Picture yourself in the Himalaya mountain belt: millions of years of continental uplift have produced a vast kingdom of towering monoliths, and they continue to grow as the Indian plate pushes further north into the heart of Asia. These dramatic, breath-taking and downright enormous geological structures can be simplified into the following tectonic units: the Leugogranites, the Transhimalaya, the ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Wonderings and weathering
After studying ‘Applied Environmental Sciences’ I decided to go with a friend for six months to New Zealand for the southern hemisphere winter. Leaving as soon as my diploma thesis (on epiphytic lichens) was written, we set off into the distance to work and travel. We chose New Zealand as our dream destination because these two islands have so many different landscapes to offer – and this is how I ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Kalalau Valley
At over 5 million years old, the island of Kauai is the oldest island in the Hawaiian Achipelago. Hawaii, Maui and Oahu are all younger and lie further to the southeast. This island chronology is no coincidence – the Archipelago formed as a result of intra-plate volcanic activity. Intra-plate volcanism occurs where an upwelling magma plume or ‘hot spot’ lies beneath a continental plate. In this ca ...[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Rainbow in stone
Nothing better characterises the wild US West than endless landscapes of red hoodoos, spires of rock protruding from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Found mainly in desert and dry, hot areas, hoodoos are distinctive from similarly-shaped formations, such as spires or pinnacles, because their profiles vary in thickness throughout their length. Their distinctive colour bands are the ...[Read More]