A little geology from Northern Scotland

[Ken Rennie]

A closeup of the rocks at Bow Fiddle Rock, Northern Scotland. I was clambering about trying to photograph the sea stack when I noticed the colourful stones and twisted rock. Just to the East of here is an outcrop of Serpentine and I can see what looks, to my untutored eyes, a few Serpentine stones. Ken

 

[ProCaliberTraveler]

Beautiful! I see what looks like an erupting volcano.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Very colorful. Nice pattens and shapes. Makes for a fun image.

 

[JimFox]

This looks so cool! It's interesting how the smaller rocks at the bottom are so rounded and polished, it's like they are being held there in that little pocket to get polished.

@Douglas Sherman would be a great one to ask about this.

 

[AlanLichty]

Very interesting looking bedrock in this area and your shot makes even more so. I like the wave polished loose rocks at the bottom too.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Very colorful and geometric

 

[Douglas Sherman]

The comment by @Jim Fox is right on point. Rocks that are found in potholes or depressions get rounded and polished by wave activity which moves them around and against each other. This activity also slowly makes the hole get bigger and deeper as time goes on.

The surrounding rock looks like gneiss, but it is hard to say for sure unless I see the whole area.

 

[Ken Rennie]

The comment by @Jim Fox is right on point. Rocks that are found in potholes or depressions get rounded and polished by wave activity which moves them around and against each other. This activity also slowly makes the hole get bigger and deeper as time goes on.

The surrounding rock looks like gneiss, but it is hard to say for sure unless I see the whole area.

Thanks for the info Douglas. Here is a wider view. The close up was from the end of one of the lines of rock running out towards the main stack. I looked up Wikipedia then checked with the Scottish Geological Survey, they both say that the main structure is Quartzite. Ken

 

[Alisa]

All so very nice!