser.

Many of the bright colors found in Yellowstone's hydrothermal basins come from "thermophiles" — microorganisms that thrive in hot temperatures. So many individual microorganisms are grouped together—trillions! — that they appear as masses of color.

Different types of thermophiles live at different temperatures within a hot spring and cannot tolerate much cooler or warmer conditions. Yellowstone's hot water systems often show distinct gradations of living, vibrant colors where the temperature limit of one group of microbes is reached, only to be replaced by a different set of thermophiles.

We were almost five years late. What on earth had we been doing in the time since Lee was taken out by a serious case of man flu just before we were due to head off to Dartmoor? A couple of weeks earlier, I’d taken two days leave and we’d gone on a scouting mission to Foggintor and Great Staple Tor. At Windy Post, a lone tog had asked us whether we were Canon men or Nikon men, as if there was some kind of badge we should be wearing that defined us. We scratched our heads. In Lee’s case he was a Canon/Nikon/Sony/David Hasselhof/Fujifilm/Rolleiflex/Kodak Instamatic/Box Brownie/Canon again/Sony again/Nikon again man. We just nodded, smiled and agreed that Windy Post wasn't working today. A few days later Lee was in bed, clinging grimly onto life with the mysterious disease known as “A Stinking Cold,” and groaning that a photography expedition would be too much for him. “Go on without me,” his whine came over pitifully on the Whatsapp. “I’ll only hold you back.” It was all too pathetic - we’d wait until he was well again. Reluctantly I contacted an understanding host, said we’d be back, and life moved on.

Somewhere towards the end of last year, it was agreed that another trip was due. Lee had disposed of all of the above camera systems (probably), and was now in possession of two exotic Leicas. Whether they’d bear fruit, he still wasn’t sure. By now the three happy clackers had fallen into an easy rhythm of heading off for a few days every second February. In 2018 we christened the new tradition with a winter wonderland at Glencoe, while in 2020 and 2022 we managed to time our respective visits to Snowdonia (or Eryri as my sister now insists we call it) and Somerset (or Somerset as we insist we call it) with monstrous storms. And while another dose of snowfall would be more than welcome, we really didn’t need any more tempests. We were done with cowering in our digs watching airborne trampolines zooming past the windows and waiting for the wind to drop below seventy miles per hour. For the bleak uplands of West Devon, rain and mist would be ideal.

This time, in recompense for his earlier failure to keep away from the microbes, Lee booked the accommodation - and a mighty fine billet he found us too. Dave and I immediately agreed that from now on, Lee was appointed Director of Housing. Not only had our host left enough tea bags to last a week, but we also found three freshly baked scones waiting for us on arrival. Next to them stood three pots of jam, and it didn’t take long to locate the clotted cream in the fridge either. What a lovely Westcountry welcome. I decided not to mention the fact I live five minutes walk from the place where they make the clotted cream - it might have seemed ungrateful. And then there was the underfloor heating. Lee had excelled himself. We’d overlook the fact that being on a working farm, it might be quite busy at 5am, but then again there was a plan to get up early on the first morning. And with fog and mist expected at the crack of dawn, it was a rare opportunity to go to the woods. Those woods.

Now I know you know. And you know that I know you know. There’s probably little point in maintaining a veil of pretence as to the exact location, but I’m going to beg your indulgence on this one. Yes of course it’s that famous woodland - the one we don’t talk about for fear of inviting massed hordes into its depths. Our new friend Carl told us a film party had recently asked permission to come here with a large smoke machine. At least there were only four of us creeping around benignly at half past eight in the morning, sheltering from the persistent drizzle that followed us wherever we went. Ok so the gloom wasn’t quite as thick as it might have been, but as things went, the gods appeared to be with us as we searched for the beasts who guard the forest. Here, I found two reptilian forms, swathed in deep green coats of moss and ferns, making their way across the ancient boulders. The one on the left looked spent, but any attempts to overcome him would surely be repelled by a rather fierce looking companion.

Five years on and we’d timed this visit well. No storms, no snow, just an agreeable blanket of misty morning doom. For a couple of hours we moved around the edges of the wood, entranced and enchanted by its curious inhabitants, nursing cups of coffee drawn from thermos flasks. Just now and then a composition might unravel from the chaos, although more often confusion ruled amongst the beasts. Beasts that skulked and plotted in the shadows as we shook the raindrops from our packs and wiped our cameras with whatever passed for towels. All too soon our time was up - the next rendezvous lay waiting somewhere nearby. We packed our gear away and left the guardians to their secrets. I could almost feel them watching our backs as we retreated into the fog once more.

“L'animal qui a le plus profité de la compagnie de l'homme est le microbe.”

Malcolm de Chazal

Thank you very much for your comments and for your faves.

(Please do not use without my written permission.)

Dark streaks on red sandstone in the desert southwest are pretty common. The prevalent name for them is desert varnish. A Google search for this phenomenon reveals this:

"Desert varnish, the dark coating found on rocks in arid regions, is primarily formed by the interaction of water, microbes, and minerals over long periods of time. Water flowing over rocks allows microorganisms, like bacteria and fungi, to grow, and this, in turn, allows windblown clay dust to adhere. Microbes, particularly those that oxidize manganese, play a crucial role in transforming soluble manganese and iron into insoluble forms, which then cement the clay and other minerals to the rock surface, creating the varnish."

This image of the varnish comes from Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona. For perspective, these streaks are around 200 feet long.