Monday Geology Picture: Tantalite Specimen

For this week’s picture, here’s an image of a tantalite mineral specimen. I snapped this picture when I visiting a university last week — the mineral stood out for me amidst a collection of numerous rocks and minerals that were on display for geology students. I’d seen tantalite before — I’ve observed it under the microscope in heavy mineral concentrates. However, I’d never seen such a big example of it before (it’s about 2-3 cm across). This specimen may not look like much — it’s a plain dark gray mineral. However, tantalite is an important mineral since it’s a key source of tantalum, a rare and valuable metal. One more thought: this specimen looks as if it probably came out of a pegmatite. You can see that the gray tantalite crystal is still attached to another large crystal — of feldspar, I believe.

Monday Geology Picture: More Airport Geology

A set of decorative stones adorning a column, with airport signage shown in the reflection.

I’m traveling again this week (4 weeks of travel in a row!), so today I’m sharing another picture of some “airport geology”. Specifically, this is a picture of some gorgeous decorative stones adorning a column at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. I took this picture yesterday when I was passing through the airport. I particularly like the way the block of rock was split and the set up in a symmetrical fashion to enhance the effect of the natural patterns in the rock. There are quite a few similar sets of decorative stones around the airport — they adorn many support columns throughout the airport.

O.R. Tambo is full of gorgeous decorative stones. Last week I shared a shot of part of the floor.

Monday Geology Picture: Airport Geology

Lovely decorative stones adorning the airport floor, with my feet for scale.

I travel a lot for my job, and I often find myself traveling through O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The terminal buildings contain some lovely decorative stones, which I often admire as I’m navigating my way through the airport. For example, while I was waiting for my luggage today I admired, as I have before, some of the lovely decorative stones that make up part of the floor in the domestic baggage claim area. These stones really are gorgeous, as you can see in the above picture. Check out all of the different hues: pink granitic rocks, gray gneiss rocks, dark black rocks (gabbro, perhaps?), and lovely yellow rocks (another type of igneous rock) — a rock rainbow of sorts! What rock types do you spot?

Monday Geology Picture: Geology Building at the University of Queensland

Part of the wonderful geology building at the University of Queensland.

Earlier this year I visited The University of Queensland in Australia. For this week’s picture, I’m sharing an image of the lovely geology building at the university. The building is made out of gorgeous sandstone blocks… and there’s a dinosaur mural! And, lower down, check out the stones with the fossil carvings! What a great building. I think this is one of the most lovely and delightful geology buildings that I have ever visited.

Does anyone else have a great geology building at their university? If so please share pictures in the comments.

Monday Geology Picture: Heavy Mineral Lag

A pretty, garnet-rich heavy mineral lag on a New Hampshire beach.

Life has been busy, so once again I’ve been negligent with blogging. Let’s see if I can do better for the rest of the year.

To start, here’s a beautiful picture of a heavy mineral lag on a beach in New Hampshire. The red garnets show up particularly well. The heavier minerals, including garnets, have concentrated behind a log on a lakeside beach. Wave action has winnowed the lighter minerals away, leaving the heavier ones behind. I took this picture about a week ago when I was on holiday.

Enjoy this week’s picture! Does anyone else have pretty pictures of heavy mineral lags?

Monday Geology Picture: Greenland View

A view of an icy, rocky landscape in Greenland, viewed from an airplane window.

I recently flew from London to Vancouver, and the views as we flew over the northern part of the globe were spectacular. I particularly enjoyed flying over Greenland, a country largely covered by ice and snow. I spent a good hour or so looking at the white landscapes, which only provided glimpses of the rocky landscape underneath – generally dark rocks peeking through the white and sometimes, it seemed, directing the course of icy flows. The pictures I took didn’t do justice to what I saw, but I’m sharing one picture with this week’s post. What a lovely treat to see such landscapes from above.

Monday Geology Picture: Roots and Rock

Thick tree roots, breaking apart sedimentary rock.

It’s been over a month since I posted a “Monday Geology Picture”. Apologies for that — I was traveling (4 weeks in a row!) and was very busy. Anyway, I’ll try to post regularly again now. Today I’m sharing an impressive example of biological weathering, which is when a living organism contributes to the weathering of a rock. In this case, large tree roots are breaking apart a sedimentary rock. I took this picture yesterday when I was hiking on Table Mountain here in Cape Town with my family.

Monday Geology Picture: Another View of Fish River Canyon, Namibia

Fish River Canyon, viewed from the start of the hiking trail.

This week I’m sharing another view of Fish River Canyon in Namibia. This week’s picture shows the canyon as viewed from the start of the hiking trail. In the foreground you can see the very start of the hike: a steep path downwards with some safety chains.

Also check out last week’s picture, which was taken at the bottom of the canyon.

Monday Geology Picture: Fish River Canyon, Namibia

Hiking Fish River Canyon back in 2016. This picture was taken during the first day of the hike.

This week I’m sharing a picture from Fish River Canyon in Namibia. This remote and beautiful canyon has some stunning geology – I’ll blog more about it when I have a chance. Back in 2016 I hiked the canyon over 5 days with a group of good friends. I highly recommend the trip, although you should make sure that you’re really fit since I found the backpacking to be quite challenging at times. There is not a proper trail through much of the canyon, so you follow the riverbed walking through the sand (very tiring) and sometimes over patches of large boulders (even more tiring!). All the hard hiking is worth it, though — the canyon is one of the most stunning places I have ever been.

Monday Geology Picture: Another View of Formica Leo Volcanic Crater

A closer view of the volcanic crater. Note the person for scale.

Last week I shared a picture of the beautiful and impressive Formica Leo, a volcanic crater located at the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Last week’s picture showed the crater from a distance. You can just barely make out some small people in last week’s picture, to give you some sense of scale. However, I thought I would share a closer view of the crater this week. This picture, which was taken as we hiked around the rim of the crater, shows a person and gives you a sense that this crater is actually pretty large, if small compared to the overall volcano. The background also gives you a glimpse of the edge of the larger volcanic feature in which this small crater sits. You can see some lava flows on the cliffs in the background.

Stay tuned for more pictures and information from Réunion — there’s much interesting geology to share!